November 6, 2020 - Three solar-powered boats, completely made in Croatia, can be found sailing on the Mljet lakes. 

"They are great because we can show how we care for Croatian production at the National Park, but above all, about protecting nature because they are boats that emit zero pollution," said the director of the Mljet National Park, Ivan Sršen, for HRT.

"All three ships bear the names of our people who died in the Homeland War."

These boats can sail for 5 hours at a speed of 5 knots. While they can reach 9 knots, that speed is not necessary to sail on the lake. If there are days without sun, the boats can be connected electrically, though Sršen claims they haven't needed to so far.

Mljet National Park, the oldest protected marine area in the Mediterranean, is celebrating its 60th anniversary this year. The magical island of Odysseus is known for the phenomenon of salty Mljet lakes and a 400-year-old coral reef. 

"The magical island of Odysseus is known for the phenomenon of the salty Mljet lakes because they are connected to the open sea by the Solin channel and every 6 hours, based on the tides, the sea enters the lakes, and every 6 hours, it leaves the lake and creates this current under the big and small bridge," explains the head of the Department for Tourism and Promotion of NP Mljet, Diana Dabelić

Mljet's underwater world is enchanting, boasting coral that stretches over 650 square meters. It is 300-400 years old.

"It is famous because it is full of life. The biodiversity is great, a real natural phenomenon," said Petar Kružić from the Faculty of Science in Zagreb.

"Grouper breeds in the Great Lake, 90 percent of the groupers we have on Mljet breed in the Great Lake. Larger fish also come here," points out Kružić.

This year, only 25% of last year's tourist traffic was realized at Mljet NP, but crowds are not a priority here.

Diana Dabelić added that it was important that visitors who came to the oldest marine protected area are firstly satisfied with the service provided. 

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, there will be no grand 60th birthday celebration for Mljet National Park. However, the implementation of several projects financed by European funds is underway.

You can watch the full video about the magical world of Mljet on HRT.

To read more about lifestyle in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

September 23, 2020 – Following incredible success with Game Of Thrones, Mamma Mia and others, Croatia filming locations prove to be the best again as HBO's Succession wins 7 Emmys

Historic Dubrovnik was always pretty enough to attract people from far and wide. Dubrovnik has a lot of sights to visit. In addition, it offers many activities such as hiking, cycling, sailing, boat ride, Seabob experience etc. But, following its appearance in TV show Game Of Thrones, interest in visiting the walled city went through the roof. Tourists were not the only ones who wanted to come.

HBO drama Succession is just the latest hit to take advantage of the spectacular scenery while filming in Croatia. The show has just bagged no less than seven prestigious Emmy awards for the season partially filmed in Croatia. In the drama series category, it picked up Emmys for Best Leading Male Role, Best Guest Role, Best Casting, Best Directing, Best Screenplay and Best Picture Editing.

Cast members filmed aboard a yacht with beautiful Croatia and its Adriatic waters as the backdrop © HBO

The shooting took place over 12 days in July 2019, primarily on a yacht on which the show's central characters, the Roy family, were taking a holiday. The Croatia filming locations used were the waters around Cavtat, Korcula, Mljet and Sipan. The series ventured into more urban areas of Croatia and, for those scenes, filming locations in Zagreb and Rijeka were sourced. The German-built Solandge was the yacht used in the filming and costs as much as $1.1million (£850,000) to rent for one week.

The Roy family aboard the yacht Solandge in Croatian waters © HBO

Now in its third season, Succession centres on the dysfunctional Roy family, owners of a global media and hospitality empire. It stars British actor Brian Cox as the ailing family patriarch with Kieran Culkin heading up the otherwise all-American cast. A total of 613 people worked on the shooting of Succession in Croatia, of which 595 were Croatian (161 film workers, three trainees and 431 extras).

Solandge is currently one of the most luxurious yachts in the world © Moran Yachts

In recent years, major movies such as Star Wars, Robin Hood and one installment in the long-running James Bond series have joined the likes of Game Of Thrones and Mamma Mia in enjoying Croatia filming locations. However, filming in Croatia goes back much further than that. During the 1970s and early 1980s, no less than three Oscar-winning movies used Croatia filming locations - Fiddler on the Roof (1971), The Tin Drum (1979) and Sophie’s Choice (1982).

