Ok, you know for sure what the longest defensive wall in the world is. But did you know that the second longest one is in Croatia, more precisely in the small town of Ston? And that you can visit it carelessly? Originally, these magnificent stone walls were almost 7 kilometres long, and today you can tour them in less than an hour by taking a light walk.
Read moreIf your trip takes you to Dalmatia, don’t leave this region without listening to at least one klapa live. This traditional polyphonic a cappella singing is so special it was included in the list of Intangible World Heritage by UNESCO in 2012. You’ll be humming the melodies you hear for a long time, and you will never forget the power of the a cappella singing.
Read moreThere are over 200 dinosaur footprints on the four islands of the Brijuni National Park. Yes, that’s right – dinosaur! These huge reptiles walked here more than 100 million years ago, and today you too can follow their footsteps. A real treat for all palaeontology enthusiasts, both children and adults!
Read moreYour gold digging days are over, we have a more lucrative and fun activity in store for you – truffle hunting in Istria, the Earth’s richest truffle depository. Join the local hunting party led by extremely scent-sensitive dogs or even pigs: a good time is a guarantee. If you find a sample of the most expensive mushroom in the world, you might even get rich!
Read moreCroatia is known as the land of most excellent wines, with most of its wineries open for visitors for tasting the best red, white or rosé wine. Check out your maps, ask the locals or just follow the guideposts, but make sure to hit all the picturesque wine roads on your way. Bring a designated driver along, though!
Read more
4 minPut on a pair of comfortable shoes and join us for a walk in King's Landing; we won't shout at you “Shame! Shame! Shame!”, unless you explicitly ask for it!
Read more
Dalmatians are very sociable hound dogs who adore water. They are widely recognized by their dotted fur pattern which can be black or brown, and have gained worldwide popularity through, among other things, numerous adaptations of stories about 101 Dalmatians. And finally, you guessed it, one of the oldest dog breeds in Croatia comes from the region after which it was named – Dalmatia.
In Croatian, iris (perunika) was named after Perun, god of lightning. The ancient stories say these beautiful flowers grow where lightning strikes. The other name for these purple, blue, yellow or white flowers comes from the name of the ancient Greek goddess Iris. Representing royal and divine symbol in ancient Egypt, it is the Croatian national flower today, a symbol of peace among nations.
What do about 20 residents, 3 rows of houses, 2 streets and 1 castle have in common? They all make up world’s smallest city – Hum! Situated on a hill in central Istria, mentioned for the first time in 1102, legend has it this is one of the cities of the Mirna River valley built by giants… Hum is today also called the City of biska, local mistletoe flavoured brandy considered to be medicinal.
As winter blooms into spring in March, things can get quite tumultuous. It’s the season of bura, the almighty north-eastern katabatic wind that blows away everything in its path with gusts stronger than 100 km/h! Bura is a clean lady, so the saying goes, and March is her favourite month for spring cleaning. We welcome her arrival, though, because she brings a fresh, crisp air and usually introduces long periods of stable, sunny weather.
Jugo is just a southern wind, but Croatians tend to believe that it has some kind of supernatural powers making them sad, lazy, gloomy, grumpy, sneezy, sleepy, dopey – OK, now we’re just listing the dwarfs from the film Snow White. Jugo is blowing, give us a break! The point is, when they start blaming jugo for whatever, just nod and play along. It’ll stop. The winds always do.
What is happiness? Happiness is every moment of your holiday on Rab. This Adriatic gem doesn’t carry its flattering title of Happy Island for no reason!
Read moreWould you like to share with us and our readers your memories, experiences and recommendations from your holidays in Croatia? Email them at blog@valamar.com and tell us what it was like, what impressed you the most, where you were and what you enjoyed most!
One of my biggest wishes for this year was to come to Croatia again. I hope I’ll have a chance to do that… I have so much I want to see and experience there. I can’t wait!
I love the food at Istrian restaurants… Especially their fish specialties. I even tried at home to prepare some of the dishes that impressed me the most, but they turned out to be not nearly as good. I’ll just have to find out first-hand in one of those restaurants what exactly I’m doing wrong and how to fix it 🙂
