Croatia

From MaxTravelz

Croatia is a country in Southern Europe on the east side of the Adriatic Sea, to the east of Italy. It is surrounded by Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the north, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the east and Serbia and Montenegro in the northeast and south east.

Contents 1 Regions 1.1 Historic Regions 1.2 Administrative divisions 2 Cities 3 Understand 3.1 Climate 3.2 Terrain 3.3 History 4 Get in 4.1 By plane 4.2 By train 4.3 By car 4.4 By bus 4.5 By boat 5 Get around 5.1 By plane 5.2 By train 5.3 By bus 5.4 By thumb 6 Talk 7 Travel 8 Buy 9 Eat 10 Drink 11 Sleep 12 Do 12.1 Naturist resorts 13 Learn 14 Work 15 Safety 16 Stay healthy 17 Respect 18 Contact

Regions

Historic Regions

• Dalmatia
• Istria
• Kvarner
• Slavonia
• Central Croatia
• Zagorje
• Međimurje
• Gorski Kotar

Administrative divisions

Croatia is divided into 20 counties (Croatian: županija) and the city district of the capital, Zagreb*:

• Zagreb county
• Krapina-Zagorje county
• Sisak-Moslavina county
• Karlovac county
• Varaždin county
• Koprivnica-Križevci county
• Bjelovar-Bilogora county
• Primorje-Gorski Kotar county
• Lika-Senj county
• Virovitica-Podravina county
• Požega-Slavonia county
• Brod-Posavina county
• Zadar county
• Osijek-Baranja county
• Šibenik-Knin county
• Vukovar-Srijem county
• Split-Dalmatia county
• Istria county
• Dubrovnik-Neretva county
• Međimurje county
• City of Zagreb*

Cities

• Zagreb - the capital
• Dubrovnik - an historic coastal city
• Dugi Rat
• Omisalj
• Ploce
• Poreč
• Pula
• Rijeka
• Sibenik
• Split- ancient port city with Roman ruins
• Vukovar
• Zadar
• Omis - coastal jewel built by the Pirots

Understand

Climate

Northern Croatia has a continental climate. Central, semimountainous and mountainous regions, as well as the entire Adriatic coast, have a Mediterranean climate. Spring and autumn are mild along the coast, while winter is cold and snowy in central and northern regions.

Terrain

Geographically diverse; flat plains along Hungarian border, low mountains and highlands near Adriatic coastline and islands

Highest point 

Dinara 1,830 m

History

Croatian lands were part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the latter's dissolution at the end of World War I. In 1918, the Croats, Serbs, and Slovenes formed a kingdom known after 1929 as Yugoslavia. Following World War II, Yugoslavia became an independent communist state under the strong hand of Marshal Tito. Although Croatia declared its independence from Yugoslavia in 1991, it took four years of sporadic, but often bitter, fighting before occupying Serb armies were mostly cleared from Croatian lands. Under UN supervision the last Serb-held enclave in eastern Slavonia was returned to Croatia in 1998.

Visitors now to Croatia's more popular towns would see little physical evidence of this violence. Croatia's coastal areas are especially stunning, and have the hybrid charm of Eastern European and the Mediterranean.

For more and detailed information, see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_Croatia

Get in

North American nationals can enter Croatia with a valid passport and without a visa. For EU-citizens even entering with a valid identity card is possible. The document of identity must be valid at least three months longer than you plan to stay in Croatia.

By plane

• Croatia Airlines, the national carrier and member of Star Alliance, flies to Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Moscow, Munich, Paris, Prague, Tel Aviv, Rome, Sarajevo, Skopje, Vienna, Zurich and - during the tourist season - Manchester.
  
