Continental Croatia

To start with, get to know Zagreb and its charm that comes from the heart. Protected by Mount Medvednica and arising from two settlements on neighbouring hills, it is the largest and capital town of Croatia. Stroll down the city streets in a unique walk through history! It is best to start exploring the city from the main city square, the ban Jelačić Square, on which three main city features are situated. The first is the ban Jelačić statue on the horse, the second, the Manduševac fountain, which stands on a former water spring and the third is a large clock, the meeting place of many Zagrebians. Take a ride in the oldest means of transport in the city and you will arrive in Gornji grad, the historical centre of Zagreb. The cable car, as the shortest wire railway in the world, will bring you to the Lotrščak tower, inside which there is the Grič cannon, whose loud firings mark noon every day. Take a walk to St. Mark’s Square, where the most beautiful picturesque roof covers St. Mark’s Church. Continue with a light step to the Stone Gate, one of the witnesses to the creation of this city, in whose passage a chapel with the painting of the Blessed Virgin Mary under the Stone Gate are situated, the patron of the city. Light a candle in silence and carry on to the same tune. Let your next visit be to the Zagreb Cathedral, a cathedral of a unique neo-Gothic style. Your spirit will be enriched if you visit it also inside, where the tomb of the blessed Alojzije Stepinac is also situated.

The city abounds in parks, in which you can find a place for a break in the romantic greenery and flowers, thus complementing the city on the human scale. Have a famous Zagreb coffee at the Flower Square and feel the rhythm of the city, also getting to know it in a more casual way. The second reference for meeting people, culture and lifestyle in Zagreb is a visit to Dolac, a a fresh foodstuff market under red parasols, where you can smell, touch and taste Zagreb. Enjoy its monuments, galleries, museums and parks, as they are there just for you!

Should you fancy something sweet, head for Samobor, a town of Carnival and cream cakes. Get to know the town through a series of attractions, museums, caves, mines, but also through a special gourmand experience of the continental cuisine. Visit Samobor on the Carnival, whose tradition goes back to the year 1827, feel the folk joy and have fun in the masked dance. It is inevitable to taste the dessert, a cream cake, a mining greblica or a doughnut.

If you happen to be going to Varaždin, before you go to the town, you must visit Krapina and the Krapina Neanderthal Museum, where, in an interactive way, you can learn interesting facts related to the origin of the world, human evolution and fossils, found in Krapina.

Following a visit to the museum and the town, continue your journey to a Baroque town of culture in the very north of Croatia. Varaždin will show you its urban Baroque identity through the luxuriant Baroque architecture, monumental artistic heritage, but also a distinct warmth of harmonious squares and romantic streets. Taylor-make your sightseeing, enjoy the messages of the past and abandonment to the joys of numerous festivals! Visit the town at the end of August, when Varaždin becomes a street park of creativity, which celebrates the beauty of countless faces of art. Be a part of it, you too!

A spacious golden plain, shaped by the power of mighty rivers and refreshing forests and emerging from the fertile Pannonia, is the home to harmonious Slavonia. Slavonia is an arable span of earth, which human hands have cultivated and nurtured for thousands of years. This is an area of tradition and customs, a corner since forever tied to the earth and rivers, a part where people with big and happy hearts live.

A deep human respect for the earth is felt at every step. Go down the golden routes between the medieval fortresses, monasteries and Baroque castles of Požega, Đakovo and Osijek. Experience unique moments listening to the trot of the Đakovo Lipizaner horses! Take a ride along the Ilok wine trail or get into its Old Cellars and taste traminac, an original Slavonian wine. Do not be surprised if, on your way, flocks of wild geese fly by, having taken off from the Kopački rit Nature Park! Learn the secrets of the Vučedol Dove, a mystery which is still being investigated and which is closely connected with the town of Vukovar. Many a story was told about Vukovar, but let Vukovar also tell you its story. Go down the paths of the Baroque and get to know the landmarks of the town, take a break while smelling the plain, with your feet immersed in the Danube River!

In the end, get into a true Slavonian village, where clothes are still decorated with golden Slavonian embroidery, where national costumes are people’s pride, where Slavonian dry sausage kulen and its smaller replica, seka, give lovely smells in lofts and the meat stew čobanac or scrumptious fiš-paprikaš slowly simmer in the pot. Slavonian peasants will warmly welcome you, with a compulsory home-made plum brandy – šljivovica. This is a unique way to taste the golden Croatia and feel the pulse of the earth!