Croatia in Winter: What would you do?

The leaves are turning brown and/or a-falling, the rain keeps lashing down the days are definitely getting shorter and it’s almost the end of October. Do you know what this means? Well, sure Halloween in a second or two, but in other news – it’s almost winter! So there’s no time like the present to think ahead and consider Croatia in winter. But what would you do when visiting this fine country during the coldest months of the year? I’d love to hear your thoughts but in the meantime – here’s what I’d do!

Croatia in Winter: December

Let’s jump right in and talk about Christmas! I mean, what else is there to talk about in December…right?!

One of the biggest draws in Croatia during this month is the spectacular Advent in Zagreb Christmas fair and market that takes place in Croatia’s capital city each year. This year’s event will take place from 30th November 2024 to 7th January 2025, so December will be absolute prime time to attend. It’s often mentioned in the press as being one of the best Christmas markets in Europe and would be an excellent alternative to some of the more famous Christmas markets held in Germany and Austria. Advent in Zagreb was also voted “Best Christmas Market” in 2016, 2017 and 2018 by European Best Destinations.

City Break in Croatia - Advent in Zagreb

But what’s actually at Advent in Zagreb? Zagreb’s main square, Trg ban Jelacic, is obviously adorned with a giant Christmas tree that stands proudly for the duration of the festival. Here, too, you will find little stalls selling Christmas trinkets, delicious treats and piping hot drinks. Madusevac Fountain in the same square also houses the four advent candles that are lit in the countdown to Christmas.

There will be a large-scale ice rink – normally in front of the grand Art Pavillion – where you will be able to skate until late at night. On New Year’s Eve, you can normally even skate until the early hours!

The main square in Zagreb, Trg ban Jelacic, during Advent in Zagreb (Copyright: Julien Duval)
The main square in Zagreb, Trg ban Jelacic, during Advent in Zagreb
(Copyright: Julien Duval)

The magical Gric tunnel in the city is also a must, normally being decked out in full Christmas decor.

Christmas food and drink will of course be readily available. Two of the best places to try out local Chrismassy delights are at Fuliranje on Trg Strossmayer and in Zrinjevac Park. Both will have all manner of stalls selling excellent quality, hearty winter grub and warming drinks.

There are also concerts galore at venues across the city – both indoor and outdoor – with some being ticketed affairs and others open to all. Fuliranje, as mentioned above, has live music through its Advent run.

Kids will be fully catered for as well with all sorts of fun activities being held in December, and Advent very often also hosts events for our four-legged friends too

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Really, a few days or a week-long break in Zagreb in December would be ideal to take in the full Advent in Zagreb experience.

Note: this year’s Advent in Zagreb calendar has yet to be announced, but it will be soon. Keep an eye on their website – and this one! – to

Alternative: Head to one of Croatia’s other larger towns and cities – such as Split, Dubrovnik, Pula or Zadar – for New Year’s Eve. Experience the festive and lively countdown to midnight on the Croatian coast, with live music, fireworks and a general all-around brilliant atmosphere.

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Croatia in Winter: January

I know what it’s like in January. The madness of Christmas and New Year’s has died down, you’re cold and tired and just want to wrap up warm. But maybe you’re a tiny bit miserable and fed up with the weather and decide that January should actually involve a bit of fun.

The Croatian coast will be too cold and blustery for January and, anyway, it’s not like you can head down to the beach during this month. So why not explore parts of the Croatian interior for a true wintery experience?

One of the best places to head to would be the Plitvice Lakes. A truly glorious location any time of year, winter makes the whole park rather magical and you may well be lucky to experience frozen waterfalls and very snowy paths and walkways. Make sure you bring your waterproof hiking boots and padded winter jacket!

Winter in Croatia - Plitvice Lakes in Winter
The Plitvice Lakes in winter…complete with frozen waterfalls!

The park has reduced opening hours and limited trails at this time of year, but that’s no problem as you will still be able to do a good amount of exploring and see many of the main lakes and waterfalls. Visitor numbers will also be severely reduced from what they are in the peak summer months, and you may even feel like you have the park to yourself at times.

Spend a few days in the Plitvice Lakes region and explore some of the other attractions too. There are some very helpful suggestions on the websites of the Plitvice Lakes Tourist Board and Plitvice Valleys. And make sure you book yourself into a cosy B&B or guesthouse in the region and indulge in some hearty grub – the Licka Kuca restaurant is ideal for this.