You can read more about filming in Croatia and Croatian filming locations by reading our dedicated section here

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

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ZAGREB, September 20, 2020 - Over 100 junk cars have been removed from the southern national park island of Mljet as part of a campaign carried out this past week by the environmental group Zelene Stope in cooperation with their island hosts.

It was part of a nationwide campaign, called "Let's clear Croatia of junk cars", which has been carried out for 16 years by Zelene Stope, car maker Renault and the CIOS waste management company.

To date, more than 16,000 abandoned old cars have been removed from the country's national parks and nature parks, including 500 from Mljet island.

Over four days last week, more then 100 junk cars were discovered on Mljet and ferried to the mainland free of charge. These were apparently the last wrecks and the mayor, Djivo Market, said that this could be the last such campaign on the island.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

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August 20, 2020 – Croatian coast a hit in August 2020 with international pop stars including Lepa Brena and Lily Allen

Croatia's coast has once again proved an irresistible draw to holidaying celebrities. The latest famous arrivals include regional pop megastar Lepa Brena and hit British singer Lily Allen.

Both Lepa Brena and Lily Allen have taken to their social media accounts over recent hours to announce their arrival in the country. Each has posted pictures of their vacations on the beautiful, sun-soaked coast of Dalmatia.

Lepa Brena, the revered originator of the massively popular regional pop-folk sound posted pictures from Mljet island, but Lily Allen has already travelled between Lastovo and Vis island. And while photos taken by Brena have been all about the beautiful Croatian scenery, Lily's have been smiling selfies as she thoroughly enjoys a break with her family. Here's how they saw Croatia through their social media on the first days of their visits.

Lepa Brena









Lily Allen

All images sourced from Instagram

July 13, 2020 -  Dubrovnik, the 'Pearl of the Adriatic' and Croatia's tourism star, is struggling to resume tourism post-lockdown.

The forecasts for the tourist season in Dubrovnik at the beginning of spring were not so bad, and probably much better than the actual outcome. It seemed then as if the coronavirus would disappear with the heat, tourists would travel, and most stakeholders in tourism were hopeful that the situation would improve significantly for the better. At the time, Dubrovnik unofficially said that they hoped for a turnover of at least 30 percent compared to last year. But that did not happen, reports Dubrovnik Daily.

Croatia is still recording new cases of infection, and according to the eVisitor guest check-in and check-out system, on July 5, 2020, 2,145 guests stayed in Dubrovnik, which is only 13 percent of the total number of guests last year on the same date, when 24 824 overnight stays were realized. According to the Dubrovnik Tourist Board, Dubrovnik's hotel accommodation currently has the largest number of guests from Germany, Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina, while Germans, French and Poles mostly stay in private accommodation.

Dubrovnik caterers also hoped for a better situation at the beginning of the season. The president of the Dubrovnik Association of Caterers and the owner of the Otto tavern, Ante Vlasic, says that the current income they generate will not be enough to cover basic expenses. For that, as he says, at least 20 percent of the turnover should be realized compared to last season, but much less is realized.

"Most of my colleagues generate turnover and revenue of up to 10 percent compared to last year. This roughly coincides with the number of guests coming to Dubrovnik, about which we regularly receive information from the Dubrovnik Tourist Board. Maybe that percentage is even slightly lower because we lost daily excursionists, for example, from BiH and Montenegro, and cruise guests," said Vlasic.

According to him, no one prepared for the new situation, especially because last season was a record, and a reduction in VAT was even announced for this one, which would be an additional relief for caterers.

"People have made big investments that will not pay off for them now. We expected the situation to change significantly from June, but that did not happen. For example, my store operated in June at a rate of five percent of revenue compared to June last year. The least damage is caused by catering establishments that work all year round and which mainly serve drinks, some of them work at 30 percent of the usual traffic, and some at 50 percent, which is much more, but such are only two or three bars in Dubrovnik," said Vlasic, adding that he hopes that'll change after July 15, when, according to the announcements, more planes should land in Dubrovnik. Vlasic believes that it is necessary to carry out activities that would attract guests because there are many positive examples in Europe.

"Greek Mykonos is almost full, Italy is filling up very quickly, as is the French coast, Provence, and they were in a much worse situation than ours when it comes to the epidemiological picture and the situation around the coronavirus pandemic," says Vlasic.

