Croatia Guide

Don’t believe the rumours: Croatia is not being ruined by tourism.

Sure, it’s been one of the hottest destinations of the past few years. It is ranked as one of the top 20 tourist destinations in the world, and keeps getting more and more popular. And all for good reason; Croatia simply has everything. The bluest and clearest water in Europe, great weather, fresh seafood,, pumping discos, party islands or uninhabited ones. You can swim with dolphins, sleep in a lighthouse, climb ancient city walls. And that’s just along the coast.

Venture inland and you’ll be treated to castles, national parks, spa towns, waterfalls and wine regions, ancient churches and Roman amphitheatres, a world-class capital, locals that are happy to see you, fantastic wine and even better brandy.

Then there’s that little issue of the bloodiest European war since WWII, in which Croatia played a leading role. So to top it all off, you can visit a city like Vukovar and get a first-hand history lesson.

To be sure, you won’t be the only tourist on the island of Hvar. You might be surrounded by more sunburned tourists in Dubrovnik than you’re comfortable with, and there might be more Aussie accents bouncing off the walls of Diocletian’s Palace than there were a decade ago.

But there are thousands of islands around Croatia, so if one is too busy for your liking, choose another. Or head away from the coast, away from the obvious hot-spots, and you’ll stumble upon towns where you’ll find nary an English-speaker and not a cheap souvenir shop in sight, but only local people enjoying the surreal beauty of their country.

The truth is, Croatia is too gorgeous to be spoiled, no matter how many people are around to marvel at it.

So jump on the bandwagon and see it for yourself.

(Before it actually gets ruined by tourism).

The Basics

Capital: Zagreb

Population: 4,4530,500

Religion: Predominantly Roman Catholic (88%)

Government: Croatia has had a democratic government since the adoption of the 1990 constitution. It previously had a long history of Communism, headed most famously by Joseph Broz ‘Tito’

Race: Croatian (89%); Serbian (4%)

Official language:

This isn’t as easy a question as it looks.

When Croatia was still part of Yugoslavia, the language was officially called Serbo-Croat. Today, the Croatians call it the Croatian language and use the Latin alphabet. The Serbs call it the Serbian language and use the Cyrillic alphabet. The Bosnians call it the Bosnian language and claim that the others misappropriated it for their own political and cultural reasons. The courts at The Hague try to keep the peace by calling it BCS (Bosnian-Croatian-Serbian). Some linguists claim there never was one unified language, but two distinct languages that have overlapped over the years.

Whatever moniker you give it, the language is considered one of the hardest to learn. Not only is it difficult, but it has many potentially offensive political connotations. For example, many guidebooks list the word ‘Zdravo’ for ‘Hello’. But say that to someone who did not support the Communists and you might get a funny look, as that word is often associated with the party.

Don’t worry too much about mastering the language before you visit Croatia: most Croatians speak English, Italian, German, sometimes even Russian. If you’re in the bigger cities, such as Split or Zagreb, you shouldn’t have any trouble chatting with locals or at least making yourself understood in English. In smaller towns you might have a harder time, but even if they don’t speak English, Croatians are usually keen to practice and to help however they can.

And one final note about the Croatian language: the word for "bat" in Croatian is sismis (pronounced: "shishmish"). Say it loud, it's brilliant!

Visas: Most visitors don’t need a visa to visit for three months. Obtaining a work visa, on the other hand, is a different matter. By most accounts, you kinda need to know someone.

When to visit: The high season from June to August is pretty busy, so the best months to go are April, May and September when the weather is hot enough for swimming and also for comfortable sightseeing.

The infamous bura wind blows in around late September, usually signalling the end of the season along the coast when everything shuts down. You should plan to head inland around then. In the colder months, spend time in Zagreb galleries or in Slavonian wineries, or find a little spa town where you can spend your days lounging in warm water and your nights in a cozy café.


The People

Croatians love to sit for a coffee and a smoke. They don’t do take-out-coffees, and they certainly don’t have Starbucks; they sit down for five minutes to relax.

Croatians are big-smokers, in fact if you don’t smoke you’ll probably be quite uncomfortable there. But funnily enough, their life expectancy is the same as Americans.

