Zadar is a Roman town that was bombed flat. The Allies hit it more than seventy times between 1943 and 1944, aiming at a German-held port, and roughly sixty per cent of the old town went. What was rebuilt sits directly on what survived: the paving of the Roman forum is still there, open to the sky, with a first century column standing on it, and the ninth century church of St Donatus was built using Roman capitals and column drums lifted straight out of the ruins.
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The two things people actually come for are modern. The Sea Organ, finished in 2005, is a set of stone steps on the waterfront with thirty five polyethylene pipes underneath them: the swell pushes air through and the promenade plays chords, differently every day depending on the sea. Next to it the Greeting to the Sun is a disc of glass plates that charges in daylight and lights up at dusk. Alfred Hitchcock said in 1964 that Zadar had the most beautiful sunset in the world, which the tourist board has never stopped quoting and which is not an unreasonable claim.
What Makes Zadar Different to Pack For
Mediterranean, with the bura
July and August run 27°C to 32°C with sea temperatures around 24°C to 26°C. Winter sits at 6°C to 12°C, and the bura, the cold northeasterly off the Velebit, hits this stretch of coast harder than almost anywhere in Croatia because the mountain range funnels it straight down. May, June, September and early October are the good months.
A merino wool base layer for women is here for the shoulder season evenings on an exposed waterfront and for the ferry decks, which are cold in any month with the bura running.
The old town is marble and it is slippery
Zadar's lanes are paved in polished stone worn smooth by two thousand years of use. Wet, they are genuinely treacherous.
Swimming is off concrete and rock
Kolovare is the town beach and it is shingle. Most swimming around Zadar is off slabs, platforms and pebble, with sea urchins in the rockier spots.
It is a ferry hub, and the bura closes it
Zadar is the gateway to the Kornati archipelago and to Dugi Otov, Ugljan and Silba, and catamarans are cancelled when the bura blows. Build a buffer day before a flight.
Recommended Tours and Experiences
The Zadar Packing List
Footwear
Flat shoes with real grip for the old town, and this matters more here than the flat map suggests, because the marble is polished and the whole peninsula is paved in it.
Water shoes for the swimming platforms and the island coves, where the entries are slab limestone and urchins are present.
For the Velebit foothills, Paklenica National Park an hour north with its two river canyons, or the Vransko Lake paths, waterproof hiking shoes with grip: Paklenica is loose karst and scree with real exposure on the upper routes.
Clothing
Light breathable clothing, two swimsuits and a cover-up for walking into the old town from the water. A packable rain jacket that doubles as a windproof, which is the item the bura makes necessary.
A warm layer for evenings outside July and August, and for the Greeting to the Sun at dusk, which is on the most exposed corner of the peninsula.
Covered shoulders and knees for the cathedral of St Anastasia and St Donatus. Zadar is a working Croatian city rather than a resort and dresses plainly; swimwear in the town centre is discouraged and in some coastal municipalities fined.
For sun
A wide brim sun hat with a cord, because the bura and the maestral will both take a loose hat off the waterfront, plus high factor sunscreen and sunglasses. The Roman forum is open paving with no shade and the boat trips to the Kornati are several unshaded hours.
Practical
A beach mat rather than a towel for shingle. Cash in euros for the market and the small konobas. A dry bag for boat days. Reef safe sunscreen for snorkelling. A refillable bottle; tap water is good. And motion sickness tablets for the Kornati crossing, which is open water.
What to Wear at Key Sites
The Sea Organ and the Greeting to the Sun
Stone steps on the western waterfront that play chords as the swell pushes air through pipes beneath them, with a glass solar disc beside them that lights at dusk.
Practically: the organ is loudest and most interesting when the sea is up, which is often when the weather is worst, so a grey windy evening is better than a calm one. The steps are wet, algae-covered in places and slippery; people sit on them and fall getting up. Take a layer, because this corner catches everything.
The Roman forum and St Donatus
The largest Roman forum on the eastern Adriatic, open and walkable, with the round ninth century church of St Donatus built on and from it.
Practically: free to walk across. St Donatus has no furniture and extraordinary acoustics, and is used for concerts rather than services. Shoulders and knees for the cathedral next door, whose bell tower can be climbed by a narrow stair for the best view over the peninsula.
The Kornati islands
An archipelago of about 140 mostly bare limestone islands, a national park, reached by day boat from Zadar or Murter.
Practically: the Kornati are stone and scrub with almost no shade, no shops and very little fresh water, so a day trip means carrying your own. Sun hat, sunscreen, water shoes, dry bag. The crossing is open sea. Swimming is off rock into deep water.
Paklenica and the Velebit
Two canyons cut into the Velebit range about an hour north, with climbing routes, cave paths and trails up to the ridge.
Practically: grippy boots, water and an early start in summer, when the canyon floor is an oven. The upper routes are exposed karst. This is where the bura is born, so check the forecast. Entry is ticketed.
The markets and the food
The green market beside the Land Gate, the fish market next to it, and Dalmatian konoba cooking with the local addition of maraschino, the cherry liqueur Zadar has made since 1821.
Practically: go to the market before nine. Closed shoes, because the fish market is wet. Maraschino is worth trying once and is sold everywhere as a souvenir.
