Extended private tour through 5 national parks and gems of urban medieval architecture

If you live in a bustling city, there is no way you don’t enjoy escaping to the outdoors. Whether you’re an ordinary nature-lover, experienced outdoorsman, or just a city-dweller dreaming of resting your eyes on some green, there’s no better place to experience it than by visiting Croatia. Nine per cent of the country is designated as a natural protected area. Among the 444 protected areas of Croatia, there are 8 national parks, 2 strict reserves and 11 nature parks. Five national parks you will visit offer a mix of everything you love, from mountainous sceneries, famous lakes and waterfalls to streams and numerous “photo opportunity” locations.

While you may not identify as an "architecture buff", surely you are a traveller who acknowledges refined classical architecture. We’ll take you through cities and towns wherein each stone lies a story, and some buildings construction dates count not in centuries, but millennia.

Before you start your trip, take a minute to get acquainted with the places you are about to visit.

Zagreb

Zagreb is extraordinary, offering to its visitors a baroque-like feeling of the Upper Town, green parks and promenades, top culinary pleasures and a relaxing atmosphere. The city provides a great example of a central European metropolis of relaxed Mediterranean rhythm. You can hear quite often that Zagreb is a tailor-made city, not too big, not too small, yet big enough to offer the feeling of a European metropolis, and small enough to be covered on foot.

Opatija

Since Roman times Opatija has been a „spa town“offering rest and recreation to its numerous visitors. With all the sun-drenched pleasures of the European resort town, its grand villas, subtropical botanical gardens, old-style grand hotels, wide boulevards and busy marinas.

Pula

Pula, a seafront city on the tip of Croatia’s Istrian Peninsula, is known for its protected harbour, beach-lined coast and Roman ruins. The population of Pula stands at just over 62,000 making it the largest city in Istria. Its most famous attraction, the well preserved Roman amphitheatre, is one of the most famous sights in the whole of Croatia.

Poreč

Visit the antique town of Poreč and its complex of sacral buildings erected during the time of Bishop Euphrasius (6th century AD). One of the reasons why this complex is registered on the UNESCO's List of World Cultural Heritage is also the apse of Basilica which is with its ornamental decorations with figural mosaics one of the most remarkable examples of the mosaic art in Europe.

Zadar

Situated at the crossroads of maritime and mainland routes, Zadar County offers explorers 3,000 years of culture, secluded islands and a crystal-clear sea, wild mountains and turquoise rivers. Zadar's historic strength is visible at every corner. The Zadar Forum, the central square of an ancient Roman city, is the largest on the east Adriatic coast. And don’t forget - in Zadar you can always sit next to the Sea Organ, a one-of-a-kind instrument embedded in the waterfront, and listen to the music created by the waves.

Šibenik

Šibenik is the oldest Croatian city on the Adriatic with the famous Cathedral of St. James, inscribed on the UNESCO World Heritage site. The harmonious Cathedral of St. James is the only cathedral in Europe that is made entirely of stone. You won't find any traces of mortar, wood, iron or roof tiles, even in its complex structural frame. This cathedral is the most important architectural monument in Croatia, dating back to the 15th and 16th centuries, and it was constructed using methods that wouldn't be applied elsewhere until centuries later.

Trogir

The small medieval island town of Trogir has been under the protection of the UNESCO. The Cathedral of St. Lawrence, built in the 13th century is one of the most significant monuments in Trogir. Its preserved old town, known for its mix of Renaissance, Baroque and Romanesque buildings, lies on a small island connected to the mainland and the island of Čiovo by bridges.

Dubrovnik

The walls of Dubrovnik girdle a perfectly preserved complex of public and private, sacral and secular buildings representing all periods of the city's history, beginning with its founding in the 7th century. Famous are the city's main promenade Stradun, the Rector's Palace, the church of St. Vlaho, the Cathedral, three large monasteries and the City Hall. The Republic of Dubrovnik was the centre of a separate political and territorial entity during the medieval times, and was proud of its culture, its achievements in commerce and especially of its freedom, preserved down so many tempestuous centuries.

Plitvice Lakes National Park

Nestled in the embrace of the surrounding wooded mountains are sixteen smaller and larger crystal turquoise lakes, Plitvice Lakes are interconnected by foaming cascades and deep falls. The park includes the headwaters of the Korana River in an area surrounded by dense forests and is additionally ornamented by several caves, springs and flower-filled meadows, which show the vast diversity of flora and fauna in the national park.

Brijuni National Park

The archipelago of Brijuni is noted for its valuable cultural heritage from the Roman and Byzantine times. Due to its extraordinary beauty, the Brijuni islands have been, for over a hundred years now, a favourite tourist destination of world statesmen and aristocracy and were formerly the summer residence of President Tito, the leader of Yugoslavia. This group of two larger and twelve smaller islets with a total area of only 7 km2 is known for its preserved Mediterranean vegetation, which is partly landscape and partly national park.

Kornati National Park

A stunning ‘island’ national park with 89 islands, islets and reefs, Kornati National Park stretches over the area of about 220 km2 (54.000 acres). It’s a prime spot for swimming, or snorkeling or diving as well as enjoying the gorgeous surroundings and tranquil nature of the islands. In 1980, the eighty-nine southernmost of the 140-odd islands, islets and reefs of the Kornati archipelago was declared a national park, Nacionalni Park Kornati, protecting the islands and their marine surroundings. The area covered by the National Park mostly coincides with the Donji Kornati, which includes the island of Kornat and the surrounding islets, separated with a channel from the island of Piškera and the surrounding islets.

Krka National Park

Another stunning park with numerous waterfalls, the location of Krka National Park (close to the Dalmatian coast) makes this a popular place worth visiting. Its 17 cascades stretch over 800 m of the riverbed. The water foams and leaps over barriers, sparkling with a turquoise tint in the calmer parts.

The island of Visovac (on which there is a monastery from the 18th century) is one of the attractions in the park. Taking one of the excursion boats is a great way of making your way through Krka National Park.

Mljet National Park

Mljet National Park covers about a third of the green island of Mljet, off the coast of south Dalmatia. The Park was given National Park status in 1960. A lush and tranquil place covered with forests, Mljet National Park is ideal for those who want some relaxation in a gorgeous setting. 

Some historians are convinced that, by describing Ogygia, Homer wrote about the island of Mljet. Well, whatever the fact may be, a cave bearing the name of Odysseus, that Greek adventurer, still stands there carved in stone.

Popular theories that have taken root on Mljet also speculate that it was here that that St. Paul shipwrecked rather than Malta. St. Paul's Rock has borne the name of the shipwrecked saint for quite some time now, while the moniker Odysseus' Cave is more recent.