They love being outside and they really love their sea. They are very patriotic, but still somewhat surprised and curious to realize how many tourists are interested in their country.

They love bakeries; in fact, there isn’t a huge variety of restaurants in Croatia, but you can’t walk five feet without coming across a bakery where you can buy a delicious burek.

They have forgiven, for the most part, what happened in the past but it’s still fresh in their memories. You won’t generally feel much tension in the air, but at the same time, you won’t be in a conversation very long with a Croatian before their recent rough times will inevitably come up.

Croatians aren’t fake. If they don’t like you, don’t worry, they’ll tell you. Or ignore you.

Croatians can be skeptical. It takes them a little while to warm up, but once they do, they treat you like family.

Croatians love to eat meat, bread and fresh salad, preferably with their hands and preferably with a bottle of homemade wine.

Croatians are really tall. If you’re short, you’ll realize just how tall they are when you try to look into a mirror and have to stand on tiptoes.

Dating

There are no two ways about it: Croatian men are hot. The term ‘tall, dark and handsome’ might have originated there, with brooding demeanours and rugged manliness thrown in for good measure. They have all the sexy qualities you expect in Mediterranean men, minus any sleazy catcalls or particularly fiery tempers.

Croatian girls, like most of their ex-Yugoslavian counterparts, are pretty, but they don’t often go for the natural look. They like to put effort into their clothes, make-up and hair colour. You won’t see many windswept, fresh-faced blonde beauties in Croatia. These girls are high-maintenance.

When a Croatian guy is trying to impress a girl, he will pull out chairs, pay the bills, order her drinks.

An Irishman who spent a summer working on the island Vis said he learned to be more of a gentleman while observing customers in the restaurant where he worked. He learned to never look at the woman when taking orders or settling the bills. When he got back to Ireland, he started pouring drinks for his girlfriend and ordering for her. He preferred the way of life that he learned in Croatia. He said:

“The girls in Croatia are more delicate, more feminine.”

He said that men are able to feel more like men in Croatia than in Ireland.

“It’s an act, but there’s something to it.”

Most Croatian girls are on the fence when it comes to their men. When the topic comes up, most of them roll their eyes and say: “That’s Balkan men for you. They don’t know what they want.”

They can’t explain what they mean by that, but there seems to be a collective agreement that there is something wrong with Balkan men. Words like ‘macho’ and ‘confused’ get thrown around.

But at the same time as their men frustrate them, they admit that there is something special about them.

It’s not hard for a foreigner to get a date. Female tourists will find that Croatian guys are more than happy to show them around, take them out for drinks or to the beach. But just as in any strange country, foreign girls should be careful. Croatian guys don’t necessarily have the same opinion of foreigners as their own. They don’t necessarily want to just be just friends, and when they invite you back to their house for a home-cooked meal, they’re not just trying to give you a taste of the local cuisine. The good thing is that Croatians are fairly well-mannered, so even if one gets a little out of order, most times a stern word will suffice to get a girl out of an uncomfortable situation.
Croatian girls, like girls around the world, love an accent and will be happy to accept a date with a foreign guy. But a word to the wise, guys: it’s only a matter of time before a Croatian girl is bound to remember that she’s surrounded by some of Europe’s sexiest men, and your accent will only take you so far.


Work and Money

The currency in Croatia is the kuna (fun fact: the kuna is a furry little animal that used to be used in trading). There are approximately 7 kunas to the British pound.

Croatia is inexpensive, but not dirt-cheap. It’s no Bulgaria, for example. A pizza in a nice restaurant costs around 40 kunas, a coffee or beer costs about 10 kunas, a hostel room costs about 100 kunas. Of course, prices vary depending on your proximity to the tourist-traps along the coast.

Working in Croatia isn’t easy. Many bars or restaurants won’t hire tourists without visas, and it’s not easy to get a visa.

That said, there are a few that will hire people under the table. You might not get paid much, or at all, but you can find work at a hostel or a bar where your accommodation is taken care of, so at least you’ll be able to stick around a little longer.