If you want to do more exploring of the Croatian inland in winter, consider the Gorski Kotar region too. Yes, this mountainous region can get very snowy during the coldest months of the year, so this option is perhaps for the braver (and for the true winter lovers) amongst you. But you’ll be rewarded with a fabulous winter experience.

Winter in Croatia - Gorski Kotar
A very snowy scene in Gorski Kotar

Alternative: Croatia’s ski resorts – which are few and far between, let’s face it – start to open for the season in January. Whilst most of them offer not much more than fun for a few hours of skiing and snow play up a mountain, this activity would certainly be unusual enough (i.e. a must-try!) when visiting Croatia in January. Take a look at our Skiing in Croatia section for details of what ski resorts to head to.

Croatia in Winter: February

We’ve done Christmas, we’ve done snow fun so what shall we turn to in February? Love, of course!

There’s no getting around it – February is the month of love with the the arrival of the magical or tiresome (depending on your point of view) Valentine’s Day in the middle of the month. So why not choose Croatia to whisk your other half to for a romantic mini-break at one of the country’s top hotels. Better still, pick a hotel with a luxury spa and excellent dining options and you will both enjoy a relaxing, restful and romantic little break.

Our top choice would be the Grand Hotel Brioni in Pula. With an expansive spa offering multiple treatments, a sauna, an indoor swimming pool (there is an outdoor one too, of course, for the warmer months!) and multiple restaurants you will find plenty to do during your stay. But the fascinating sights of Pula are just a stone’s throw away too.

Winter in Croatia - Grand Hotel Brioni, Pula
The indoor pool at the Grand Hotel Brioni
(Copyright: Matthew Shaw)
The sauna at the Grand Hotel Brioni

Another option would be the Hotel Esplanade in Zagreb. A historic hotel, first opened in 1925 to accommodate guests travelling on the Orient Express, the Hotel Esplanade offers smart, luxury rooms, a lovely spa centre and exquisite cuisine at Zinfandel’s.

Or if you fancy exploring the gem that is Dubrovnik’s Old Town as part of your romantic getaway, consider the very fine Hotel Excelsior. With stunning views out to the Adriatic Sea and overlooking the Old Town itself, you will be able to enjoy 850 square metres of spa and three restaurants. Make sure you make time to have a coffee on the outdoor terrace.

So that’s my suggestions for winter in Croatia. Now I’m going to throw it over to you – what would you do for winter in Croatia?

26th Sveti Ivan Zelina Chestnut Festival

26th Chestnut Festival in Sveti Ivan Zelina

October is a month in which many Croatian delicacies are celebrated and enjoyed and this weekend it is the turn of chestnuts. The small town of Sveti Ivan Zelina (around 40 kilometres northeast of Zagreb) will be celebrating the 26th edition of the Chestnut Festival this Sunday, 13th October 2024.

If your only experience with chestnuts is having a conker fight (tell me you’re British without telling me you’re British) and you’ve never experienced roasted chestnuts, this festival will be the perfect introduction for you. Roasted chestnuts are one of the tastiest autumnal snacks and – trust me – Croats know how to roast chestnuts to perfection.

26th Sveti Ivan Zelina Chestnut Festival - Roasted Chestnuts
26th Sveti Ivan Zelina Chestnut Festival

The majority of the action will take place in amongst the beautiful nature of Kladeščica, the peak of Zelinska Gora mountain. The centre of all the activities is around a 20-minute drive from Sveti Ivan Zelina, but the first 200 visitors to reach there on foot will receive a free portion of hot roasted chestnuts. What an excellent reward!

Chestnut Festival Fun

What will there be to see and do? Well, there will be plenty of tasty treats to sample – roasted chestnuts, of course, but other items made from chestnuts, mushroom and bean stews, BBQ food, chestnut cake, the craft beer “Angelus” and local wine too. Indulge in these treats at this outdoor festival – there will be plenty of seating – and take in the aroma and excellent natural surroundings. Not forgetting live music! The band Faringaši will be performing on the day as well. All in all, an excellent way to enjoy Autumn.