• Adria Airways - Slovenian national carrier flies from Ljubljana to Split and Dubrovnik
  
• GermanWings - cheap connection from Berlin, Cologne, Stuttgart and Hamburg, to Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik
  
• SkyEurope - cheap connection from Bratislava, Prague and Budapest to Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik during summer season
  
• HLX (Hapag-Lloyd Express) - flies to Rijeka from Germany, has good overview of cheaper flights
  
• EasyJet - European budget giant has flights from London daily, as well
  
• Adriajet - charters from Scandinavia to Dalmatia (unchecked)
• CSA Czech Airlines - SkyTeam member; flies from Prague to Zagreb all the year, and to Split during summer

On March 27 2006 low-cost carrier Wizz Air established a link between Zagreb and London (Luton Airport)

Additionaly you can use neighbouring airports in Ljubljana (for EasyJet flights to London Stansted), Trieste and Graz (for Ryanair flights to London Stansted) which are all within few hours of reach from Zagreb and Rijeka. Some also use Tivat Airport (in Montenegro) which is within easy reach from Dubrovnik.

EasyJet has announced the introduction of the following flights from and to the destinations in Croatia:

• London Gatwick - Split (as of May 2 2006)
• London Luton - Rijeka (as of June 30 2006)
• Bristol - Rijeka (as of July 22 2006)

By train

The rail network connects all major Croatian cities, except Dubrovnik. There are direct lines from Austria, Switzerland, Germany, Hungary, Slovenia, Italy, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Serbia and Montenegro, and Greece. There are indirect lines from almost all other European countries.

Tourists coming from or going to neighbouring countries should note the following EuroCity and InterCity railway lines:

• EC "Mimara": Berlin - Leipzig - Munich - Salzburg - Ljubljana - Zagreb
• IC "Croatia": Vienna - Maribor - Zagreb
• IC "Kvarner": Budapest - Zagreb - Rijeka

By car

To enter Croatia, a driver's licence, an automobile registration card and vehicle insurance documents (including Green Card) are required.

Permitted speeds:

   * 50 km/h - within built-up areas
   * 90 km/h - outside built-up areas
   * 110 km/h - on major motor routes
   * 130 km/h - on motorways
   * 80 km/h - for motor vehicles with a caravan trailer
   * 80 km/h - for buses and buses with a light trailer

Rain: Please adjust speed to conditions on wet roads.

Driving with headlights is obligatory during both day and night.

Mobile phones: Use of mobile phones while driving is not permitted

Maximum permitted amount of alcohol in blood: 0.0 per mill!

Use of seat belts is obligatory.

Hrvatski Auto Klub - Croatian Automobile Club, national drivers' association, is dedicated to promoting greater traffic security. Minute-by-minute updates, status of national traffic, weather, lots of maps and webcams all over Croatia. Content in Croatian, English, German and Italian.

By bus

Very good network of bus, cheap and regular.

Coming in from Trieste, Italy is popular among Europeans, for Trieste is a RyanAir destination. One crosses the Italian-Slovenian border first, and then the Slovenian-Croatian border, but they are very close to one another. Border security is high, but that's just normal.

By boat

Ferries are cheap and go regularly between various places by the coast. They are not fast but it's the best way to see the beautiful Croatian islands of the Adriatic Sea.

Jadrolinija - national white fleet, information about timetables, coastal and international lines, prices etc. Content in Croatian, English, German and Italian.

Get around

By plane

National airline company Croatia Airlines connects major cities in Croatia to each other and foreign destinations. Due to the comparatively short distances and relatively high hassle of air travel - especially when you travel with luggage - domestic air travel is used mostly for getting to end points - eg. Zagreb to Dubrovnik (see map) and viceversa.

By train

The rail network connects all major Croatian cities, except Dubrovnik. If you want to visit Dubrovnik, you will have to travel by train to Split, and then go on the bus for Dubrovnik.

Rail is still the cheapest connection beetween inland and coast. As of 2004 you can ride on the new 160kph “tilting trains” that connect Zagreb with Split and other major cities in Croatia such as Rijeka and Osijek. If you make a reservation early enough you can get a substantial discount.

Hrvatske željeznice - Croatian Railways's site in Croatian, German and English has timetable and prices.

By bus

A very comprehensive coach network connects all parts of the country. Bus service between major cities (intercity lines) is quite frequent, as well as regional services. The most frequent bus terminal in Croatia is Bus Terminal Zagreb (in Croatian "Autobusni kolodvor Zagreb").

