December 3, 2021 – On International Day of Disabled Persons, we take a look at how inclusive Šibenik makes this a welcoming city for everyone

Lying on a truly unique stretch of Croatia's coast, the city of Šibenik is famous for many things.

History, heritage and events

Barone Fortress © Šibenik Tourist Board

Sitting above the city are three fortresses. Historically, they defended Šibenik from attack made by any possible direction. There's another fortress below the city, in the middle of St. Anthony's channel. It guards the entrance to Šibenik from the sea and is a UNESCO protected heritage site. It's not the only one here.

Events at Barone Fortress © Šibenik Tourist Board

Šibenik's spectacular Cathedral of St. James is also a UNESCO heritage site. Understandably so. It's an architectural treasure. These five titanic landmarks are cornerstones of Šibenik Old Town. Its historic streets are among the most charming and atmospheric in Croatia. During warmer months, Šibenik's renowned music, children's, dance, theatre and cinema events spill out onto these streets.

Special gastronomy

Inclusive Šibenik: Bakalar (salt cod), served traditionally with potatoes © Maja Danica Pečanić

Šibenik has long been known for its classic Mediterranean brunches – marenda. For as long as anyone can remember, these simple yet tasty dishes have been enjoyed casually in the back streets and stone-paved alleys of Šibenik Old Town.

Inclusive Šibenik: Octopus © Maja Danica Pečanić

Consistently voted Croatian Restaurant of the Year, the international reputation of Šibenik restaurant Pelegrini received a boost in 2018 when it was awarded a Michelin star. Not only does it still hold the award, but its presence in the city has also helped raise the bar for fine dining throughout Šibenik's eateries.

Inclusive Šibenik © Maja Danica Pečanić

Furthermore, in the hills surrounding Šibenik, you'll discover some of Croatia's greatest small-scale wine producers. They might not be the most famous, but the winemakers of Šibenik-Knin County are consistently among the most highly decorated producers featured at elite international wine awards.

Landscape, nature and recreation

© Krka National Park

Few Mediterranean cities can boast natural assets like Šibenik's. And nowhere else looks exactly like this city.

Just 20 minutes drive from the town is Krka National Park. It is one of Croatia's most famous, most popular and most spectacular National Parks. Within 100 square kilometres of epic river valley, green wilderness and karst rock canyons, you'll discover seven spectacular waterfalls and a variety of birds and animals.

© Antonia Viljac / Šibenik Tourist Board

Closer to the city centre, St. Anthony's channel is a natural waterway that flows from Šibenik's sheltered harbour out to the open Adriatic. Running along the length of the channel's southern shore is one of Šibenik's best-loved areas of recreation. There you'll find St. Anthony's walking path and beaches with endless promenades.

Warm welcome

© Antonia Viljac / Šibenik Tourist Board

When talking about the distinct qualities of Šibenik, sooner or later you need to mention the welcome. Šibenik loves visitors. Šibenik residents appreciate nothing more highly than those who come to look and spend time here. That's why the city and Šibenik Tourist Board make a special effort to ensure Šibenik is accessible and a city for all. Recent EU project Tourism4all has helped to significantly improve Šibenik's ability to receive all visitors, including guests with disabilities and seniors.

Inclusive Šibenik History and Heritage: Fortresses and Old Town

Inclusive Šibenik © Šibenik Tourist Board

Šibenik Old Town wasn't designed with accessibility in mind. In fact, it wasn't strategically planned at all. Instead, the Old Town simply evolved over several centuries, rising up slopes when its expansion made that necessary. In total, there are over 2000 stairs and steps running through the Old Town. Charming to some, they are an obstacle for others. To help overcome those obstacles, Šibenik Tourist Board - with support from local associations of persons with disabilities - have mapped the accessibility of all the public buildings and tourist attractions. You can check out the map here.

Inclusive Šibenik © Šibenik Tourist Board

Experienced guides from the professional Association of Šibenik Tourist Guides Mihovil have recognised that, on average, at least one member of every guided tour group they lead has special needs. In response, they have invested time and effort to create tours adapted to the needs of persons with different disabilities. One additional tool that's been created to help visitors get around the city centre is a mobile phone app – Šibenik Audio Guide. It was designed with blind and partially sighted visitors in mind, although is useful for everyone. Šibenik Audio Guide is available in English, Italian, German and Croatian and is downloadable from Playstore and iStore.