This year’s wide-ranging food offering is thanks to the Amanita Association and Restaurant 4M. In addition to this tasty food to eat, there will also be an exhibition of mushrooms for those who want to learn a little more.

26th Sveti Ivan Zelina Chestnut Festival

The local hunting lodge will be hosting a competition for the best hunting stew. Participants will be given the required food and wood for participating, and stews can be tasted after a winner has been announced at 2pm.

Something for the kids

No gastro – or indeed, any kind of festival – in Croatia is complete without something to entertain the younger generation too The Chestnut Festival is no exception, with outdoor activities and fun and games planned from 12pm.

26th Sveti Ivan Zelina Chestnut Festival - Kids Events

Pre-Chestnut Festival Walk

On Saturday 12th October 2024, there will be an additional celebration. The newly renovated educational trail “Through Zelinska Gora” will be opened with a 6 kilometre hike to Kladeščica starting at 10am. The hike will be led by Mountaineering Society Izvor and Mario Valentić who will be running his educational and entertaining fitness programme HealthyFIT Experience. Expect body and mind training and breathing exercises during the walk…and be rewarded at the end with a free outdoor lunch at Kladeščica.

Remember to wear comfortable hiking shoes!

26th Chestnut Festival
Sunday, 13th October 2024
Sveti Ivan Zelina
visitzelina.hr/novosti/item/726-26-zelinska-kestenijada-je-pred-vratima

Croatian Point of Inaccessibility

Where’s the Point of Inaccessibility in Croatia?

Where is the point of inaccessibility in Croatia? And more to the point – what is a point of inaccessibility?

We were contacted by traveller Chris Brown who recently visited the point of inaccessibility in Croatia – the coordinates of which are:

  • Latitude: 45° 46.9747‘N
  • Longitude: 16° 29.8791’E

which is about 55km west of Zagreb and 8km south, south east of Dubrava, meaning it is in a small rural village called Mostari. At the Croatian point of inaccessibility, the nearest border is 61.4km away.

So, what is a Pole or Point of Inaccessibility? 

Traditionally, the Pole of Inaccessibility for a large landmass like a continent, or an island, is the point furthest away from the ocean in any direction.

The easiest way to imagine it is to take a map of the land mass and draw the biggest circle you can without touching the ocean.  The centre of that circle is the Pole of Inaccessibility.

Chris has simply extended that concept to any country or state where the border is well defined and called those POINTS of inaccessibility.

Chris has made it a hobby/mission to visit as many Poles of Inaccessibility (continents) and Points of Inaccessibility as possible. And during a trip to visit the famous Rimac factory in Zagreb, he was presented with the opportunity to visit the Croatian POI.

You can see from this sketch below that any other point in Croatia is closer to the border than the centre of the red circle – that centre being in Mostari.

Croatian Point of Inaccessibility

This is Chris standing at the POI for Croatia (well, actually 9m from the exact point because it was on private land).

Chris Brown at the Croatian Point of Inaccessibility

You can learn more about points and poles of inaccessibility on Chris’ blog at inaccessibility.net and, in particular, his travels to the Croatian Point of Inaccessibility.

Partisan Hospital Feat

Running Back in Time – The Forgotten Partisan Hospital

A few months ago, we featured a blogpost written by David Lavery of VeloCroatia about road cycling in Croatia – in the Petrova Gora region (south of Zagreb, near the border with Bosnia and Hercegovina) in particular. David got in touch again to share another fascinating account of his experiences of cycling in that area. This time round, he searches for the abandoned (and long forgotten) Partisan hospital that is hidden in the woods…

This really is a fascinating read, and especially of interest to anyone who likes their sights ‘off the beaten track’ and who is interested in the history of Croatia.

Running Back in Time – The Forgotten Partisan Hospital

Vojnic is a sleepy little place in Croatia where not much happens. Although all is quiet today this small farming village has seen more than its fair share of history. We were over visiting family on the farm near Vojnic for Christmas and I wanted to explore the woods on the slopes of Petrova Gora to find what remained of the Partisan hospital that operated, hidden, during World War Two.

In an effort to stave off the excess food of Christmas I took my running stuff and an unhealthy obsession for finally finding the hospital hidden somewhere in the woods.

I first found out about the rumours of the hospital when I was researching my cycle to the top of Petrova Gora to see the abandoned spomenik monument. The recent history of Croatia is nothing if not complicated and during World War Two, with Croatia aligned with the Axis a resistance movement formed. These partisans fought in the forests around Petrova Gora against the fascism sweeping the country.