Health and Safety

Everyone in Croatia has a story about an encounter with a sea urchin. It is a part of growing up by the sea. When a guy from Birmingham stepped on two urchins on an Istrian beach, he asked a bartender later that night how to get them out. The bartender replied ‘squeeze a lemon onto it’, like that was the most obvious answer in the world.

Sea urchins are one of the biggest dangers you’ll encounter. You needn’t worry too much about scams, pickpockets, kidnappings or muggings.

For a country that coined the term ‘genocide’, it’s doing pretty well.


Transport

God love cheap European airlines. You can usually find a return flight to Croatia from London for no more than 50 pounds with Ryanair, Easyjet, GermanWings or Thomsonfly. Of course, in the high season, flights to Split or Dubrovnik are ridiculously inflated, but there’s ways around it. Fly into Pula or Zadar and then rent a car or take a bus to wherever you want to go.

Once you’re in Croatia, getting around is easy. The bus system is extensive and accessible. There is a bus station in every town with big signs clearly listing the timetables.

There are direct buses between most major cities, and the most you’ll pay for a bus ticket is around 150 kunas, and that will get you practically across the country. Buses are comfortable and safe, and will make a few stops along the way (don’t forget: Croatians are heavy smokers so they won’t go far before taking a smoke break!). The greatest thing about Croatian buses: the drivers usually play the radio so you can get your fill of traditional music on the road.

If you’re comfortable driving in a strange country, hiring a car is a terrific option. There is a new highway linking Split and Zagreb so you can motor along quickly, albeit with a few toll booths along the way. If you have the time, take the old highway for a spectacularly beautiful drive. If you fly into Pula or Zadar, hire a car and meander along the coast or head into the mountains, stopping along the way for a swim or lunch in a little coastal village.

Accommodation

If you get off a bus, ferry or train in a major city or island, someone will, without fail, approach you to offer a room. Go ahead and accept their offer, because private accommodation is the best way to go in Croatia. Private accommodation is safe, it’s the norm, and it’s a way for Croatian homeowners to pull in a little extra income.

If you’re alone, expect to pay around 100-150 kunas per night; if you’re a couple you’re in luck because the rooms are often charged by the room rather than the person, meaning you’ll each pay half that amount.

Private rooms range from personal and cozy, with homey decorations, to sparse and empty but probably in a fantastic location. You might get to sit for a cup of coffee or a snack while the landlord gives you the lowdown on the area. Some families even cook for their tenants.

Entrepreneurs take note: hostels are not widespread in Croatia. Yet.

If private rooms aren’t your thing, there are several hostels in Zagreb and a few in Split. You’ll likely need to splurge on a hotel room if you head to Slavonia, and the same goes for Istria where there are many high-end resorts but only a couple of hostels.

Destinations

Istria

For several decades, from the dissolution of the Austro-Hungarian empire in 1918 to the end of WWII, Istria was part of Italy. The Italian heritage is still prominent, from its food to its architecture to the fact that more people say “Ciao” on the streets than “Doviđenja”.

A 70-year old lady who has lived her whole life in Medulin, a small village just outside Pula, said she has had five different passports.

During the so-called “homeland war” in the 1990s, Istria saw none of the fighting. Still, the war and years of Communism before that, took their toll on the Istrian economy and its major industry, tourism. But people have gradually rediscovered it and tourism once again plays a major role, although far less than Dalmatia.

Istria has truffle fields and vineyards, spectacular coastal drives, world-heritage sights in Porec and Rovinj, and the world’s smallest town, Hum.

The biggest city in Istria is Pula, known more as a military city than a touristy one since the 19th century, when its harbour was the headquarters of the Austro-Hungarian navy. It has one of the best-preserved Amphitheatres in the world and several other important ancient Roman sights.

Pula isn’t the prettiest city: the paint is peeling from its walls and some buildings look like they’ll fall down any minute. Some people leave after one night because they’re looking for white sandy beaches, not the cement and stone things Pula has to offer. Others get bored because they’ve seen the Arena, had a swim, sat at a table at Café Uliks beside the statue of James Joyce - who lived and taught in Pula for a few months and supposedly hated it - and there isn’t much else to do.