Compared to restaurants, coffee bars that are open all year round and frequented by the local population are somewhat better. One of them is the cafe bar 'Antika' in Lapad Bay, owned by Zlatko Begusic, otherwise the president of the Association of Craftspeople Dubrovnik.

"Traditionally, we have a lot of local people from the City who come to have a drink, but the traffic is not even close to last season, let's say it is 50 percent lower. Cafes earn less than last year, but will survive, especially those outside the city, in Gruz or Lapad. Also, last year I had six waiters because there was such a need, now I have three," said Begusic.

Private landlords are rightly particularly concerned, because, for most of them, winter means investments and preparations for the season in which everything invested should return. But that didn’t happen this year. Slavica Grkes, vice president of the professional group of travel agencies at the Croatian Chamber of Commerce and owner of the Dominium travel agency, says that the drop in their agency's turnover by July 1 is 94.67 percent. And when it comes to renting, there are some new trends.

"As far as renting is concerned, we record more reservations on Mljet and Peljesac than in Dubrovnik, and those related to Dubrovnik are mostly last-minute overnight stays for units that have parking. We are selling the cheapest and most luxurious accommodation we have to offer," said Grkes.

When it comes to prices, Grkes claims that almost everyone has lowered them, some even up to 60 percent, and some have decided not to rent their housing units for tourist purposes.

"We closed about 20 percent of the accommodation units for tourist rentals because the owners decided to rent those units for a longer period of time or not rent them at all, for fear of being infected with COVID. We hope for the arrival of planes, a better epidemiological picture, but also an extension of the measures. Everyone has mostly written off this season, but I sincerely hope and cannot come to terms with the fact that everything we have been building for years will disappear," said Grkes.

Although for many years they criticized cruise guests and the crowds in the City attributed to them, it has now been shown that they are also a very important factor in Dubrovnik tourism, which suffers losses due to the absence of cruise ships.

Thus, revenues from cruisers this year, compared to last year, are lower by 96 percent, and the Port of Dubrovnik, according to the data provided, is expected to record a decline in revenues when it comes to yachts (96 percent less revenue), lines (94 percent less revenue) and ship’s storage (63 percent less revenue).

In the port of Gruz, 362 ships that would bring about 550 thousand passengers were canceled, and nine of them were realized, with 3,532 passengers. For comparison, last year, there were 486 boat trips that brought over 768 thousand guests.

From January to May 2020, Dubrovnik-Neretva County had the most cruises in Croatia, 73.3 percent of them. The port of Dubrovnik had the most visits by foreign cruise ships, followed by Korcula, Split, Sibenik and Zadar.

In addition to the Dubrovnik Port Authority, Dubrovnik Airport also recorded losses, as did other airports around the world. According to the report of the 'European Airport Council' ACI-Europe, from January 1 to June 28, 2020, European airports lost 748 million passengers, while Croatian airports realized almost 800 thousand passengers in the first half of the year, while last year alone in June it was 1.6 million.

In the first seven days of July, 7,800 passengers and 272 aircraft landings took off at Dubrovnik Airport, which is an increase compared to the previous week by 78 percent in the number of passengers and 39 percent in the number of operations, said ZL Dubrovnik.

This may be good news in the new situation in which car destinations profit somewhat more than air destinations, including Dubrovnik. Therefore, it is not surprising that all hopes are placed on flights that could be the only ones to save this year's tourist season, reports the Dubrovnik daily.

For the latest travel info, bookmark our main travel info article, which is updated daily. 

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The first version of the story of a mysterious object found in the sea near Mljet seemed somewhat strange, but now that new details are coming out, it seems to be completely unbelievable.

This morning, the Croatian media reported on fishermen near the southern Dalmatian island of Mljet finding a strange, large object in their fishing nets. The story was originally reported on Morski.hr's website, which described the 130 cm wide box, weighing around a hundred kilograms, which destroyed the nets in which it was caught. The site also connects this object with the very unusual path an American naval research vessel USNS Bruce Heezen took after leaving Rijeka. It was there at the Viktor Lenac shipyard, undergoing the regular maintenance, and after that... well, let's just say you have to see their path for yourself in order to believe it:

(Screenshot from the VesselFinder also taken from the Morski.hr website)

The box contained some information which indicates that it was supposed to be delivered to Rijeka by DHL, and no definite identification of what exactly it was has been found.