Inclusive Šibenik: Barone Fortress © Šibenik Tourist Board

Further to these efforts, two of Šibenik's fortresses - St. Michael’s Fortress and Barone Fortress – have been reconstructed to be fully accessible to persons with disabilities. Inside the fortresses, you can learn how they helped defend Šibenik and more about the history of the city itself. One of the most breathtaking events spaces in Croatia, there's a spectacular backdrop of city, nature, sea and islands to performances at St. Michael’s Fortress. All of its dance, theatre, music and film events are fully accessible.

St. Michael’s Fortress

The Tourism4all project has supported the introduction of transport services - a minivan that is equipped for the transfer of wheelchair users visiting the city. It is operated by local NGO Aurora.

Discover the Šibenik food and drink that's right for you

Inclusive Šibenik: Brudet © Maja Danica Pečanić

Within recent memory, many places in Croatia struggled to cater for the growing number of vegetarian and vegan guests arriving at their destinations. But, great advances have been made over the last decade. Nowhere more so than the city of Šibenik, where you can access a food map specifically designed for those with food intolerances or distinct dietary needs.

© Baraka winery

Want to discover more about local food and the celebrated wine of Šibenik-Knin County? Baraka winery, just outside the city, is surrounded by vineyards and olive trees. Their new cookery classes have been designed to be accessible to all and are perfect for small groups. You'll learn to cook local dishes using ingredients popular to the region. Then, you'll enjoy lunch or dinner in these beautiful natural surroundings.

Inclusive Šibenik Nature, Wildlife and Recreation

Inclusive Šibenik © Antonia Viljac / Šibenik Tourist Board

The nature surrounding Šibenik is spectacular. Whatever your abilities or level of fitness, this nature can be enjoyed by all. Sections of Krka National Park with broad accessibility are specially designated by park authorities.

Inclusive Šibenik: Krka National Park 

There are numerous walks and hikes across the cityscape that are designed for people of all ages and abilities. Family groups with several different generations can enjoy untaxing strolls around St. Anthony's channel. Above the city, Šubićevac Forest Park has a fully equipped playground area, designed for inclusiveness and accessibility. You'll get incredible views from both these places.

Inclusive Šibenik: Dubrava Falconry Center © Šibenik Tourist Board

If you want to get up close to some of the animals that live in this area, then there are several options. Located in a dense pine forest less than 10 kilometres from Šibenik centre, at the Dubrava Falconry Center, you'll meet several different birds of prey.

Inclusive Šibenik: KK Kolan horseriding club at Farma Happy Horse © S. Živković

At Farma Happy Horse you'll meet horses and llamas. In fact, there's a range of domesticated animals waiting to greet you on this small family farm. They're all very friendly. Also, horse riding club KK Kolan operates on the farm. Their experienced team offer specially designed therapeutic horse riding sessions for children and teenagers with disabilities.

Accessible accommodation in Šibenik

© D-Resort Šibenik

D-Resort is a modern hotel resort at the side of Šibenik marina. It sits at the very end of a small, thin peninsula that stretches into Šibenik bay. Its light and spacious rooms have balconies that look out onto the bay, the city and the nature opposite. The hotel has 4 bars and lounges and, just next door, a spa area. The hotel has appointed rooms designed to be accessible and specifically with disabled guests in mind.

© D-Resort Šibenik

Visitors to Šibenik can take advantage of Šibenik Card and obtain various discounts, including 20% discount on accessible rooms at D-Resort. For more information about Šibenik Card, look here.

August 4, 2021 – Allowing free entrance to the city's best sights, plus discounts on everything from restaurants, activities, accommodation and a National Park, you can unlock the UNESCO city for less with Šibenik Card.

No fewer than 200 of Croatia's islands lie off the coast of Šibenik city and the wider Šibenik-Knin County. These are some of the very best waters for sailing in Croatia. Also, less than half an hour away, one of the most famous music festival sites in Europe (not to mention one of the best open-air nightclubs in the world).

