A Local's Guide to Petrčane & Zadar

Upscale dining around Petrčane

Petrčane is a quiet pine-shaded village fifteen minutes north of Zadar, and its dining is deliberately unhurried. Book a terrace table for sunset and order whatever came off the boat that morning — sea bass, dentex or a simple grilled squid with blitva.

For a longer evening, the konobas of nearby Kožino and Diklo serve Dalmatian peka — veal or octopus baked slowly under an iron bell — but call a day ahead, as it is always made to order.

Hidden beaches and quiet coves

The pebble coves below Punta Skala are the easiest swim from the village: clear, shallow and sheltered from the maestral. Walk the coastal path north and you will find smaller unnamed inlets where you are often alone before ten in the morning.

Further along the Zadar riviera, Sakarun on Dugi Otok is worth the day trip for its white sand and turquoise shallows — reachable by ferry from Zadar to Brbinj.

Boat trips and islands

Skippered day charters leave from Zadar and Petrčane for the Kornati archipelago — around eighty islands of bare karst and impossibly clear water. A full day gives you time for two or three swim stops and lunch on Levrnaka or Mana.

Shorter options include a sunset sail to Ugljan and Pašman, or a morning run to the Telašćica nature park with its salt lake and cliffs.

Zadar in an afternoon

The old town sits on a small peninsula: Roman forum, the round church of St Donatus, and marble streets polished by centuries. Time your visit for late afternoon so you finish at the Sea Organ and the Greeting to the Sun, where Alfred Hitchcock's "most beautiful sunset in the world" still delivers.

Cap it with a maraschino at a bar on Kalelarga — the liqueur has been distilled in Zadar since the sixteenth century.

Day trips worth the drive

Plitvice Lakes is roughly ninety minutes inland; go at opening time to walk the lower lakes before the coaches arrive. Krka's Skradinski Buk waterfalls are a similar drive south, and Paklenica national park offers dramatic gorge hiking under an hour away.

Closer to home, the Nin salt pans and the sandy Queen's Beach make an easy half day with young children.

Where to stay: luxury villas near Zadar

Petrčane suits travellers who want the calm of a village with Zadar's restaurants and airport within easy reach. Casa al Este sits above the coast with sunrise sea views, three bedrooms for up to five guests, a heated pool, sauna and private gym.