Brooke Shields has declared her Croatian getaway the “highlight of the summer.”
The actress, 61, shared a carousel of photos and videos on Instagram documenting the adventure-packed trip with friends including comedian Chelsea Handler, 51. The post showcased the group moving from bustling city streets to rushing waterfalls and out onto the open water along the Croatian coast.
“Highlight of the summer: the most amazing trip to Croatia with the best people 🇭🇷😍🏝️,” Shields captioned the Instagram post.
The opening image showed Shields seated on a moss-covered rock beside a waterfall, wearing a black strapless one-piece swimsuit. Water soaked her slicked-back dark hair as she stretched her legs forward, eyes closed, face lifted toward the sun. She accessorized the look with a gold chain necklace and bracelets.
Another photo captured the longtime friends enjoying a sunny day on the water. Shields reclined on a wooden swim platform attached to a boat in the same black swimsuit, while Handler sat nearby in a turquoise swimsuit. A third woman smiled from the water wearing a red bikini top and patterned bottoms.
The pair have maintained their friendship for years, previously appearing on each other’s podcasts to speak candidly about their lives and relationships.
Away from the water, Shields traded her swimsuit for a bright yellow dress with a wide-brimmed straw hat, layered necklaces and a brown belt. Handler stood beside her in a white button-down shirt, patterned skirt, navy baseball cap and dark sunglasses as the two smiled for the camera on a busy street.
Shields also embraced more daring moments during the vacation. In a video included in the carousel, she jumped from the edge of a rushing waterfall into the water below, still wearing her black one-piece.
Fans flooded the comments section with praise for both the star and her destination. “Croatia is beautiful 😍,” one person wrote. “Brooke Shields The most beautiful in the world😍😍,” another commented. One jokester quipped about her waterfall excursion, “So that’s the fountain of youth you’ve been using!”
The carefree vacation arrives months after Shields reflected on her lifelong navigation of fame during a July 2026 conversation with Oprah Winfrey for Oprah Daily. Shields, who began modeling as a baby, spoke about the psychological work required to avoid being consumed by public attention.
“You either become a victim to it, and you resent it, and then you get angry, and you get bitter,” Shields said, “or you say, ‘OK, how can I not be devoured by this? How can I surround myself with people who are grounded?'”
She told Winfrey that maintaining normalcy became especially crucial after becoming a mother to daughters Rowan and Grier with husband Chris Henchy. “How can I stay as grounded as possible to be the kind of mom for my daughters that it would very easily be derailed in this industry?” she said.
Shields also addressed her complicated relationship with her late mother, Teri, who raised her as a single mother and managed her career from childhood. The two became so intertwined that Shields struggled to develop an independent identity.
“There was so much love, but then you couple that with the industry that we were in,” Shields said. “She protected me fiercely.”
The actress credited years of therapy with helping her distinguish her own voice from her mother’s influence. “Luckily, I hear — I’ve worked so hard on myself — to hear my own voice in my head first,” Shields said. “And that’s years of working on it and therapy and thinking about it and talking about it and making myself sort of freer from this.”
Shields continues to share updates from her personal and professional life with her Instagram followers.