In order to hide and treat the wounded, a hospital facility was built in the woods in a steep ravine called Pišin gaj in the spring of 1942 by partisan doctor Savo Zlatic and Jakov Kanjcevic Brada. As the war waged the facility grew to over thirty facilities and treated five thousand wounded and sick soldiers and civilians from the surrounding Kordun region.

Despite all of this it was never found by Axis forces. Given this I was not confident of finding it myself.

The bodies of over one thousand partisan fighters are interned in graves in the forest of Petrova Gora having succumb to their injuries during the fighting.

After the war, the facility was abandoned and largely forgotten as Yugoslavia emerged from the ashes of the war.

In 1961 the complex was refurbished and converted into a museum, eventually being awarded the “Order of National Hero” by Tito, the strongman of Yugoslavia. By all accounts this was a popular museum to visit and there was even a youth hostel built nearby at the edge of the ravine.

It was an altogether different war that finally put an end to the hospital complex. As Croatia fought a bloody independence war, the complex was extensively damaged during Operation Storm in 1995 and then fell into disrepair. The new state of neglect reflected a wider trend in the newly formed Croatia to collectively forget about anything to do with the partisans. Welcome to the world of politicking and the complexities of national identity.

It was my turn to find the hospital.

Attempt Number One – Lost in the woods. The wrong woods.

Just as during the war, my first attempt to find the hospital ended in abject failure. I parked the car at Lovački dom Muljava and started running along the gravel path into the woods more in hope than expectation. After a few weeks off running due to an injury, my legs were screaming immediately and not happy to be pointing up hill. On they went and were only stopped when the path abruptly ended at the river after around 3km. With nowhere to go I decided, mostly on a whim, to follow what looked like a path into the woods. Every path I took lead to nowhere and I was soon forced to admit defeat. These were just paths forged by the logging trucks and not paths to any hospital in the woods. I might be thirty-four years old but it turns out that I still get excited about the prospect of exploring in the woods so it wasn’t a complete waste of time.

David Lavery, VeloCroatia
My first attempt ended by simply getting lost in the woods. It was a vital reminder that Google Maps is not always available.

I got some exercise and fresh air and a renewed ambition to find the hospital. I would not be defeated.

Back at the farm I did more research and was quietly confident of finding the hospital on my next attempt.

Attempt Number Two – Finally found. Another reason I am better than the Nazis.

I parked the car at the side of the road and took a different approach into the woods. After three kilometers of running I found what used to be a youth hostel in the glory days of Yugoslavia. It is now completely lifeless but at least I knew that I was in the right area for the hospital.

Opposite to the hostel was a faint path leading up to the ridge in the forest and for lack of a better alternative I headed up in that direction, the forest silent but deafening in my isolation.

Petrova Gora Youth Hostel
The abandoned youth hostel. When you see this, look in the opposite direction for the path into the woods that leads eventually to the Partisan hospital.

I could glimpse the faint outline of buildings up ahead almost completely camouflaged in the dense forest. As I got closer its full form emerged and I had finally, after many fruitless attempts, found what remained of the partisan hospital.

Steps to the Partisan Hospital complex
The path leading into the woods that will take you to the hospital complex.

When I reached the grounds of the hospital I was suddenly struck by how alone I was. In the distance I could hear the rattle and hum of loggers but around me was nothing but silence broken only by the flutter of birds and twigs snapping under my feet.

The Partisan Hospital complex
The remains of the Partisan hospital complex. Hard to believe that 5000 soldiers and civilians were treated here during the war.

Further into the forest the unmarked crosses stood proud among the trees. The graves of one thousand brave partisans apparently all but forgotten and now part of the forest.

Petrova Gora unmarked graves by the Partisan Hospital complex
The unmarked graves to the 1000 bodies buried on the slopes of Petrova Gora.

Despite the isolation, when I closed my eyes I could see the life that once stood and fought here. This small corner of Croatia, unremarkable in so many ways, has been at the crossroads of many turbulent events; first during world war two and then during the Croatian war of independence in the 1990’s.

