Croatia Highlights

Places To See

Mljet Island

Of all the Adriatic islands, Mljet may be the most seductive. Over 72% of the island is covered by forest and the rest is dotted by fields, vineyards and small villages. Mljet National Park occupies the island's western third and includes gentle coves and a pair of saltwater lakes. Most people visit this tranquil island oasis on excursions from Dubrovnik or Korčula.

The highlights of the island are Malo Jezero and Veliko Jezero, the two lakes on the island's western end connected by a channel. Veliko Jezero is connected with the sea by the Soline Canal, which makes the lakes subject to tidal flows.

In the middle of Veliko Jezero is an islet with a Benedictine monastery; it was originally built in the 12th century but has been rebuilt several times, adding Renaissance and baroque features to the Romanesque structure.

The island is also ideal for cycling, and there are a few bike rental operators. Divers will not want to miss the opportunity to explore the old Roman wreck and the German torpedo boat offshore.

Risnjak National Park

Relatively isolated, undervisited and certainly underappreciated by foreign tourists, this majestic 6400-hectare (15,815-acre) park deserves to be much better known. Thickly forested with pines and carpeted with meadows and wildflowers, the landscape is defined by its karstic formations: sinkholes, cracks, caves and abysses. Bracing alpine breezes make the park the perfect escape when the coastal heat and crowds become overpowering.

The best way to discover the park is to walk the Leska Path, a delightful 4.5km (2.8mi) path that begins at the entrance. It's an easy and shady walk punctuated by several dozen explanatory panels (in English) telling you all about the park's history, topography, geology, flora and fauna. You'll pass streams disappearing into the karst, a feeding station for the deer, boar and bears that frequent the park, and a typical mountain hut with a picnic table.

Trakošćan Castle

The most impressive castle in Croatia, the exact date of Trakošćan Castle's construction is unknown, though it retains classical 12th- and 13th-century features. Occupied by the aristocratic Drašković family from the end of the 16th until the early 20th century, it is furnished with original pieces from the family. When it was restored in 1860 the surrounding grounds were landscaped and made into a park with exotic trees and an artificial lake.

If you're wondering what the Draškovićs looked like, there are plenty of portraits throughout the castle as well as an armaments collection, cavalry flats, a kitchen and library. Note the unusual exterior heating system that allowed servants to stoke the fires without entering the family rooms.

Pre-Departure Information

When to go?

Most people visit Croatia between April and September. Although the coast is too cool for swimming in April, you'll enjoy warm, clear skies south of Split and rock-bottom accommodation prices. Zagreb is likely to be comfortable and the cultural season is in full swing at this time. May and June are great months for all outdoor activities (except skiing). Watch out for battalions of school students on class field trips at the end of May and beginning of June.

July and August are the most expensive months to visit Croatia as the tourist season swings into gear. The advantages of high-season travel are the extra boat lines to whisk you to the islands, and organised excursions to take you to out-of-the-way highlights. September is probably the optimum month since by then the crowds have thinned out, off-season rates apply and fruits such as figs and grapes are abundant.

Travel Visa Overview

Citizens of Australia, Canada, Ireland, Israel, Japan, New Zealand, the UK, the USA and most continental European countries can enter Croatia for stays of up to 90 days without a visa. Visitors from other countries may be required to produce a return/onward ticket, all documents required for their next destination and sufficient funds for their stay.

Electricity

220V

50Hz

Electrical Plugs

European plug with two circular metal pins

Health Information

Heat exhaustion

Heat exhaustion occurs following excessive fluid loss with inadequate replacement of fluids and salt. Symptoms include headache, dizziness and tiredness. Dehydration is already happening by the time you feel thirsty - aim to drink sufficient water to produce pale, diluted urine. To treat heat exhaustion, replace lost fluids by drinking water and/or fruit juice, and cool the body with cold water and fans. Treat salt loss with salty fluids such as soup or Bovril, or add a little more table salt to foods than usual.

