Of all the cities that I visited along the Croatian coast, I think Šibenik is the one that won me over the most. It manages to mix the big city bustle of Split and Zadar with the quaint back alley picturesqueness of Poreč and Trogir, but retains a feeling of authenticity that can be lacking in the centres of those other cities.

The World Heritage Site is just the Cathedral, which sits rather pleasantly at the northern end of the City centre between the idyllic waterfront and the surprisingly steep stepped walkways in land. In fact these streets of steps weren't initially obvious to us when we walked into town following our map, and we quite quickly realised that our daughter (and buggy) was going to need to be carried quite a lot if we were going to reach our destination. It did however give us a great first sight of the cathedral as we arrived a few streets over, looking down on its roof.

The cathedral is very pleasant and seems to reflect local building techniques and styles, though my visit to the interior was rather brief and hasn't left a particularly lasting impression. However, late night and early morning strolls around the labyrinth of streets and squares nearby accompanied by the sound of ringing bells is one of my fondest memories of my whole trip.

The real charm of Šibenik though was the remainder of the city centre. Trying to plot our way around without encountering steps became a rather enjoyable challenge, aided by the maps posted around town with appropriate colour coded routes. Though even without steps there are quite a few altitude changes. Mixed in with this was, what felt to us, a more functioning city, not one that was only there to service tourists.
It helped that we hit a rich stream of lovely restaurants and cafes. I will give very strong recommendations to Bazza with a local craft beer menu to accompany the excellent salads (honestly the best I have ever had), and the fine coffee, friendly welcome and toys for toddlers offered up at She Bio-Bistro on a small square back from the seafront.

All in all Šibenik provided the most rewarding stay of all the cities I've visited in Croatia. The Cathedral is a pleasant reason to visit this very charming and still liveable city.

Site 4: Experience 7