And then comes the second part of the story: Darko Kunac Bigava, the fisherman who found the object, confirmed to Morski.hr that he has been contacted by the American vessel and that they've requested that he returns it to them. He refuses to do so until he is reimbursed for the damages done to his nets, and confirms that he has spoken to Croatian Coast Guard personnel who are on the American vessel. Morski.hr also confirms that the Americans know, as well as the Croatian Ministry of Defence, what the device was doing at the location, but are unable to make any comments for the media currently. An anonymous source also confirmed that it's a HIPAP device (link opens a .pdf document), used for the underwater navigation and can be used for various purposes.

UPDATE 1: At 12:49 Vlatka Polšak Palatinuš writes for tportal that several Americans, accompanied by the members of the Croatian Coast Guard came to his boat, paid him the amount of money he requested for the damages on his nets, and took the device with them.

We're certain the story of the mysterious object will continue to impress the Croatian public and the media, and we'll update it as more information becomes available.

Mljet National Park is a truly stunning natural wonder not too far from the popular city of Dubrovnik in the extreme south of Dalmatia. While visited by many during the warm summer months, the island empties out quite significantly during the rest of the year. Seeing and appreciating this emerald park during the cooler months and with less tourists around is an opportunity worth taking.

As Morski/Lucija Radulj writes on the 12th of October, 2019, within the project for the improvement of the system of sustainable management, tourist valorisation and interpretation of the natural heritage in the area of ​the Mljet National Park (NP Nljet) - Mljet, the Odyssy of the Mediterranean and the Public Institution of Mljet National Park in cooperation with the Mljet Tourist Board, the Deša Association and the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service (HGSS) will organise the very first Mljet Outdoor Festival on the 19th and the 20th of this month.

The aim of the event is to enable Mljet's visitors to get better acquainted with the diversity and the sheer natural beauty of this much loved national park in southern Dalmatia, as well as the gastronomic offer of Croatia's greenest island through recreational activities and participation in various workshops.

The Mljet Outdoor Festival is being held as part of a project co-financed by the European Union from the European Regional Development Fund and the Office for NGOs of the Government of the Republic of Croatia and is primarily aimed at optimising visits to the National Park, raising awareness of the natural and cultural values of this protected area and contributing to the economic well-being of the local community and the sustainable development of the island by improving its visitor system, visitor infrastructure and educational programs.

As such, all those who come to Pomena on Mljet on October the 19th and 20th will be free to cycle, walk, hike and exercise in organised groups and participate in gastro workshops, which will prepare traditional dishes from the island.

In addition, everyone in attendance can expect to enjoy a live concert rounded off with a traditional fisherman's dinner on Saturday night.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle page for much more.

May 12, 2019 - Putting Croatian adventure tourism on the map, with the biggest welcome in the world. Day 51 of this incredible 2011 adrenaline trip covering 2,500 km along the Croatian coast. 

The World's Biggest Welcome, an ambitious adventure tourism project in 2011 in Croatia enters Day 51 of this 2019 appreciation of one of the finest tourism promotion projects ever in Croatia.  

The plan? To showcase the diversity and fabulous offer of adventure tourism in Croatia by following a GPS route the length of the Croatian coast in the shape of the word 'Welcome' - thereby creating the biggest welcome in the world from a hospitable tourism country. 

Day 51 moved from Korčula to Saplunara on the island of Mljet. 

74 kilometres for the day: 9 km bike ride from Korčula to Lumbarda, followed by 20 km by kayak from Lumbarda to Pomena, and 45 km walking and cycling from Pomena to Saplunara to continue forming the ‘E’ in ‘Welcome’.

Day 51 began in Korčula at cape Raznjic before Lacko set off towards Mljet.

The rest of the team on their way to Pomena.

The team arrived at Mljet National Par. You can spot the Benedictine monastery and church on the island of Sveta Marija in Veliko jezero.

And Lacko. 

Lacko arriving at the dock on Veliko jezero.

The dock on Veliko jezero.

The team spotted sugar cane on the island of Mljet. 

And some mud. 

Lacko began cycling towards Saplunara. 

And spotted small islands along the way. 

A quick descent to Saplunara. 

