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27 Unusual Things to Do and See in Croatia

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From doomed passenger liners of the Titanic era, to dinosaur footprints, Croatia is full of bizarre attractions to explore. Some are found on land, some are buried fathoms deep on the sea bed and one is actually powered by the waves themselves.

Baron Gautsch

Historical Landmark

The sinking of elegant passenger ship the Baron Gautsch during World War I has error-ridden echoes of the Titanic disaster two years before. Carrying refugees, holidaymakers and military personnel, it was making one last journey from Kotor, Montenegro back to port in Trieste. While the captain slept and the first officer dined, an inexperienced understudy ignored warnings and sailed into a minefield laid by fellow Austro-Hungarian forces. Fatalities numbered 147. The wreck lies some 40 metres down off the Brijuni Islands, a popular site for experienced divers at clubs in Pula and Poreč.

Blue Cave, Biševo

Natural Feature

Shimmering waters of Blue Cave on Biševo Island, Croatia
Shana Van Roosbroek / Unsplash

A small and sparsely populated island close to Vis, Biševo contains one of Croatia’s most striking and unusual natural wonders. In the summer, it attracts daily boat trips, particularly from the nearby resort of Komiža. Accessible only by sea, the Blue Cave of Biševo is a limestone grotto with an underwater opening that lets in the sun’s light as noon approaches. The effect lasts for two hours, with beams shooting through the water to bathe the cave in an azure light. Visitors plunge into the waters for the full experience. Tours usually involve a picnic lunch at a nearby beach.

Brijuni

Natural Feature

Brijuni National Park, Croatia
Nick Kane / Unsplash
Once the private Xanadu of post-war national leader Tito, the Brijuni Islands hold a strange fascination. An archipelago off Fažana, near Pula where excursions can be arranged, Brijuni is a national park of 14 islands. The largest, Veliki Brijuni, contains rare treasures such as dinosaur footprints, Roman and Byzantine ruins and Europe’s first golf course. The Habsburgs also created exotic botanical gardens. Tito later set up his own safari park, filled with elephants and zebras provided as gifts by national leaders who visited him here. Some still survive, the rest are stuffed and displayed in a nearby museum.

Grič Tunnel

Historical Landmark

One of the strangest attractions to open in Croatia’s capital of Zagreb, the Grič tunnel sits under the fortifications of the Upper Town. Above, a cannon blast famously signals high noon. Below, a 350-metre-long tunnel was created to serve as an air-raid shelter during World War II. By the time it was ready, the Allies were no longer bombing Croatia. Abandoned, the tunnel became a meeting place until being assailed by DJs and ravers in the early 1990s. Recently renovated, it now stages fashion shows and exhibitions, and will soon host a Museum of the Senses.

Mongooses on Mljet

Natural Feature

Aerial view of Saint Mary Island, Mljet National Park, Croatia
© Joao Inacio / Getty Images

The idyllic island of Mljet in the far south of Dalmatia is home to more than 1,000 souls and a national park. Running wild is an unknown number of mongooses, introduced from Asia a century or more ago to rid the island of poisonous snakes. While they succeeded, their population exploded and these venom-protected mammals then went after most of Mljet’s birdlife. Any exploration of Mljet today, along its single thoroughfare that cuts through the island, is bound to feature a guest appearance by this creature of Jungle Book legend, scampering across or alongside the road.

Museum of Broken Relationships

Museum, Shop

What started as an art installation is now one of Zagreb’s most unlikely tourist attractions. The Museum of Broken Relationships explores that most puzzling of experiences, the end of a romantic affair. Conceived by artist Dražen Grubišić and producer Olinka Vištica, themselves a former item, it comprises heartbreaking souvenirs, letters, notes and bizarre knick-knacks left behind after couples split up. Today with a permanent home in the Upper Town and with a sister operation in Los Angeles, the collection is divided into the various stages of break-up trauma, including grief, rage and jealousy.

