The hidden cove where locals swim. The stone house overlooking olive groves. Sunrise over the Adriatic. The family-run konoba where recipes pass through generations. Home away from home.

Croatia Vacations is the curated villa rental company that connects travelers to places imbued with Croatia's soul – designed to inspire memories, away from the crowds, rooted in the authentic spirit of the coast and islands. Be our guest.

For as long as we can remember, Croatia has been in our blood. Dorothea grew up in Austria, Ivan in Germany – both raised by Croatian parents who carried their homeland with them. Our summers were always the same: packing up and heading home to the Adriatic, to family gatherings under fig trees, to the scent of pine and salt air, to water so clear you could see your toes ten feet down.

In 2019, we met in Croatia. Both on holiday, both children of the diaspora, both returning to the place that had shaped us from afar. When our paths crossed and our journey together began, we realized we wanted to do more than just visit – we wanted to share this love, this deep connection to our homeland, with others.

But something else was growing inside us: the desire to truly come home. Not just for summers, but for good. To be locals not just in spirit, but in daily life. In 2024, we made the decision that would change everything. We packed up our lives in Austria and Germany, said goodbye to what we knew, and in 2025, we moved to Croatia for good.

Now we live here year-round. Not just to be closer to our guests and our properties, but because this is where we were always meant to be. The place our parents left, the place that called us back. We're no longer visitors returning for summer – we're home.

We're travelers at heart. Photographers by passion. And we were convinced that there's no more beautiful place on earth than Croatia to make memories with the people you love. That's how Croatia Vacations came to life.

We started with Instagram, sharing the moments we captured – the secret beaches, the sunset spots locals guard closely, the stone villages that don't appear in guidebooks. Our photos and stories spread quickly, and within a short time, we'd built a community of over 350,000 followers who shared our conviction: Croatia is magic, if you know where to look.

But here's what we refused to do: focus on the obvious. Yes, Dubrovnik is breathtaking. Yes, Split pulses with life. Everyone knows this. We wanted to find the places that make Croatia truly special – the hidden corners that separate our coast from any other in the Mediterranean.

When we began curating properties, we brought that same philosophy with us.

Every villa. Every apartment. Every stone house you see on our site – we've stayed there. Cooked breakfast there. Watched the sunset from that terrace. Swum from that beach.

We don't list a property without visiting it first.

Every photo you see? Taken by us, in that moment, in that light. Every video? Captured as we experienced it. No stock images, no borrowed content, no borrowed perspectives. Just our story, honestly told.

And if we don't fall in love with it ourselves – if the location doesn't move us, if the story doesn't inspire us, if we wouldn't bring our own family there – it doesn't make it onto Croatia Vacations. We stand behind every property with our name, because we've written our own story there first.

But we also want you to write yours. That's why every property comes with our personal guide – not a list of tourist traps, but the places we'd take our friends. The konoba where the owner still makes pašticada the old way. The hiking trail that ends at a viewpoint you'll never forget. The beach where you'll have the water to yourself.

A beautiful villa matters. Of course it does. You need comfort, quality, design, a place that exceeds expectations from the moment you unlock the door.

But we're convinced that your deepest memories will come from the place itself. The morning swim before anyone else is awake. The sound of cicadas in the afternoon heat. The village festival you stumbled into. The conversation with the fisherman mending his nets. The taste of the first fig you picked from the tree.

That's the Croatia we know. That's the Croatia we want you to discover.

We chose this life because we never stopped falling in love with our homeland. We've spent years exploring every corner, every island, every hidden bay. And we've realized that the best way to share Croatia is to share it as it truly is – not as a postcard, but as a place where life slows down, where simplicity returns, where the sea and stone and sun remind you what matters.

In building Croatia Vacations, we've met incredible owners with their own inspiring stories. We've discovered villages that time hasn't touched. We've learned that every property has a soul, if you take the time to listen.

We're eager to share this with you.