After exploring what remains of the hospital, I made my way back down the hill and ran back to the car back the way I came. Back in the summer I tried to find the hospital on my bike, my road bike struggling on what used to be a road but was now more of a stream. I realised today that if I had just cycled another two hundred yards around the next corner I would have found it.

Despite the many failed attempts to find the hospital and getting lost in the process, the effort in the end was absolutely worth it. Without hyperbole, it is one of the most amazing things I have ever seen in my life. The fact that it is now abandoned, forgotten and has no appetite to be seen means that if you do visit you will be alone with only your thoughts.

Grave of Jakov Kanjcevic Brada
A grave marking to Jakov Kanjcevic Brada, the founder of the original hospital.

There cannot be many sights in the world, sights of such historical significance, that give the feeling that you alone have stumbled upon them.

David Lavery, VeloCroatia
Proud to have finally found the hospital. This is the kind of run experience that you can never get from the gym!

Getting There

From Vojnic, drive east on Ul. Andrije Hebranga 32 which then turns into Gornji Vojnic where you can follow signs for Lovački dom Muljava (a good place for a coffee and a crepe if it is open when you visit).

As you continue you will see a sign pointing to a road on the right for the hospital (it is quite faint and in Croatian obviously so it is easy to miss). The road has seen better days and since I wanted to run, I left my car near this junction just off the main road. If you have a 4×4 type car then I would imagine the road is passable but certainly when I went it was rutted and had half turned into a river.

The run from here to the stairs to the youth hostel which marks the entrance to the hospital is only 2.2km up a gentle slope.

When you reach the youth hostel on your left, look to the right for the faint trail/ stairs that lead into the woods and to the hospital.

The exact coordinates for the hospital complex are; 45°17’44.1″N 15°45’18.2″E

Vojnic – An Unsuspecting Crossroads in Croatia

It only takes a minute to drive through the village of Vojnic and most people will pass through without realising that it stands at the crossroads of some pivotal events in recent history.

Apart from the partisan hospital, the area also saw heavy action during the Croatian war of independence. Rockets were fired from here by the Serbian aggressors towards Zagreb, a war crime that killed seven civilians.

As the war encroached into Bosnia, refugees spilled into the area. Just at the bottom of the farm is a field that once held thousands of refugees in squalid conditions. Even today when it rains heavily, nappies used in this very field get washed onto the farm.

And even now Vojnic, because of its proximity to the Bosnian border, is a popular passing place form immigrants fleeing war in the middle east and trying to get to Europe. I have seen a few young men stopped by the side of the road by the police, destined to be thrown back across the border to try again in the future.

The common thread running through all of this is war; then and even now.

Thank you, David, for sharing your experiences of searching for this amazing place. You can read the original post on David’s website here: Running Back in Time – The Forgotten Partisan Hospital.

Road cycling in Croatia

Road Cycling in Croatia

We were recently contacted by David Lavery who runs VeloCroatia.com – a website dedicated to road cycling in Croatia. His website details the best road cycling routes, featuring a number of very detailed routes in several areas of the country. However, if any of the routes don’t quite fit the bill, he can create a custom road cycling route for you!

Below, David shares with us his experiences of cycling in the Petrova Gora region (in inland Croatia, about 100km south of Zagreb), cycling up to the peak and taking a look at the fascinating, abandoned monument (David explains more about what it is) there.

Cycling in Petrova Gora

Croatia is a country that is just waiting to be explored by road cyclists. I am lucky to have family in Croatia and when I am not drinking gemišt or eating great food then I am exploring the country on my bike.

During a recent holiday, my legs were feeling good and I wanted to test them on a climb; my search was simple; what was the highest peak in the area. The answer was Petrova Gora and as luck would have it, one side of it was paved and it was only around nine miles away from the farm I was living in near the village of Vojnic.

As I researched the climb, my intrigue deepened when I read that atop of the climb was a monument (Monument to the Uprising of the People of Kordun and Banija) that was epic in its size and by the looks of the pictures crumbling under the weight of its history.

A road cyclist in full lycra is still a novelty in this quiet part of rural Croatia so it was hardly surprising that the bustling café’s stopped drinking coffee to judge me as I passed on the way to the mountain. I did wonder why they were so busy on a weekday mid-morning but then anyone with even a passing knowledge of the coffee culture in Croatia should not be surprised.