Thousands of visitors pass within striking distance of Šibenik. Everyone has heard of the famous city – its famous fortresses, its Michelin-starred restaurant (Pelegrini), its Old Town, its UNESCO cathedral and its well-known events. There are countless reasons why anyone on holiday nearby should definitely make a stop in Šibenik. And, now there's one more.

Šibenik Card is a VIP passport to the city's best attractions. From the city's UNESCO Heritage Sites and Fortresses to Museums and boat trips, you'll get free entrance to many of the city's must-see destinations with Šibenik Card. Even greater is the discount offer that Šibenik Card also carries. Bargain price visits to Krka National Park, activities like canoeing, kayaking and cycling, restaurants even accommodation are included in the Šibenik Card discount scheme.

In fact, there are so many great things to see and do in Šibenik, you'd be well advised to set aside a long weekend or at least 48 hours if you want to truly discover this magical, reinvented city. Here's a suggested itinerary for two days in the city and how you can make the tour with the Šibenik card.

Šibenik Card: Day 1

8am: Cycling / Kayaking / Windsurfing in Šibenik

There are several great activities you can do if you want to get to know the geography of Šibenik. Kayaking will let you see the shoreline from close up. Windsurfing gives a wider perspective on the channel, not that you'll have much time for idly spectating on this thrilling ride. Taking a cycling tour between the city and either of the peninsula's between the centre and the open Adriatic is seriously one of the very best things to do in Šibenik. Amazing!

If you're visiting in summer, plan such activities for early in the morning, or late in the afternoon. Certainly, you can do activities during the strongest hours of summer sunshine in Šibenik – just make sure to apply generous amounts of high factor sunblock (a hat is also a good idea!). Alternatively, why not visit Šibenik for a long weekend in May, September or October. These months hold perfect warm, sunny days in which you can enjoy the great outdoors all day.

You receive 20% discount on all these activities with your Šibenik Card.

10.30am: Circle Boat Line / St. Nicholas Fortress

After getting your blood circulating first thing in the morning, you deserve to sit back, relax and let someone else do the work. There are few better ways to do this in Šibenik than on a boat. Why not take the Circle boat line? It's completely free with your Šibenik Card and it will allow you to cross all of the key points of the city's waterfront without ever going near a road. You can get on and off as many times as you like with your Šibenik card.

Alternatively, if you want to get acquainted with one of Šibenik's two UNESCO Heritage Sites, why not take the boat tour to St. Nicholas Fortress? You'll never have seen anything like it before. The photos are impressive enough, but they really don't depict the full offer. Not only are the fortress guides among the best in the city, but also there's a fascinating augmented reality aspect awaiting when you arrive.

You receive 20% discount on a guided tour of St. Nicholas Fortress with your Šibenik Card, including return boat trip from the city centre and down St. Anthony's channel.

1pm: Lunch

Some of Šibenik's best bars and restaurants offer generous discounts from your bill on the Šibenik Card, including;

-20%

Restoran Mendula, Ul. kralja Tomislava 15 A

SHE bio bistro, Zlarinski pro. 2

Bistro i kavana Pucalina, Ulica kralja Tomislava 9

-15%

Bistro Luce & Brigita, Obala dr. Franje Tuđmana 10A

-10%

Restoran Stari Grad, Obala dr. Franje Tuđmana 7

Restoran Pjat, Trg Pavla Šubića I 3

Pub & Wine bar Scala, Put Gimnazije 5

Restoran Peškarija, Obala palih omladinaca 10A

Restoran Stari Grad, Obala dr. Franje Tuđmana

2.30pm: Šibenik City Museum

Perhaps one of the most understated parts of the city offer, Šibenik City Museum holds fascinating exhibits of pottery, tools and architecture. You can trace the history of the peoples, culture and even the cuisine of those who've lived in the Šibenik area for millennia.

Free admission with Šibenik Card.

3.15pm: Civitas Sacra Museum

This cool and interactive museum tells the tale of the long and revolutionary construction of Šibenik's St. James Cathedral. Still very much a focal point of the city's Catholic worship, this museum is the best place to learn about the cathedral without intruding on solemn worship and attendance. It's the perfect place to visit in preparation for seeing the real thing up close.

Free admission with Šibenik Card.