Heat stroke

Heatstroke is much more serious than heat exhaustion, resulting in irrational and hyperactive behaviour and eventually loss of consciousness and death. Rapid cooling by spraying the body with water and fanning is ideal. Emergency fluid and electrolyte replacement by intravenous drip is recommended.

Bites and stings

Watch out for sea urchins around rocky beaches; if you get some of their needles embedded in your skin, olive oil will help to loosen them. If they are not removed they could become infected. As a precaution wear rubber shoes while walking on the rocks or bathing.

Snake bite

Avoid getting bitten - do not walk barefoot or stick your hands into holes or cracks. Half of those bitten by venomous snakes are not actually injected with poison (envenomed). If bitten by a snake, do not panic. Immobilise the bitten limb with a splint (eg a stick) and apply a bandage over the site firmly, similar to a bandage over a sprain. Do not apply a tourniquet, or cut or suck the bite. Get medical help as soon as possible so that antivenin can be given if necessary.

Diarrhoea

If you develop diarrhoea, be sure to drink plenty of fluids, preferably an oral rehydration solution (eg dioralyte). A few loose stools don't require treatment, but if you start having more than four or five stools a day, you should start taking an antibiotic (usually a quinolone drug) and an antidiarrhoeal agent (such as loperamide). If diarrhoea is bloody, persists for more than 72 hours, or is accompanied by fever, shaking, chills or severe abdominal pain, you should seek medical attention.

Weather Information

Croatia's climate varies from Mediterranean along the Adriatic coast, to continental inland. The sunny coastal areas experience hot, dry summers and mild, rainy winters, while the interior regions are warm in summer and cold in winter. Wind patterns cool the coast with refreshing breezes in the summer, but high mountains shield the coast from bitter winter weather. The sea stores heat in the summer and radiates the heat onto the land in the winter, warming the surrounding air.

In spring and early summer, the maestral keeps the temperature down along the coast. It generally starts blowing at around nine o'clock, increases until early afternoon and dies down in late afternoon. This strong, steady wind makes good sailing weather.

Winter weather is defined by two winds. The southeasterly sirocco from the Sahara Desert brings warm, moist air to the mainland and can produce a heavy cloud cover. This wind also has the steady strength that sailors love. The northeasterly bura blows from the interior to the coast in powerful gusts, bringing dry air and blowing away clouds.

Sun-lovers should note that the island of Hvar gets 2715 hours of sun a year, followed by Split with 2697 hours, Vela Luka on Korčula Island with 2671 hours, and Dubrovnik with 2584 hours. The lack of rainfall along the coast, especially on islands further removed from the mainland, has produced severe water shortages in Dalmatia throughout its history. Summer dry periods can last up to 100 days, nearly as long as in Sicily and Greece. Before pipelines to the Cetina and Neretva Rivers were laid, islanders often had to collect rainwater in cisterns.

History and Culture

Pre-20th Centure History

In 229 BC, Croatia's native Illyrians lost their land to the Roman empire, and in AD 285, Emperor Diocletian built the palace fortress in Split, now the greatest Roman ruin in eastern Europe. The Western Roman Empire collapsed in the 5th century, and around 625 Slavic tribes migrated to Croatia from present-day Poland. The Croatian tribe occupied the former Roman provinces of Dalmatian Croatia and Pannonian Croatia to the northeast; the two provinces were united in 925 to form a single kingdom which prospered into the 12th century.

In 1242 a Tatar invasion devastated Croatia. In the 16th century, as the Turks threatened to take over the Balkans, northern Croatia turned to the Habsburgs of Austria for protection, remaining under their influence until 1918. Meanwhile, the Dalmatian coast was taken by Venice in the early 15th century and held until the end of the 17th century, when it was seized by Napoleonic France and made part of the Illyrian provinces (along with Istria and Slovenia).

A revival of Croatian cultural and political life began in 1835 - the serfs were liberated, and northern Croatia came under the rule of Hungary, which granted it a degree of internal autonomy.