But Pula has an inviting, small-town feel to it, plus a few nice and quiet beaches, and some of the best gelato this side of Italy.


Slavonia

The region of Slavonia has a lot going for it. It has sprawling maize fields, burgeoning wineries and the country’s first wine hotel. Its biggest city, Osijek, has a beautiful cathedral. The city of Dakovo has Lippizaner horses to ride and Slavonski Brod has one of Europe’s best-preserved fortresses. Slavonia is bordered by the Drava river, the Sava river and the Danube.

But the area is probably best known for Vukovar. The city became famous for its David and Goliath story, when the Croatian population defended the city against the approaching Yugoslavian military for 87 days before eventually succumbing and being nearly completely destroyed. Vukovar is still a sensitive subject around Croatia, and most cities have a street or monument dedicated to it. Visit there now and you’ll find a city still divided and not yet recovered. It’s worth a trip away from the coast to see the part of Croatia that isn’t in the tourist brochures.


Zagreb

Zagreb is a great city. It’s got museums and galleries dedicated to everything from botany to sculpture. It has the Croatian parliament, housed in a big building with a checkered-tile roof. It has the Croatian National Theatre, a bright yellow building with a beautiful sculpture by Ivan Mestrovic outside called The Well of Life. It has a vibrant nightlife. It has big green parks and a botanical garden and an efficient, if noisy, tram system. It has several cathedrals and galleries. It doesn’t have great shopping but it has great cafés. It has festivals in the main squares. It has one million people.

And yet Zagreb is not known as a world-class capital city and probably never will be. It’s not Paris or London, cities that everyone wants to see at least once. It doesn’t have the funky reputation of Barcelona or the romance of Florence or even the quirkiness of Reykjavik. It doesn’t have any internationally-famous monuments. It’s the capital of Croatia but let’s face it, people don’t come to Croatia for its cities and Zagreb is nowhere near the coast. The name Zagreb isn’t even particularly appealing.

It’s a city that grows on you. Give Zagreb a chance and you’ll be pleasantly surprised. There aren’t many must-see destinations, so you can sit in a café all morning with a coffee, spend all afternoon wandering, then spend the evening in a bar with a glass of wine and watch the world go by. And those are always the best kind of places.


Split

There aren’t many places in the world where you have a pizza, get drunk, and buy a cheap pair of earrings without ever straying from the walls of an ancient Emperor’s palace. But that’s exactly what you’ll do in Split, where you’ll spend hours wandering the streets of Diocletian’s Palace. Outside the palace, there is a new boardwalk where you can join the locals on a nightly promenade and stop for dinner at one of the many outdoor terraces overlooking the sea. Then head to the beach and poke your head into as many bars as you can, all housed in the Bacvice complex. Split has great nightlife, the official Ivan Mestrovic museum, theatres and statues and galleries, plus it’s the major jumping-off point to the islands. If Diocletian knew how many sunburned degenerates were running around his home, he’d be turning in his mausoleum.


The Dalmatian Islands

Croatia’s major draw is its sea, and the best showcases for the sea are the islands. There are 1185 islands in Croatia, mostly uninhabited, so take your pick. They’re covered in fresh lavender, they have windy little streets and mind-blowingly blue water. The most popular are: Hvar, where you’ll find the best nightlife going and Korcula, which have gained respectable reputations among the rich and famous; beautiful Brac, where the Zlatni Rat beach of postcard-fame is located; and Vis, a favourite among locals, a little less busy than the others and boasting the spectacular Blue Grotto.

Take a boat-tour or hop on the public ferries and meander your way around the islands that are quickly making Greece yesterday’s news.

QUICK HISTORY

In the seventh century, the Slavic tribes were pushing west - reaching their most western point in Istria, stopping just short of Italy – and south, destroying Salona, the capital of Roman Dalmatia.


The Romans, who already occupied most of Dalmatia, and the Slavs co-habited the land peacefully for many years. Their civilizations were completely different, but they worked out a trading system and compromised on their language and tradition. The Slavs lived in the countryside, the Romans lived in the cities, and everyone was happy.