4pm: St. James Cathedral

A UNESCO World Heritage site, Cathedral of St. James is a Renaissance masterpiece that took a century to build. On its facade are 71 different sculpted faces, said to be former residents of the town or contributors to the building. Try to look at as many as you can. You might be very surprised to see how some of Šibenik's former residents looked! After you've taken in the brilliant white exterior, prepare your senses for the celebration of colour inside.

Free admission with Šibenik Card.

5.30pm: Šibenik Old Town

One of the greatest pleasures of a visit to Šibenik is an unhurried walk around its Old Town. It is an incredibly atmospheric place, with countless unique winding alleys and stone stairways. Keep a look out for some fascinating architecture on your journey.

Unlike some ancient architecture in Croatia, the walls of Šibenik Old Town are completely free to walk around.

7pm: St Michael's Fortress

The first of Šibenik's fortresses to be renovated, St Michael's Fortress is one of the most iconic buildings in the city. Few pieces of architecture represent Šibenik better than this. Inside the fortress, you'll walk through floor-to-ceiling displays and find out about the former life of the fortress and its residents. From the roof, you'll enjoy spectacular views of the entire city, the Old Town and St. Anthony's channel. In the height of summer, this view is best enjoyed in the morning - before it becomes too hot - or at sunset. Unforgettable, as is catching a music, dance or culture event in 1000-seat theatre that now sits atop St Michael's.

Free admission with Šibenik Card.

8.00pm: Šibenik events

Throughout the whole year, Šibenik is alive with events. Depending on when you visit, you might find gastro festivals and cultural discussions in city parks, Children's processions through winding stone streets, dance festivals on public squares, incredible traditional and classical music performances and animation films projected on large screens in the heart of the city. Locals and visitors alike gather on the streets to enjoy. This is a city where some of the best culture takes place outside. And you're warmly invited to join in.

Šibenik's street events are all completely free.

9.00pm: Dinner

Dinner discounts are the same as those at lunch within restaurants accepting the Šibenik Card (see above).

11pm: A great night's sleep

You can get discounts at some of the city's very best accommodation offers with , including rooms to suit every budget or necessity. They include;

Amadria Park Resort 4* – 10% discount with Šibenik Card

Superior City Hotel Bellevue 4* – 15% discount with Šibenik Card

Heritage Hotel Life Palace 4* – 15% discount with Šibenik Card

D-Resort Šibenik 4* – 15% regular rooms, 20% accessible rooms

Hostel Scala – 10% discount with Šibenik Card

Šibenik Card: Day 2

8am: Krka National Park

7 magical waterfalls, boat rides to island monasteries, Neolithic caves, Roman heritage, an eco-ethno village, freshwater swimming, traditional cuisine, wildlife, spectacular nature, hiking and cycling trails. You could spend a week exploring Krka National Park and not get tired of the landscape or its offer. Unmissable.

20% discount at each of the Krka National Park entrances, throughout the whole year, with Šibenik Card.

1.30pm: Lunch

Back to the city for lunch in one of the restaurants accepting Šibenik Card.

3pm: Aquarium and Terrarium

Discover the world of Adriatic fish and plants as well as some tropical varieties. This is the perfect place to escape the heat of a midsummer afternoon.

Free with Šibenik Card

4pm: Šibenik Zip Line

Race across the spectacular scenery of the Cikola River Canyon, on the edge of Krka National Park, on Šibenik Zip Line. You'll run along a course of three separate lines, suspended hundreds of metres above the canyon floor. Thrillseekers will not be disappointed.

20% discount with Šibenik Card

5.30pm: Shopping in Šibenik

Searching for souvenirs from your time in Croatia? Looking to take back home something unique, handcrafted or locally designed? Want to pick up some nice new sunglasses for the rest of your holiday? There's nowhere better than the big city for shopping. A wide range of city stores and services offer discount with Šibenik Card. They include

Optika Glavadanovic –20%

Deni Design –20%

Gallery Juraj Dalmatinac –20%

Souvenir Shop Skrinjica –20%

Lana Art Gallery –20%

8.00pm: Barone Fortress

View from Barone

The most recently renovated of all Šibenik's fortresses (although, there's one more on the way!), Barone Fortress is unique in several ways. Firstly, it currently holds the most advanced augmented reality section of all the city fortresses. These vividly unlock the history of the building and the city. Secondly, this is the highest and furthest back of all the forts. As a result, the views you get from Barone are breathtaking, not least the sunset. Enjoy it with a glass of wine from the cool bar you'll find on the fortress top.