A few of the villagers tending to their land on the side of the road gave me a wave as I passed and it wasn’t long before I was starting to climb on the lower slopes of Petrova Gora. Passed the restaurant (Lovački dom Muljava) which marks the bottom of the climb proper I could feel the road really start to kick up. I found a nice gear and tried to maintain a good rhythm despite the rapidly increasing temperatures. Not something you are accustomed to when most of your cycling is done in Scotland.

It was one of those climbs where you could not see the top because of the trees and the mind starts to play tricks. At times you are convinced that the top is just around the next corner and at times you are fairly confident that in fact the climb will never end. The only sign of life on the climb was the indistinct chatter of animals in the woods surrounding me. Apart from that it was just me and my pain as I tried to push hard up the climb.

I pushed on, the thought of ice cream and crepes when I got back to the bottom helping to distract from the heavy legs. It was just then, lost in my thoughts, I turned a corner and saw something completely alien out of the corner of my eye. It didn’t fit in with the landscape at all, jutting at oblong angles from the top of the hill. Around another corner and it was gone, obscured once more by the trees, the landscape again making more sense.

As I approached closer and closer to the top, part by part the monument started to reveal itself until finally I was standing at the bottom of it, trying to catch my breath from the climb and trying to make sense of what I was looking at.

Road cycling in Croatia

What it was and what it is now are very different. It used to be a monument to commemorate the uprising by the people of the area against the fascist Ustasa and the Independent State of Croatia, a Nazi puppet-state, during World War Two. It was finally completed in 1981 during the heady days of the socialist Yugoslavia but the contemporary history of Croatia is nothing if not turbulent and in its struggle for independence during the 1990s the monument was neglected, wilfully forgotten and pillaged for parts.

A sobering and an unnerving experience as it was a ghost town around the monument. Such was the ambition of the monument, there was even a café built in its shadow that feels like it had been abandoned in a hurry. The atmosphere was so heavy and eerie that I was half-expecting someone to pop up from behind the bar, offer me a drink and then audition for a part in The Shining.

Road cycling in Croatia

The façade of the monument is crumbling to reveal a hollow shell of twisted steel. There must be some houses in the local village ablaze with shiny stainless steel panels. The closer you get to the foot of the monument, up the ramp and once grand passageway you are left in no doubt that it is now unloved.

I cycled around the site for a while absorbing the strange atmosphere. I really cannot do justice to the sense of isolation and yet the feeling that you are not alone.

Back at the farm and looking to fill my stomach I decided to take a walk up the hill to get some plums from the trees and whilst up there I looked over to the north. Just in the distance I could see the monument rising defiantly above the rolling landscape.

Road cycling in Croatia is just waiting to be discovered and at VeloCroatia.com our mission is to inspire readers to explore this amazing and diverse country on two wheels.

Thank you very much to David for sharing with us his experience of cycling in the Petrova Gora region, and for helping promote road cycling in Croatia!

Accommodation on Rab

Days of Croatian Tourism comes to a close – and the award winners are announced!

The three-day Days of Croatian Tourism (Dani hrvatskog turizma) conference, the traditional annual gathering of tourism professionals from both Croatia and abroad, came to close on the evening of Friday 21st October. Held in Sibenik this year, the event was organised by the Ministry of Tourism, the Croatian National Tourist Board, the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and Croatian Radio Television (HRT) and was intended to act as a forum for discussion of this year’s tourism results and to also look ahead to next year’s plans.

The culmination of the event saw a number of awards given out for the best tourist resorts and destinations in Croatia, both on the coast and in the interior, as well as awards given out in specific categories (such as best tourist information centre, souvenir, and site of interest) and to employees in the industry. (Some of these awards – in particular destinations that placed second and third in the Plavi and Zeleni Cvijet categories mentioned below – were in fact announced in a separate ceremony on Thursday night.)

Accommodation on Rab

Rab Town

The biggest winner on the night, awarded the “Tourist Flower – Quality for Croatia” prize presented by Prime Minister Jadranka Kosor, was the town of Rab. Other coastal destinations that were winners of the “Plavi Cvijet” (“Blue Flower”) awards were Opatija (in the category of over 10,000 inhabitants); Krk (3,000 – 10,000 inhabitants), Nin, which is near Zadar (1,000 – 3,000 inhabitants); and Mlini, near Dubrovnik (less than 1,000).