One major difference between the Romans and the Slavs was their language: latin or glagolitic. By the 12th century, the papal authorities had turned the Croatian Church into a Roman Catholic one, and the glagolitic language survived only as a secular one (although it is still a national source of pride).

But Empires changed and depending on who married who, the rule of lands swapped hands every few years. The first major struggle that had repercussions for Croatia was between the Byzantines and the Franks (under Charlemagne). After the battle of Aachen, the Byzantines were given the Roman cities, while the Franks got the rural hinterland. This split up Croatia for the first time, and they worked for centuries to re-unite it. At the time, there was also a fledgling Croatian state in Slavonia.

In the 10th century, the Croat ruler Tomislav stopped an invasion by the Hungarians and Bulgarians, and gained a lot of respect for protecting the country. The Byzantine Empire allowed him to rule their cities as the Emperor’s pro-consul. Tomislav was a successful leader, and very politically innovative; he was the first to divide Croatia into 11 administrative districts.

In the 1100s, the Croatian crown was given to the King of Hungary, who guaranteed that the Croatians would have an unequal, but separate, existence within his Kingdom. The Croatians were to keep their sabor (parliament) and local authorities.

But over the next few centuries, Croatian nation-building was blocked even further. Venice bought all of Dalmatia in the 14th century. The Turks were approaching, and after the King of Hungary was killed at the Battle of Mohacs, the Croatians turned to the Habsburg Emperor Ferdinand for help. The pirates of Senj revolted, the Krajina (military border) was controlled by Vienna, and Croatia was referred to as “The remnants of the remnants of the once great Croatian kingdom.”

Dubrovnik was the only success story in the whole divided country. It was known as Ragusa then, and it was full of skilled artisans, was the main trading partner with the Ottomans along the Mediterranean, and maintained its independence as a republic (which saved it from the Ottoman attacks that the rest of the country was prey to).

Dalmatia (particularly Hvar) was a hotspot during the Renaissance, with Croatians studying in Italy and Italians coming to Dalmatia to work on the magnificent building projects of the time (which can still be seen around the islands).

When the Ottoman empire was finally defeated in the 16th century, the Habsburgs tightened their control over Croatia, taking the Krajina completely out of their hands. Two noble Croatian families, the Frankopans and the Zrinskis, were tired of such treatment, and plotted to eject the Habsburgs from their country. But word of their plot got out, and Peter Zrinski and Franjo Frankopan were beheaded in Vienna. Croatia was now completely under the Austrian thumb.

During this time, the Habsburgs attracted their own people into the Krajina by ensuring that Serbs could practise their Orthodox religion freely. Consequently, in 1819, over half of the population there was Serbian (a source of tension later).

There was a brief period of French rule during the French Revolution, in which Dalmatia and Dubrovnik was also occupied. When it ended, Croatia was returned to the Habsburgs with all its pieces together. While the Hungarians were struggling to gain equality with Austria, a sense of nationalism rose in Croatia as well with the emergence of the Illyrian movement. There were calls for the Kingdom of Croatia, Slavonia and Dalmatia to be reunited.

Josip Jelacic was the Croatian ban at the time, and he fought on the side of Vienna against the Hungarian uprising, hoping to gain favours. But the Austrians tightened their fists, subdued any nationalism movements, and Jelacic without seeing the independence of his country.
The Illyrian movement eventually split into two, with one half looking to unite all of the Slav people into Yugoslavia (under Josip Strossmayer), while the other half (under Ante Starcevic) seeing that broad union as far too problematic, and hoping to see an independent Croatia on its own.
When the Austria-Hungary empire was created, Dalmatia was left under Vienna’s rule, while Slavonia was given to Hungary. Aspirations for a united Croatia were dashed until WWI, when it was united with the other Slav countries into Yugoslavia. Croatia was not entirely happy about this, because it seemed that Serbia saw the union as an extension of their own country.
Stjepan Radic was a separatist who did not support Yugoslavia, and campaigned for Croatian independence. When he was assassinated in the middle of a Parliamentary meeting, the debate got even more heated, resulting in the rise of the far-right Ustashe movement (which traced its establishment back to Starcevic), and the far-left Communist movement.
In WWII, Yugoslavia was occupied by Hitler, and the Ustashe were installed into government by Mussolini. The Ustashe cooperated with them, hoping to exterminate all minorities within their country (including the Serbs and Bosnians, so that Croatia was finally its own country). A three-way fight over the country emerged: the Ustashe, the Communists, and the Cetniks (Serbian royalists).

