The sea does the talking here.

A thousand islands, and the good ones are rarely the famous ones. We know which harbour is worth the extra hour, which konoba still cooks the way the grandmother did, and which cove is yours alone if you get there before noon.

Overview

Discover Croatia: Private Tours, Experiences & Custom Travel

Croatia is an Eastern European country with long coastlines on the Adriatic Sea, encompassing more than a thousand islands, crossed by the Dinaric Alps and dotted with castles. Its inland capital, Zagreb, is distinguished by its medieval Gornji Grad (Upper Town) and diverse museums. The major coastal city Dubrovnik has massive 16th-century walls encircling an Old Town with Gothic and Renaissance buildings.

Croatia runs along the Adriatic for more than a thousand miles, and more than a thousand islands sit off it. Behind the coast the Dinaric Alps rise up fast, and there are castles scattered through the hills where you least expect them. Zagreb, the capital, is inland and often skipped, which is a shame. Its medieval Upper Town, Gornji Grad, is best walked in the early evening, and the museums there are some of the most characterful in this part of Europe. Down south, Dubrovnik still has the sixteenth century walls wrapped right around its Old Town, with Gothic and Renaissance streets inside them.

What the guidebooks tend to miss is how different one stretch of this coast is from the next. Istria in the north feels almost Italian, with truffles, olive oil and hill towns like Motovun. Split grew up inside a Roman palace and still lives in it. Hvar, Brac, Vis and Korcula each have their own character, and the good beaches are rarely the ones in the brochure. Plitvice Lakes and Krka are worth the drive inland, ideally early, before the coaches arrive.

Where Croatia sits

Map

Get your bearings before you go

Where Croatia begins and ends Towns we know by name

A few of the places we know well in Croatia: Dubrovnik Split Hvar Zagreb Plitvice Lakes Rovinj Zadar , and plenty more

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Croatia

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