Titan Travel has been creating travel adventures for almost 50 years and its Croatia tours are designed to show you the best of this remarkable country.
When it comes to the cities you’re spoilt for choice. Explore Zadar, home to a host of excellent museums and galleries. Along with Roman ruins and the historic Sea Gate, the town has a flight of stark white steps descending into the sea. These are perforated, creating a so-called ‘sea organ’ which seems to sigh and whistle with the motion of the waves.
Or tour Diocletian’s Palace, an incredible palace built at the turn of the 4th century, which sprawls across the historic heart of Split. Originally built as a retirement villa and complex for the Roman Emperor Diocletian, Split today is a thriving city with streets that were once palace corridors, and bustling shops and restaurants built into the original palace walls, arches, columns and facades.
Then there’s Dubrovnik: the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’. This film-set city is a real beauty, with defensive walls overlooking the sea, limestone streets and an array of ornate palaces, churches and mansions. Visit the 15th-century Rector’s Palace – the one-time residence of the chief citizen who was elected for a month’s post – and the Franciscan Monastery, famous for its pharmacy dating back to 1317. Allow time to mooch, with a wander along the city walls or down the beautiful limestone-paved Stradun.
There are natural wonders, too. Stroll along the wooden boardwalks at Krka National Park, past tiered waterfalls and forest-edged rivers. Carved by the Krka River over thousands of years, its seven magnificent, silvery cascades are the headline attraction. Raised wooden walkways snake through and around the surrounding forests, rivers and canyons, giving gorgeous viewpoints over the whole scene.
Krka National Park
Or travel to Croatia’s scenic centre and you’ll find one of the country’s crowning natural treasures: Plitvice Lakes National Park: Plitvice Lakes National Park, a Unesco World Heritage Site with an extraordinary complex of 16 emerald-green lakes and pools. Fed by the Bijela rijeka and Crna rijeka and a handful of smaller streams, the waters flow from one lake to the next, forming a spectacular display of waterfalls and cascades. The surrounding mountains and forests are also home to bears, rare birds and other wildlife. There are many bears in the area, but they are notoriously difficult to spot in the wild as they tend to avoid people; visitors can, however, see bears at the Bear Refuge for orphaned young bears in Kuterevo. Alison Porter, one of Titan’s destination experts, recalls of her trip there: ‘While I was hoping to spot a brown bear in the wilderness when we stopped off at the Unesco-protected Plitvice Lakes, it didn’t matter, as the sheer beauty of the turquoise waters and landscape were simply breathtaking.’
Elsewhere, there are countless islands and islets dotted along Croatia’s coastline, each with their own beauty and charm. A few popular names include Korcula, with its enchanting medieval town; Hvar, known for its glorious lavender fields, marble-paved piazzas and sleek waterfront bars and restaurants; Brac, home to Dalmatia’s famous Zlatni Rat beach; and peaceful Mljet, carpeted in thick forest and dotted with lakes and vineyards.
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