Welcome to Croatia

Dubrovnik Port Cruiser Ship

According to the autumn edition of the dream world cruise destination magazine, Dubrovnik is in the tenth place amongst the top 50 most visited world ports. It has been recorded that Dubrovnik is in tenth place according to the number of transit passengers on cruise. When we talk about Mediterranean ports only Naples and livomo have more visitors than Dubrovnik. One of the main reasons why most of the tourists like to visit this area is that the top ten world’s most visited embarkation ports are from the Mediterranean including Barcelona, Barcelona, Civitavecchia, Piraeus, Venice and Palma. The best part of all is that an increase of 38.2% was recorded among the passengers on the ships with more than 890,000 passengers within the ten months.

It was also recorded that including the area of Dubrovnik-neretva most of the foreign cruise ships visited the place and spent an average of two days in Croatia. These ports have recorded the highest number of visits but Dubrovnik is a place in which 642 ships arrived which is truly worth. Well, all these reports have been made by the central bureau of statistics including that the foreign cruise ships and their passengers have spent total 1527 days on Adriatic Sea within a time period of ten months which makes 63.5% more than during the same period of the previous year. Read more

Rijeka - Trsat Castle - Frankopans

Liburnia has a very rich history and it provided the first script to Croatia. It not only provided the script but also presses and code and also the Frankopans story. The Frankopans were a very dignified family who ruled Croatia for centuries and have a major effect on the country’s history. There are remains of their palaces, castles, building and towers and the impact of their rule can be clearly seen from these. The country has many tourists every year and many of these are extremely interested to know more about the past and more details of the Frankopans. For the benefit of these interested tourists a project called “Following the Path of Frankopans” has been started. As a part of this ten fortresses and castles have been improved and decorated. The project not only enables the tourists to know more about the heritage but also enjoy the beauty of Croatia hinterland and the coast making the Croatia holiday great fun.

The main aim of the authorities to undertake this project is not only to preserve the rich heritage and also to show it to the residents of the country and also to the world. County of Primorje-Gorski kotar in 2005 initiated this project and is considered to be a complex project of preservation of cultural heritage.

Grobnik is a town which reflects the rich history and has a monument which is very well preserved. There is a palace which is in of a triangular shape and it has towers and semi towers which fortify it apart from the set of walls around it. Since 10th century this town has been a part of Croatia. From 1225 to 1671 this town was owned by the Frankopans and later due to an agreement it became the property of Zrinski who was a cousin of the Frankopans. After his execution the castle was plundered. Read more

Pakovo Selo - Ethno Village - Sibenik Croatia

Agro tourism in Miljevci was truly unthinkable as tourism in the Šibenik hinterland was unknown at that place. Since time changed, several family farms, two large factories for production of smoked ham on Miljevci including number of other honey, olive oil and cheese producing firms were opened in the Pakovo Selo area and after the these production firms, the place became quite famous when compared to the previous time and this ultimately led to the development of agro tourism on this area. It was reported that in one of the Miljevci, in Brištani, the family of Ante and Danica Bačić had recently opened a country household “Peace” located in the vicinity of River Krka, on the National Park’s very edge.

Some of the speciality features that have been designed in the family house in Brištani are truly amazing and luxury. What makes the house so special is its three rooms and a guest apartment for all such people who are interested in traditional and original values and top quality homemade dishes, homemade wine, therapeutic brandies, figs, almonds, walnuts and many more things. So people go ahead and check out this family house for all these items and comfort that is provided in the house. The main specialty of the house is its meat roasted under an iron bell (peka), cheese and smoked ham because they are offered as appetizers and guests can choose their own salad from the garden. The owners of the agro tourist estate have cultivated 2000 vines and plenty of olive trees so that their guests can relax and take a walk along the vineyards. In addition, you also get an opportunity to have a look at the view of the attractive river krka basin which is also present in the vicinity. Read more