Modern History

When the Austro-Hungarian empire was defeated in WWI, Croatia became part of the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats & Slovenes, mercifully shortened to Yugoslavia in 1929. Croatian nationalists were angered that Belgrade was made capital of the union and, with the help of Macedonian nationalists, organised the assassination of King Alexander in 1934 in protest.

In 1941 Germany invaded Yugoslavia and set up a fascist puppet government (the Ustaša) in Croatia, which expanded to include Bosnia-Herzegovina and parts of Serbia. Led by fervent nationalist Ante Pavelic, the Ustaša regime was brutal, with Serbs, Jews and Roma all targeted for extermination. Appalled by this policy, many Croats joined with the communist partisans to overthrow the Ustaša. The slaughter didn't stop as the war drew to an end, as the victorious partisans carried out bloody reprisals against the retreating Croats. By the end of hostilities over one million people had been killed throughout Croatia and Bosnia-Herzegovina.

Postwar Croatia was granted republic status within the Yugoslav Federation, governed by the communist Marshal Tito. When Tito died in 1980, a farcical political system was instituted which resulted in the presidency rotating annually between republics, and Croatia's economy ground to a halt.

In the late 1980s, repression of the Albanian majority in Serbia's Kosovo province sparked fears that Serbia was trying to impose its rule over the rest of the Federation. As communist governments fell throughout eastern Europe, Croats began pushing for autonomy and an end to communism. In 1990 Franjo Tudjman's Croatian Democratic Union won elections. A new constitution changed the status of Serbs in Croatia to a 'national minority' rather than a 'constituent nation', and many Serbs lost their government jobs.

In June 1991, Croatia declared its independence from the Federation, and the Serbian enclave of Krajina declared its independence from Croatia. Heavy fighting broke out, and the Yugoslav People's Army, dominated by Serb communists, intervened in support of the Serbs. In the next few months, a quarter of Croatia fell to Serb militias and the federal army. In October 1991 the federal army moved against Dubrovnik and bombed the presidential palace in Zagreb, sparking EU sanctions against Serbia. In November Vukovar fell to the Serbs. In six months, 10,000 people had died, hundreds of thousands had fled, and tens of thousands of homes had been destroyed.

After a series of unsuccessful cease-fires, the United Nations (UN) deployed a protection force in Serbian-held Croatia in December 1991. The federal army withdrew from Croatia and in May 1992 Croatia was admitted to the UN, after amending its constitution to protect minority groups and human rights. In Krajina, Serb paramilitary groups retained the upper hand and, in January 1993, Croatia launched an attack on the area. Krajina responded by declaring itself a republic and forcibly relocating nearly 98% of its Croat population. In March 1994, Krajina signed a cease-fire but, in May 1995, violence again exploded. Krajina lost Belgrade's support, Croatian forces flooded the area, and 150,000 Serbs fled, many from towns where their ancestors had lived for centuries.

The Dayton agreement of December 1995 eventually brought some stability to the country, helping the government to deal with unemployed ex-soldiers, housing for displaced Croats and a shattered infrastructure.

Recent History

President Franjo Tudjman died in December 1999, and in January 2000 his Croatian Democratic Union, which had ruled since 1990, was convincingly ousted by the centre-left opposition coalition. The charismatic, earthy Stipe Mesic was elected president.

Subsequent governments have opened up the economy (a sign of which was Croatia joining the World Trade Organisation), introduced democratisation and privatisation and - for the most part - cooperated with the international war crimes tribunal in The Hague. Stipe Mesic was re-elected in 2005 and Croatia has been accepted as a candidate for membership in the EU.

Elected in 2003, the conservative prime minister, Ivo Sanader, has led a quite successful fight against widespread corruption, helping to overcome one of the stumbling blocks facing Croatia's entry into the EU. Success in this clean-up and collaboration with The Hague's continuing efforts to bring war criminals to court, should see Croatia's star on the Euro flag by the end of the decade.