Free entrance with Šibenik Card

9.30pm: Dinner

Back to the city centre for dinner in one of the restaurants accepting Šibenik Card.

11pm: Romantic walk by moonlight along Šibenik waterfront, the perfect end to 48 hours in Šibenik.

You can buy Šibenik Card at:

Slaptours/Avalon Agency, Obala hrvatske mornarice 1, Šibenik.

Civitas Sacra, Interpretation Centre of the Cathedral of St. James, Kralja Tomislava 10, Šibenik.

Amadria Park Šibenik.

Souvenir shops in Amadria Park hotels.

Šibenik Tourist Board office, Tourist Information Center, Fausta Vrančića 18, or Obala palih omladinaca 3, Šibenik.

Vinoplod Winery Shop, Velimira Škorpika 2, Šibenik.

CoWorking space – Trokut Šibenik, Velimira Škorpika 7, Šibenik.

Or you can download a digital version to most phones here

Single card: 140 kn (approximately 19 €)

Family card - 2 adults, any number of children: 340 kn (approximately 45 €)

All photos © Šibenik Tourist Board or Marc Rowlands

May 17, 2021 - Jana+Matt are a travel couple on a challenge to become the 1st to visit all 1121 UNESCO World Heritage Sites. The UNESCO couple tells TCN about visiting Šibenik.

Hi there, Matt and Jana here. You may have met us on here a month ago, and now, one month later, we are still in Croatia! If you’ve missed our intro, we’re on an epic expedition to become to first on the planet to visit all UNESCO World Heritage Sites!

Our Croatian part of the Expedition started on the 12th of April, and we have just celebrated our first monthiversary road-tripping this beautiful country. 

We arrived in Croatia by bus from Prague in the Czech Republic. A full-day trip passing through both Austria and Slovenia. It was pretty cool seeing 4 countries in one day. 

We’ve had a lot of people asking what it’s like to travel during a global pandemic - it was surprisingly easy. There were only about 10 passengers on the bus, the time flew by, and before sunset, we arrived at the bus station in Zagreb. We only needed to show our negative Covid-19 tests, and that was it. Croatia is welcoming tourists, and we have definitely felt welcome everywhere we’ve visited so far. 

There are 10 UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Croatia, and we’re planning to visit all of them. Two of them are actually located in the same city - Šibenik, so let’s start there. We absolutely adored this charming Dalmatian town! You guys get comfy, and we’ll take you with us on this adventure, starting with our impressions from Šibenik. 

We started our day there with a guided tour of the Cathedral of St. James, the first UNESCO site in Šibenik. You might be wondering what makes a cathedral so special that in the year 2000, it was added to the list of World Heritage sites? The cathedral was built between the 15th and 16th century, and the entire structure was built only using stone! Even the dome is built entirely from stone, which makes it a thoroughly unique construction technique. It is also a beautiful blend of Gothic and Renaissance styles. It’s a gorgeous building inside and out; we were especially blown away by the baptistery, which is just beautiful. 

After the tour, we spent a good chunk of time just wandering around, getting lost in the charming streets and exploring hidden corners, one of our favourite activities in any city we visit. Our tour guide recommended a lovely local restaurant tucked away in one of those hidden corners, grandma-style cooking, which we love. 

We also popped into Civitas Sacra - a playful, fun, and interactive museum explaining the story of the Cathedral. Upstairs they have a restaurant with stunning views of the city; you can stop for a coffee or a bite and relax there.

In the evening, we hopped on a boat and headed to visit our second UNESCO site in Šibenik - St. Nicholas Fortress, one of the most important Venetian fortifications. Built in the 16th century to defend the port of Šibenik, which was at the time the most important port on the east coast of the Adriatic, from the Ottomans. The unique triangular fortress, accessible only by boat, makes for an exciting visit. We loved exploring the underground catacombs and prisons and imagining what life must have been like back then.

The boat took us through St. Anthony’s Channel, which was once a canyon of the Krka river, such a beautiful area full of biodiversity and the film location of Braavos in Game of Thrones!

Taking the boat back gave us a stunning panorama of the city, it’s really beautiful to see it from the sea. 