River Drava - Repaski Most

UNESCO “Man & Biosphere” program is helping the creation of biosphere reserves. The Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere is an example of such a reserve formed in agreement between Croatia & Hungary.
So what’s a Biosphere Reserve? It is an ecological area with 3 key priorities: Protection of natural assets Encourage sustainable ecological development and Stimulate scientific research related to the improvement of the quality of life and sustainable use of natural goods The Mura-Drava-Danube Biosphere covers 500 kilometres of 3 river flows and is located around 630,000 hectares of beautiful natural & cultural landscape comprising very rare but large flood resorts, river islands, pebble & sand coasts and oxbow lakes.

The reserve also serves as the home of several endangered species such as the little tern, black stork, otter or sterlet. This reserve houses the biggest nesting population of the very rare white tailed eagle in Europe and is an extremely important winter habitation for more than 250,000 wading birds every year.
This protected river area is important for the socio-economic development of the surrounding area for the following reasons:
Progress of continental eco-tourism which in turn enhances awareness of the need to protect the natural surroundings & environment of the entire region Agriculture & fishery management. Sustainable forestry. Efficient flood defence system and last but not the least Primary source of drinking water Representatives from the World Wildlife Fund (WWF) state that this ecological reserve has the richest biological diversity of species in Europe.
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Kopacki rit

The local people of Baranja have come up with a new publication called “Baranjski godišnjak” (Baranja yearbook) where they show all the potential and options to develop tourism in this area. The main aim to come out with this yearbook is to promote tourism in the area and it has many photographs besides a calendar of important events and a map. This yearbook is divided into four different parts. The first part of the publication is called “Moja Baranja” (My Baranja) and it talks of the history of the area and also the organisation of the area presently. It also has important information like the numbers of important places and institutions and also plans the direction in which the book moves after this section. The next part of the book is called “Baranjski kalendar” (Baranja Calendar) has an overview of all the districts and the cultural and tourist events. It also gives the contact details of the organizers and dates of important religious gatherings. The third part of the book is called “Baranjski sveznadar” (Baranja Know-It-All) and it lists all the terms which have traditional importance in the area. These terms are about tools, costumes, furniture, equipment and the accessories. The last part of the book is called Baranja u tanjuru” (Baranja on a plate) where one can find the menu of the area and the speciality dishes offered. It talks of the eating habits of local people and in the past and also talks of the traditional recipes of the area. The area of Banjara at different times has been inhabited by people from different nationalities. Because of this there has been diversity in the eating habits and the specialities made in this area and this topic has been of great interest to the travellers and the tourists. Read more

River Gacka - Fly Fishing

Karstic waters is located in Kostelka source in Ličko Lešće, and is the centre in Croatia for ingenious variety of crawfish and fish. The main aim behind forming this centre was to promote scientific research and farming of ingenious species farming. After a year of it being formed, tourists found out about the spot and since then it became a popular tourist attraction. Recently an agreement has been signed between the United Nations Development Program and the representatives from the Otocac. As per this agreement these two bodies together will finance the up gradation of the centre. By providing the finance to the centre the authorities want that it gets satisfactory representation so that the story of the fish in the Karstic waters can be told to the visitors and the tourists in a very striking way. The main aim of the concerned authorities is to make this project the stepping stone in creating the awareness of preserving the fishes and the waters so that later on in the future a Water Centre can be constructed in the vacant area of the hydroelectric power plant in Svica. With this centre the authorities feel that a message can be given to the masses that tourism and protection of the species can be done together and is this way one can live from the protection and also protect the endangered species.
The European Union funded the construction of The Croatian Center for the indigenous species of fish and crawfish in karstic waters. This was one of the initial projects in the PHARE 2005 Programme and last year in the month of November it opened formally. The main founders of the centre were the Croatian Chamber of Commerce, town of Otocac, Gacka d.o.o and the Ruđer Bošković Institute. Read more