Pregnancy and travel: Dubrovnik and the Dalmatian Coast in Croatia with baby on board
It may not be every expectant mother’s idea of fun, but a 12-day cross-country sprint across Croatia delivers the unexpected for one pregnant woman
It wasn’t my idea of a relaxing holiday. Six months pregnant, I entrusted my husband to plan a June trip to Croatia – a last summery hurrah before a winter of sleepless nights and nappy changes.
The brief had been “babymoon”, which, I thought, had an obvious connotation of pampering hotels and languid sunsets. But something got lost in translation.
Blissfully unaware of pregnancy’s inconveniences, my husband pictured kayaking off Dubrovnik’s coast and a four-hour hike through Plitvice Lakes National Park. “It’s more doable than the eight-hour trail,” had been his reasoning. Before I could intervene, he had booked the flights and Airbnbs (no Adriatic resorts, alas). We would start our 12-day cross-country sprint in the Croatian capital, Zagreb, head west to the Istrian peninsula, wind down the Dalmatian coast to Zadar and Sibenik, blaze through Split and Hvar’s surrounding islands, and walk the walled city of Dubrovnik.
The itinerary was exhausting in its thoroughness. So we compromised: the kayaking was axed, but the island-hopping and the hike to Plitvice’s waterfalls stayed. It would still be more active than a bubble-wrapped babymoon.
We consulted our gynae, a veteran with a distaste for overly prescriptive advice. He waved off questions about sleep positions and food restrictions, telling us to exercise common sense. “Your body is not so stupid that it won’t adapt,” he deadpanned.