Tito’s Cave, Vis

Natural Feature

Before it became a tourist destination, Vis was a military outpost. Its rocky and remote isolation allowed World War II leader Tito to convert one of its many hidden caves into his headquarters. While the conflict raged in the winter of 1943-44, Tito and his partisans plotted up here, planning Hitler’s downfall. Writer Evelyn Waugh met Tito here while on reconnaissance. The site can still be visited, with an organised tour or individually. It is located south-east of Komiža, near Podšpilje (‘Under the Cave’), where steps lead from a bend in the road.

Zadar Sea Organ

Natural Feature

Sunset at the Sea Organ in Zadar, Croatia
Partha Narasimhan / Unsplash

Close to the centre of the main city of northern Dalmatia, Zadar, a bizarre attraction has become part of the urban landscape. Through holes bored into the pavement above a set of steps lapped by the sea, 35 organ pipes emit ethereal tones that hang in the air as you approach. The brainchild of local installation artist Nikola Bašić, the Sea Organ is powered by the strength and pattern of the waves. In similar vein, he later created the nearby ‘Greeting To The Sun’, a circle of glass panels that follows similar rhythms.

Šolta

Natural Feature

Šolta, Croatia
Bucography / Unsplash

Though served by five ferries a day in high season from Split, Šolta is often overlooked for neighbouring Brač. Both are attractive island destinations an hour from Dalmatia’s main transport hub. One is crowded, the other blissfully free of holidaymakers. The choice of unspoiled beaches starts at Rogač where the ferries come in, with a reasonable choice of restaurants and apartments. The rest of the island is given over to the cultivation of wine and olives, with a boutique hotel located on the far western tip at Maslinica.

Samobor

Natural Feature

On Sundays, Croatia’s capital Zagreb empties and locals head out of town. Many make for Samobor, a picture-postcard community close to the Slovenian border, well versed in providing visitors with traditional dishes of veal, game and trout. Samobor is synonymous with cream cake, the celebrated samoborska kremšnita, served in coffeehouses little changed since poets gathered here in the Habsburg days. Today, hikers convene before and after bracing ascents of the nearby wooded slopes.

Badija

Natural Feature

At the Monastery of Otok Badija in Croatia at the adriatic sea
Hilthart Pedersen / Unsplash

Uninhabited Badija lies off the coast of Korčula, where Bosnian monks built a monastery in the 1400s. Undisturbed for 500 years, this secluded community was broken up after World War II and in recent years the island was repopulated with deer. The creatures mingle among the pine forests and venture down to the pebble beaches, where naturists relax in tranquil surroundings. Badija is accessible by regular taxi boat from the smaller of Korčula’s harbours.

Crikvenica

Architectural Landmark

The Kvarner littoral is usually ignored by today’s foreign visitors, who prefer the island of Krk immediately opposite. Popular with the Habsburgs a century ago, the former Roman settlement of Crikvenica is a case in point. Lined with Blue-Flag beaches, the largest resort on the Vinodol coast offers surfing, diving and sailing, cycling trails and hiking paths. What it doesn’t have is crowds, only day-trippers from Zagreb and returning holidaymakers from the Kvarner region.

Saplunara

Natural Feature

Idyllic Mljet, Dalmatia’s most southerly island, has long been a tourist favourite. One-third of Mljet is national park and nearly all of its forest has been long settled by mongooses that scatter across the solitary road running the island’s length. At its far eastern tip is Saplunara, where visitors rarely venture. Those who do find three sandy beaches will discover it is a rarity in Croatia. Naturists prefer the most secluded one, Blace.

Parenzana

Natural Feature

One of those things that locals – hikers and cyclists – do on a regular basis, the Parenzana is the name of a rail line that once ran from Trieste to Poreč in Istria, through bucolic countryside. Abandoned before World War II, it lay neglected for decades until being slowly revived and renewed, section by section. Now it provides a route for active recreation, on foot or on two wheels, passing picturesque Motovun, Buje and Grožnjan on the way.

Mushroom picking in Istria

Natural Feature

Mushroom
Mihajlo Horvat / Unsplash
As well as the famous truffles, Istrians also head out to pick mushrooms, a communal activity and an economic way to create several delicious, healthy meals. There’s little glamour involved – you set your alarm early, get up in the dark, and usually it’s raining (or at least damp), but you reach prime spots in the woods first. The uninitiated must have a local in tow – there are plenty of prize porcini mushrooms out there but there are poisonous ones, too. Plus, once you get your haul back home, the local can show you the best way to prepare your catch.

