Croatia Guide
Things not to miss
It's not possible to see everything Croatia has to offer in one trip – and we don't suggest you try. What follows is a selective and subjective taste of the country's highlights, from Baroque palaces to perfect grilled fresh fish. They're arranged in five colour-coded categories to help you find the very best things to see, do and experience. All entries have a page reference to take you straight into the guide, where you can find out more.
1 Amphitheatre, Pula • Imperial Rome's greatest gift to the eastern Adriatic, this awesome arena still serves as the venue for pack-'em-in summertime concerts.
2 Varaždin • A postcard-perfect Baroque town, complete with crumbling palaces, ornate churches and a unique garden cemetery.
3 Boat trips to the Kornati islands • These stark, sparsely populated islands, now a national park, form the target of spectacular boat excursions from the mainland.
4 Hvar • The swankiest resort on the Adriatic is also one of the most evocative, offering a welter of Renaissance palaces and churches.
5 Diocletian's palace, Split • Taken over by the townsfolk centuries ago, the Roman emperor's pied-à-terre now forms the chaotic heart of the modern city.
6 Plitvice Lakes • A bewitching sequence of foaming waterfalls and turquoise lakes, hemmed in by forest-clad hills.
7 Lošinj island • Unhurried atmosphere, unspoilt fishing ports and lush Mediterranean vegetation make this one of the most charming spots in the northern Adriatic.
8 Rovinj • Riviera-town chic collides with fishing-port charm in the most Italianate of Istria's coastal resorts.
9 Paklenica National Park • A hiker's paradise, combining craggy limestone gorges, dense pine forests and meadow-carpeted alpine uplands.
10 Trogir cathedral • This venerable monument to medieval Christianity bears the most spectacular stone carvings in the country.
11 Zadar • Vibrant peninsula town packed with Roman ruins, Romanesque churches and café-crowded alleyways.
12 Istrian hill towns • The weatherbeaten, brown-stone settlements of Motovun, Oprtalj and Grožnjan provide the perfect vantage points from which to survey the lush landscape of central Istria.
13 Gradec, Zagrebd • Stately ensemble of historic buildings, terracotta tiles and leafy backstreets squatting unobtrusively above the noise and bustle of the capital's modern centre.
14 The Dominican monastery, Dubrovnik • The quiet cloister provides a perfect home for a small but superb collection of Renaissance paintings.