Interior destinations received the “Zeleni Cvijet” (“Green Flower”) award, and these went to Velika Gorica, just south of Zagreb; Djakovo, near Osijek; Nasice, also near Osijek; and Groznjan, in the Istrian interior. (These four towns are winners of the same categories according to number of residents as mentioned above.)

For the first time this year, three awards were given out to recognise cultural achievements in tourism in Croatia. The town of Zadar was winner of the Destination of Culture category; the Nikola Tesla Memorial Centre in Smiljan was winner of the best cultural institution; and the Rab Fair on the island of Rab, a medieval summer fair, was winner of best cultural event.

Sources: HRT, Croatian National Tourist Board; HRT; Zadarski List

Croatia featured…in a new ski film?!

Croatia isn’t exactly the first country you’d think of for a ski holiday – and it’s probably even further down the list of countries that extreme skiers would go to if filming an adrenaline-packed movie! (Alaska it ain’t.) It came as some surprise, therefore, to read that the country was in fact used as a location for a new ski movie called Light The Wick by respected extreme sport production company Teton Gravity Research. (I must admit that I don’t know too much about ski or extreme sport films, but these guys are apparently “big” in the business.) Nevertheless, my interest was peaked – exactly where did they go in Croatia, and what kind of “extreme skiing” were they able to do in the country?

Dragging along a few of my ski-mad friends – who would happily attend anything that’s at all related to skiing in any small way – I attended the European premiere of Light The Wick last night. In amongst some truly spectacular scenes in North America, was the brief segment filmed in Croatia – at Blejolasica, in fact. (The Bjelolasica Olympic Centre is in the Gorski Kotar region of Croatia  – about three-quarters of the way from Zagreb to Rijeka – and the centre itself is near the town of Ogulin.)

Promoted as an off-the-beaten track destination for the purposes of the film, two of the skiers arrived to experience – what they said – was the heaviest snowfall Croatia had seen for 50 years. Actual skiing footage was largely limited to some off-piste skiing through some rather pretty forests, though the crew did then go down to Dubrovnik to take in some of the coastline and local festivities. And yes, they even took a dip in the sea – which assuming this took place in winter (as it must have, if other parts of the country were suffering from heavy snow) is still quite a brave thing to do!

Here’s the trailer for the film, which shows pretty well what extreme skiing is all about:

More about the film at http://www.tetongravity.com/films/light-the-wick

Varazdin

The best cities and attractions in North Croatia

As part of a series of guides to different areas, attractions and activities in Croatia, last week Croatian newspaper Jutarnji focused on the area of north Croatia. An area mostly overlooked by visitors and travellers to the country, this lovely part of Croatia still has a number of interesting places to visit. If you’re looking for something a little different (and can drag yourself away from the coast!), why not give this area of Croatia a go?

Varazdin
St Nicolas Church in Varazdin

The most beautiful towns in the region – as selected by Jutarnji – are Varazdin, Varazdinske Toplice, Ludbreg, Bjelovar, Daruvar, Cazma, Sisak, Petrinja, Kutina and Novska. (Links go to Jutarnji articles on those towns and cities. [Edit: links removed as no longer work.])

Stand-out city from the list is the wonderful Varazdin. Once upon a time the capital of Croatia (and therefore one of its oldest cities), Varazdin has many wonderful sights, including a 16th century castle and an Old Town dating from that century as well, a cathedral and the Baroque Ursuline Church (one of a number of Baroque churches and palaces in the city). Nearby is Varazdinske Toplice, a spa town (the oldest thermal spa in Croatia), which now has health and rehabilitation facilities, but was once a Roman settlement named Aquae Iassae. Part of the Roman settlement has been excavated and can be visited.

Meanwhile,  attractions that are recommended in the region include the Lonjsko Polje Nature Park and Cigoc, a stork village where around 200 storks nest on the houses and locale of a village of around 120 inhabitants – so there are more storks than people! There’s also the Museum of Evolution in Krapina (the remains of Neanderthals were discovered in the local area) and the town of Ozlja, with various Roman and medieval finds, and sights such as its castle and town museum.

Activities in the area include everything from the more standard kayaking, cycling and hunting, though Jutarnji also mentions that quad-biking, paragliding and “speleology” (the study of caves) is possible!