• Autobusni kolodvor Zagreb - Bus Terminal Zagreb, timetable information, content in Croatian, English is under construction.
• CroatiaBus - bus company - timetable informaton, prices, content in Croatian and English.
• Autotrans Rijeka - bus company - timetable informaton, prices, content in Croatian and English.
• Autobusni promet Varazdin - bus company - timetable informaton, prices, content in Croatian, English and German.
• Contus - bus company - timetable informaton, prices, content in Croatian and English.

By thumb

Hitchhiking is generally good. If you can get to a highway toll stop simply ask people to take you with them as they open their windows to pay the toll. The toll collectors usually won't mind. The tricky part, of course, is to get to the toll stop. If you are in Zagreb and you are, like most people, heading south, take the bus 111 from the Savski most station in Zagreb and ask the bus driver where to get off to get to the toll stop. Next best place to ask people to pick you up are tank stations. Unlike in the US tank stations are safe places in Croatia. And finally, just using the good old thumb will work too if everything else fails.

Talk

Many Croatians speak English as their second language, but Italian and German aren't uncommon either. People in the tourist industry most often speak quite good English, as does the younger generation, especially in the tourist areas of Istria, along the coast down to Dubrovnik, and in the capital, Zagreb. Don't count on elder people to speak English.

Croatian is not an easy language to learn, but the people like when foreign travellers use it for basic things such as greeting and thanking.

The Croatian language is not identical with Serbian, Bosnian or Bosniak, but is very similar. In the era of aggressive nationalist cultural and linguistical policies in the former Yugoslavia, it was known as Serbo-Croat, although these days people in the former Yugoslavia do not use this term to describe any of the South-Slavic languages.

Travel

United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) has included the following Croatian sites on its World Heritage List:

• Historical Complex of Split with the Palace of Diocletian
• Old City of Dubrovnik
• Plitvice Lakes National Park
• Episcopal Complex of the Euphrasian Basilica in the Historic Centre of Poreč
• Historic City of Trogir
• The Cathedral of St James in Šibenik

Buy

Eat

Drink

Alcoholic: Try many different kinds of wines. Also worth trying is the plum brandy (rakija). Non-alcoholic: Sometimes although very rarely you may find "sok od bazge" (elder-berry juice) in the continental region. Worth trying!

On a more general note, Croatia produces a broad palette of high quality wines (up to 700 wines with protected geographic origin) and brandies, fruit juices, beers and mineral water. On the coast people usualy serve "bevanda" with meals. Bevanda is heavy, richly flavored red wine mixed with plain water. Its counter-part in northern parts of Croatia is "gemisht". This term designates dry, flavored wines mixed with mineral water.

Sleep

There is a lot of luxurious camping for ten dollars (1 tent, 2 people).

Similar to many European countries, long-distance ferries and buses in Croatia are often met by people (often little old ladies) offering rooms for rent in their apartments. It is worthwhile to bargain with them a bit, and perhaps get use of a kitchen or morning coffee as well. It is also advisable to have them show the exact location of their place on a map of the area, to ensure that it isn't in the far-flung suburbs.

If you can't find any place to stay, buy "Oglasnik", free-ads newspaper, and search for Apartmani-Iznajmljivanje. You will find lots of apartments for rent there.

Do

Naturist resorts

Croatia was the first country in Europe to start with the concept of commercial naturist resorts. According to some estimates about 15% of all tourists that visit the country are naturists or nudists (more than one million each year). There are more than 20 official naturist resorts as well as a number of the so-called free beaches which are unofficial naturist beaches, sometimes controlled and maintained by local tourist authorities. Naturist beaches in Croatia are marked as "FKK".

Learn

Work

Safety

There are still many landmine fields left thoughout the country. If one sticks to well-trodden trails in the west and also urban areas there is no need to worry, but poking around in the brush is strongly discouraged.

During summer make sure you use adequate SPF to protect yourself from sunburn. There are no ozone holes over Croatia but it's fairly easy to burn in the sun. If this happens make sure you get out of the sun, drink plenty of fluids and rehydrate your skin. The locals will often advise covering the burnt spot with cold yoghurt bought from the supermarket.

Stay healthy

Respect

Remember Croatia used to be at war scene in the 1990-ies. One should not start debates about the war or politics, unless you are certain that the Croats are interested. But if one asks politely about the history of the country, the Croats will gladly respond.

Contact

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