A key part of the project was promoting tourism, and the official website has details of the key places visited during the day. 

You can see the entire project on the Welcome website, as well as much more of Luka Tambaca's stunning photography on the Welcome Facebook page. 

Tune in tomorrow for Day 52, the final day of the journey as Lacko moves from Saplunara to Dubrovnik. 

To follow the whole project from the start, follow the dedicated TCN page. 

The traditional "Mljet Visit" (Pohod na Mljet) for numerous Croatian hikers is organized again this year. This will be the 14th time the trip is planned for hikers to visit the Dalmatian island with a long tradition of mountain hiking.
This year the theme of the Mljet Visit will be the celebration of the final extension of the hiking trail on Mljet, called the Mljet Thru-hiking Trail (Mljetska planinarska obilaznica). The trail was opened in 2012, and up until this year, it was 40 kilometres long, connecting Pomena at the western-most tip of the long Mljet island with Sobra, a village in the central part of the island. This year, another 22 kilometres were added to the trail, which now connects Sobra with Saplunara, located at the eastern-most tip of the island. So, while hiking is probably not the first thing that comes to most minds when Dalmatian islands are mentioned, the island of Mljet hopes to attract many hikers, interested in seeing a completely different side of a sunny island.
A detailed map of the trail, as well as the GPS trail and extensive photo documentation of the trail have been created, and you can get the trail journal and guide for the entire length of the island. There are over 20 controls on the trail, and the people who worked on it say that it took around 20 hours of hiking for the Pomena-Sobra trail, so probably a bit over 30 hours for the entire length of the island.
Mljet Hiking Club as well as several hiking clubs from Zagreb (Vihor, Željezničar, Zagreb-Matica), eco-associations from Mljet and local community worked together to finish the trail, so in late April and early May they're all celebrating with two group hiking visits to Mljet. The groups will be based in Pomena, in Odisej Hotel, and will be hiking and visiting as much of the island as possible during their 5 days on Mljet.
During that period another interesting activity will take place on Mljet: Lush, a global eco-friendly cosmetics giant, is taking their Croatian employees to Mljet, where they will team-build by cleaning the beaches of Saplunara and Velike and Male Blace. Lush has been supporting the great #PočistiDalje action by the Zelene Stope Association, which has been removing car wrecks from nature all over Croatia, and have removed over 15,000 of those in the past 10 years. You can even help by reporting a car wreck if you find one yourself here.

Dubrovnik is no stranger to winning awards and you're probably used to reading about it, but this area in the extreme south of Dalmatia continues to fascinate the world for an abundance of reasons. From its stunning natural beauty and crystal clear sea, to its rich history and equally impressive culture, the Pearl of the Adriatic and its immediate surrounding area just keep on making the world's jaws drop.

This time however, it isn't just the famous Dalmatian UNESCO protected old city and its mighty walls which are taking home yet another award for a promotional film made about its unique beauty, but the wider area of Dubrovnik-Neretva County. This truly picturesque part of southern Croatia boasts an almost equal amount of natural beauty and history, and from Ston to Konavle next to the Montenegrin border, you'll likely have your breath taken away multiple times.

As Morski writes on the 11th of April, 2019, the brand new promotional film from the Dubrovnik-Neretva County Tourist Board, ''Dubrovnik Riviera'' continues to win awards and receive recognition from all sides. To be more precise, at the 2019 New York Festivals® International Film and TV awards festival, which was held in Las Vegas, Nevada, the promo film showcasing Dubrovnik-Neretva County's sheer beauty came third place and won the bronze plaquette.

To briefly recall, at the recent ''The Golden City Gate'' ceremony in Berlin, Germany, at the biggest international ITB World Tourism Fair, the promotional film came second place in the category of regional films, the film has been made by Balduci Film from Zagreb, was directed by Herve Tirmarche and produced by Spomenka Saraga. The film depicts the beauty of Dubrovnik-Neretva County from the Neretva valley, to the islands of Korčula and Mljet, and then Croatia's southernmost municipality of Konavle, which borders Montenegro.

Make sure to follow our dedicated lifestyle and travel pages for much more. If it's just Dubrovnik and southern Dalmatia you're interested in, have a look at Dubrovnik in a Page for everything you need to know about the Rearl of the Adriatic.