The Communists eventually won the fight, under the charismatic Josip Broz Tito. Yugoslavia was now made up of Croatians, Serbs, Bosnians, Slovenes, Macedonians and Montenegrins, all sharing power.

Although Communism had quelled fighting for a few years, most Croatians were not happy to be ruled by that party, particularly because it persecuted the Catholic Church.

Mass tourism helped Croatia to prosper, it gained back Istria from Italy, and it was doing quite well for itself. But there were feelings that it was bringing all of the money into Yugoslavia, holding up its less prosperous partners, without getting anything in return. A small uprising by Croatian nationalists was put down by Tito, but when he died in 1980, foreign debts started to spiral out of control, and Communism started to lose prestige these nationalist feelings re-emerged, not only in Croatia but in Serbia. Slobodan Milosevic took power in 1987 and started to violently enforce Serbian authority over the other republics in Yugoslavia. First, he took over Albanian-dominated Kosovo (a historic place for Serbs), then Montenegro. Milosevic had suddenly ended the 45-year union, and with that, the countries decided to look after their own interests.

In Croatia, Franjo Tudman was elected in 1990, and within a year, war broke out when Slovenia, and then Croatia, declared independence. Their dream had been realized, but at the cost of many lives.

The dissolution of the former Yugoslavia cannot be reduced to religion, politics or money. Historians still can’t agree on who was to blame in the conflicts, where the source of disputes originated, or even the number of people who were killed in the 1990s wars.

Croatian journalist Slavenka Drakulic has written many books about the subject, including They Would Never Hurt a Fly, in which she sums it all up as well as anyone:

Once upon a time, in a faraway part of Europe, behind seven mountains and seven seas, there was a beautiful country called Yugoslavia. Its people belonged to six different nationalities, were of three different religions and spoke three different languages. They were Croats, Serbs, Slovenes, Albanians, Bosnians and Macedonians, yet they all worked together, went to school together, married each other and lived in relative harmony for forty-five years. But because this is not a fairy tale the story of this beautiful country has no happy ending. Yugoslavia fell apart in a terrible and bloody war, a war that claimed some two hundred thousand lives - mostly in Bosnia - displaced two million people and produced several new states: Slovenia, Bosnia, Croatia, Serbia and Macedonia. Albanians and Montenegrins are still struggling for their independence. This all happened in the middle of Europe not so long ago, between 1991 and 1995. The whole world was surprised by this war. We, the citizens of Yugoslavia, were even more surprised.

Even if it appeared so to us, the war, however, did not descend upon us overnight. In the late eighties communism collapsed everywhere in Eastern Europe and in what was then still the Soviet Union. Yugoslavia was unprepared for the political changes that followed the collapse. We had not developed any democratic alternatives as Poland and Czechoslovakia had done, and the political vacuum was suddenly filled with nationalist parties. They all had the same programme: independence and nation-states of their own. Simmering nationalism was soon spreading like a fire ... Slovenia took the first step, and by June 1991 it was out of the federation. The break-up had begun. The Jugoslavenska Narodna Armija (Yugoslav National Army) tried to stop Slovenia from leaving but, as it had no minorities to speak of, the army let it go ... But Croatia had a large Serbian minority, and Slobodan Milosevic, as President of Serbia, had the perfect excuse to send his army to ‘protect’ the Serbs there. That meant real war ... In Bosnia, where Serbs, Croats and Muslim lived together, the war started in April 1992. Because of the mixed population, it also took on the characteristics of a civil war.

My father never spoke about the four years he fought as a partisan under the command of Josip Broz Tito in the Second World War. He wanted to forget it, and for a long time I saw this as a sign of sanity and self-preservation ... And the more I think about it, the more I am convinced that the combination of his silence and the official version of the historical events of 1939 - 1945 made this latest war possible ... Only now can I understand how easy it is to start a war in the absence of facts.