It was a bit crazy exploring the empty city, empty because of the pandemic, not because it’s not an exciting place, quite the opposite. We fell in love with Šibenik, its beautiful location on the coast, its historic centre, its 2 UNESCO sites, and its proximity to Krka National Park, where we spent another amazing day soaking up the beauty of nature and marvelling at waterfalls! 

This city has a special energy, and we hope you could feel at least a glimpse of it through our eyes. Now it’s time for you to pack your bags and see it for yourselves! And in the meantime, follow us at @GuideVenturous for daily updates from our Croatian adventure!

To learn more about Sibenik, check out our Total Croatia page. 

For more on travel in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page.

May 15th, 2021 - The historic core around the monastery of St. Frane, directly in the center, seems to have become the film set of the American series ‘Bones’. Human bones have been excavated in Šibenik. 

As Šibenikski reports, after the discovery of medieval graves under the stone paving on the route of the Šibenik Agglomeration in January this year, when the sewerage works stopped for a while until under the supervision of archaeologists and conservators from the ancient cemetery near the monastery more than 600 skulls have been excavated, a similar thing happened these days, about twenty meters away from the January find.

Namely, the Šibenik utility company 'Zeleni grad' last Thursday ordered a small excavator to dig a shallow trench on the lawn near the monastery walls to install an automatic irrigation system, but human bones appeared under the bucket of the machine, only 30 centimeters deep.

The lawn on the land owned by the monastery is much higher than the sidewalk. Few would go for it if, unfortunately, so upside down, the bones did not stand for seven days while Fr. Ivan Penava, a pastor in Vidica and monk of the monastery of St. Frane, did not send an e-mail to the media on Thursday night with photos and information.

Suddenly, headlines on the portals screamed eerie descriptions of ‘dogs scattering human bones through the city,’ although Penava did not explicitly state this in his notice. However, Fr. Ivan also subtly touched on this possibility:

"We also met passers-by who take their dogs for a walk there, and when we asked them if they knew they were human bones on the lawn, they were surprised. When the 'Zeleni grad' return the cemetery to its original condition and bury the human bones of our old Šibenik citizens find out." - Fr. Ivan wrote in his press release.

It seems that this was necessary to move to the 'Zeleni grad,' since this morning, with the help of the 'Čempresa' workers, the bones scattered on the lawn were first collected and soon returned to the ground, in agreement with Fr. Ivan Bradarić, the guardian of the monastery of St. Frane.

Novica Ljubičić, director of Zeleni grad, said that the company had given up installing an irrigation system and that its workers would continue to maintain the green area by hand, precisely because of the bones that lay there.

According to Ljubičić, 'Zeleni grad' did not react after the media. Still, a few days before the media bombing on Friday, he was in contact with the guardian, the municipal department of the City of Šibenik, and Željko Krnčević, the director of the Šibenik City Museum. And as for the bombastic inscriptions, he replied that they were mere exaggerations.

"Nothing like that happened. We returned everything as it was. The bones that we did not know were lying there will be covered with grass again", said Ljubičič, and Fr. Ivan Bradarić confirmed his words. 

"Yes, quite a strange situation. They were confused, and we don't know where those bones came from and whether they had anything to do with the cemetery discovered recently near the church. In general, we have concluded that we will return everything to its original state", said Fr. Ivan Bradarić briefly.

There seems to be no need to archaeologically examine the bones as that location has already been explored back in 1971-1972., under the supervision of the late Šibenik archaeologist Zlatko Gunjača, adding what is known to most Šibenik: every day we walk through the graves of ancestors in the part of the Old Town around the monastery of St. Frane. In the Middle Ages, richer people from Šibenik and friars were buried within the monastery walls, in the church, and the yard and the last resting places of the common people were in the immediate vicinity until the 1820s and the founding of the cemetery of St. Ana under the fortress of St. Mihovila.

For more about news in Croatia, follow TCN's dedicated page. 

Earlier this summer, the city of Šibenik was granted EU funds for two major projects - the reconstruction of the fortress Sv. Ivana and the revitalization of Galbiani palace in the city center. The project of the Galbiani palace will include, in addition to a complete renovation of the facade and interesting additions to the interior, a museum dedicated to Šibenik's Cathedral of St. James.