Nin and the salt pans
A tiny walled town on a sandy islet fifteen kilometres northwest, with the smallest cathedral in the world, working salt pans and a genuinely sandy beach with shallow warm water.
Practically: Nin's Queen's Beach is one of the few real sand beaches in Dalmatia, which makes it the answer if pebbles are not acceptable. Shallow and warm. The medicinal mud there is used locally. A short bus or drive.
What Not to Bring
Leave smooth soled shoes for marble lanes. Leave bare feet for rocky entries.
Leave a towel as your only beach kit. Leave a loose hat. Leave a tight flight connection after a Kornati day or an island catamaran. And leave swimwear as streetwear in the old town.
Essential Resources for Women in Zadar
Emergency numbers in Croatia: 112 is the European emergency number and works for everything. 192 reaches the police, 194 the ambulance service, 193 the fire service and 195 is sea rescue. English is widely spoken, including by emergency operators.
Tourist support: Croatia has no dedicated tourist police force, though extra officers are deployed to the coast in season. The Zadar tourist board office in the old town handles practicalities, ferry information and accommodation problems. A theft is reported at the police station for insurance purposes.
US Embassy: the US Embassy in Zagreb at hr.usembassy.gov covers Croatia, about three hours from Zadar by motorway. There is no consulate in Dalmatia. Enrol in the Smart Traveler Enrollment Program at step.state.gov before you travel.
Main hospital or clinic: the Zadar General Hospital, Opca bolnica Zadar, is the regional hospital with a 24 hour emergency department, and there are health centres across the county. Standards are good. Serious specialist cases go to Zagreb or Split. EU visitors should carry the European Health Insurance Card, UK visitors the Global Health Insurance Card, both of which Croatia accepts; everyone else needs travel insurance, and confirm it covers climbing if you intend Paklenica.
Official health authority: the Croatian Institute of Public Health at hzjz.hr. There are no endemic disease concerns. Note that ticks are present in the Velebit woodland and Croatia has tick borne encephalitis in parts of the country, so check yourself after a Paklenica walk. The Croatian Meteorological Service at meteo.hr publishes the bura warnings, which determine the ferries and which are worth checking daily on this coast.
US State Department travel advisory for Croatia: current advisory level and detail. Croatia sits at the lowest level. Read it directly rather than relying on this page.
UK FCDO travel advice for Croatia: entry requirements, safety and health guidance, including the note that Croatia uses the euro and is in Schengen, the water safety information, and the warning about swimwear fines in coastal towns.
Official tourism authority: the Croatian National Tourist Board at croatia.hr, with the Zadar tourist board for the Sea Organ and Greeting to the Sun, Jadrolinija at jadrolinija.hr for the island ferries and catamarans, and the Kornati National Park office for the day boat operators and park fees.
Solo women safety assessment: Zadar is very safe and easy for a woman travelling alone, and it is a more ordinary working city than Split or Dubrovnik, which makes it calmer. Croatia has low violent crime, English is widely spoken, the old town is small and walkable, and a woman on the waterfront at any hour is unremarkable, including at the Sea Organ late in the evening, which is where half the city goes at sunset. Crime against visitors is opportunistic and low: pickpocketing in the old town lanes and at the ferry terminal in peak season, occasional theft from beaches. Keep a bag zipped and use the accommodation safe. Nightlife is modest and the student population keeps the bars busy without the party-island atmosphere of Hvar; the usual care with drinks applies. Street harassment is uncommon and mild. The genuine risks are physical. Polished marble paving is the leading cause of visitor injury here and it is slippery even dry, worse in rain. The Sea Organ steps are wet, algae covered and uneven, and people slip on them getting up. The swimming platforms drop into deep water immediately with no lifeguards, sea urchins are on the rocky entries, and late summer brings jellyfish. The bura is a real factor rather than a curiosity: on this stretch of coast it reaches gale force, cancels catamarans, closes the Maslenica bridge to high vehicles, and makes the exposed waterfront genuinely unpleasant. If you go to Paklenica, the karst is loose, the upper trails are exposed, water is scarce on the ridge and mobile signal fails in the canyons, so tell someone your route. Driving the coastal road in a bura is unpleasant, and Croatia's drink driving limit is 0.5 with zero tolerance under 24.
Reading On
Zadar has an international airport, sits on the motorway between Zagreb and Split, and is the least crowded of the big Dalmatian towns. The Croatia travel guide for women is the parent for the country and the Croatia packing list for women covers a trip across it. South, the Split packing list for women is the next big port, with the Hvar packing list for women and Korcula packing list for women offshore and the Dubrovnik packing list for women at the far end. Inland, the Plitvice Lakes packing list for women covers the waterfalls two hours away. North, the Istria packing list for women covers the Roman arena and the truffle hills, and the Zagreb packing list for women the capital. The travel packing guide for women is the parent for all destinations. For why a thin wool layer under a shell is the answer to a bura, the best merino wool base layers for women explains the fibre, and the Roman Trail collection is where the tops themselves live.
If the outer journey is calling you, the inner one usually is too. Explore SoulMap at romantrail.com/blogs/soulmap.
