Travel

April 2, 2023 - A new level of quality souvenir shop has arrived on the Dalmatian coast, as Discover Croatia opens its doors at Dubovnik's poshest address after a very successful start in Split.  Souvenir shops.  Love them or hate them, they are everywhere in tourist destinations, usually plying tacky plastic souvenirs that nobody wants or needs.  Having lived in a tourist destination for 13 years on Hvar, I was well acquainted with the offers, but never tempted to buy. Occasionally, over the years, there have been some very innovative attempts to present to the best of Croatian produce and…

March 30, 2023 - Where is the best place to live in Croatia? The case for the capital, Zagreb. A few years ago, I suggested to the TCN writers at the time that we do a series called Where is the Best Place to Live in Croatia. As we were bigger in number and located all over the country, I thought it might make for an interesting series. And so it proved, with the three submissions we published: Where is the Best Place to Live in Croatia? The Case for Rijeka Where is the Best Place to Live in Croatia?…

March 30, 2023 - It's March, the sun is out, we might just be safe from the notorious bura, and Split is looking as magnificent as ever. To quote TCN's own Paul Bradbury, Dalmatia is a little like malaria. Once it gets in your blood, you are screwed for life. And once you visit it during the shoulder season, you're screwed in an entirely new way. Try and resist it, though. Ambasador Easter offer is there to aid your decision. We wrote about the spring period as the perfect time to head down to Dalmatia and enjoy the many benefits of empty…

March 26, 2023 - Ryanair posts some impressive Zagreb results for 2022, as Zagreb Airport launches incentives for airlines to connect to an additional 16 destinations.  For years, Zagreb did not have a low-cost carrier of note, save for a couple of (often seasonal) routes.  The arrival of Ryanair, which established a base in the Croatian capital in 2021, changed all that.  The strongest challenge that Croatia Airlines has perhaps faced, the Irish airline started with a very impressive schedule, connecting Zagreb dozens of destinations all over Europe. Last year, the low-cost carrier noted: “Currently, we are really satisfied with…

March 26, 2023 - One more milestone for Croatia, as its airports officially join the Schengen Zone. Internal flight to Paris, anyone? There are many ways of looking at Croatia and its progress as a young democracy. Today was the latest milestone.  One of them is in milestones. There have been quite a few over the last decade or so. 2009 - Croatia joins NATO. 2013 - Croatia joins the European Union. 2022 - Croatia gets visa-free travel to the United States. 2022 - Croatia signs double taxation agreement with the United States. 2022 - The Peljesac Bridge opens, connecting…

March 24, 2023 - A new pearl of tradition has been formed right in the heart of Slavonia - the Museum of Becarac Interpretation centre offers an entirely new impression of this region. Can Slavonia compete with Dalmatia and Istria, the generators of tourism in Croatia? The answer is simple - no. And it doesn't need to. Croatia, as a very colourful country, geographically, climatically, and in terms of food and gastronomy offer, cannot have competition between its regions but rather have them complement each other for the complete tourist offer of the country. At the first mention of Slavonia and…

March 19, 2023 - Croatia is a land of stories - meet one of the more unusual ones, a British corner of eastern Croatia in the latest from the Fat Vlogger.  What is the most random thing you have seen in your time in Croatia? On my first visit to Vinkovci a few years ago, claimed as the oldest continuously inhabited town in Europe, stood something totally bizarre.  A red British telephone box.  How the hell did it get there, and why? And so began a rather fascinating journey and one of the most unusual stories of my time in…

March 19, 2023 - Can Croatia become a 12-month Mediterranean tourist leader? That and many other thought-provoking topics at this year's 3T Tourism, Travel and  Tech conference, reports Cimerfraj.    The annual 3T conference was held with a number of experts and conclusions: AI cannot replace humans, Croatia can still be a leader in realizing the maximum sustainability of tourism in the Mediterranean, and the offer for year-round tourism is not at all questionable. On Wednesday, March 15, 2023, the 3T - Tourism, Travel & Tech conference was held. On that chilly morning at the dawn of another spring, conference…

March 14, 2023 - It's mid-March, the sun is out, we might just be safe from the notorious bura, and Split is looking as magnificent as ever. To quote TCN's own Paul Bradbury, Dalmatia is a little like malaria. Once it gets in your blood, you are screwed for life. And once you visit it during the shoulder season, you're screwed in an entirely new way. Try and resist it, though. Paul Bradbury While in the summer you might still want to visit the Dalmatian islands and the charming little places along the Adriatic coast, Split is a city that offers…

March 7, 2023 - A business trip to Medjimurje in early March turned out to be a VERY pleasant tourism experience.  It is the smallest of all the Croatian counties, and the northernmost, nestled next to now borderless Slovenia and Hungary. And despite the fact I lived just a few kilometres from its capital of Cakovec during my time in Varazdin, Medjimurje is the county that I know least well in this fair land. Apart from one quite extraordinary 24 hours there with the Gastronaut legendica Karin Mimica back in 2016 (Read more in Gastronaut Discovers the Mystical Tastes and Traditions…