Eco Center Caput Insulae

Set on the unspoiled island of Cres in Kvarner, the Eco Center Caput Insulae at Beli is both a unique nature reserve and volunteer centre. Its main task is to protect and monitor a colony of rare griffon vultures, which nest in the cliffs nearby. These birds have died out in mainland Europe and are only found in obscure pockets such as Crete, Sardinia and Guernsey. The Eco Centre also contains nature trails through the sparse region of Tramuntana, with its honey buzzards, peregrines and other rare birds.

Kandarola Bay

Those who take the water taxi from the waterfront at historic Rab Town, on the island of the same name, are following in the footsteps of royalty. For it was at the destination of Kandarola Bay that then reigning monarch Edward VIII and his controversial mistress, Wallis Simpson, took a famous skinny dip on their Mediterranean cruise of 1936. Snapped at every turn by the world’s press, they bared all here and unwittingly established a long tradition of naturist tourism. Today, pretty Kandarola Bay houses a popular nudist camp, happy to welcome adventurous day visitors from Rab Town.

Peek&Poke, Rijeka

In Rijeka, a city with its own bizarre history, Peek&Poke is one of the more unusual attractions. This quirky collection contains nearly 2,000 examples of early computerised technology. This is where calculators, games consoles and oversized terminals from the 1980s and 1990s find a home. Key exhibits include a Nintendo Game Boy and a Sinclair C5. Documentation provides background on the inventors and entrepreneurs behind the more notable machines. The museum operates from mid October to May 1.

Lastovo

Beyond Mljet and Korčula, the island of Lastovo would be left to its few natives were it not for the afternoon ferry and catamaran from Split that trek all the way down here. Offering a taste of unspoiled Dalmatia – the whole island was declared a nature park in 2006 – Lastovo appeals to those looking to get away from it all. Light pollution is minimal, hence the recently adopted motto by the Lastovo tourist board, ‘Island of Bright Stars’.

Gorski kotar

High above the deep Gulf of Kvarner that separates Istria from the rest of Croatia, the little-known mountainous region of Gorski kotar is the most thickly forested in the country. Signposted footpaths lead to the Risnjak National Park, named after the lynx that was successfully reintroduced into its boundaries, and home to wolves, bears and chamois. Botanists comb the slopes in search of Alpine snowbells, black vanilla orchids and edelweiss.

Limski kanal

Even Croatia has few settings as dramatic as the Limski kanal. A deep estuary ten kilometres (six miles) long that cuts into the west coast of Istria just north of Rovinj, the Limski kanal looks for all the world like a Norwegian fjord. Renowned British cinematographer Jack Cardiff chose to film his Viking drama ‘The Long Ships’ there in 1964. Today tourist boats, booked in Rovinj, glide along its green waters and locals sell fresh oysters, for which Limski is famous, near the shore.

Palagruža

There’s remote and then there’s remote. Far closer to Italy than Croatia, the island of Palagruža is most frequently visited by the fishermen who trawl its deep waters for the sardines who spawn there. Towering high above, Palagruža lighthouse is the most unique of the 50 or so converted to accommodate tourists the length and breadth of Croatia. Visitors are boated over from Korčula with enough food and water for the week, then left alone to discover Palagruža’s sandy beach, jagged slopes and black lizards.

Raša

Raša is a historical anomaly and a treat for fans of pre-war Italian architecture. Originally a mining community where striking workers protested against their Italian overlords in 1921, Raša was chosen by Mussolini as a model of 1930s urban planning. Il Duce had architect Gustavo Pulitzer-Finali create a functionalist new town of arcades and symbolic buildings. Even the church was fashioned in the shaped of an upturned coal wagon. Today Raša lies almost empty, the mines long closed and Mussolini long gone. You’ll find it four kilometres (2.5 miles) west of Labin on Istria’s east coast.

Višnjan

Višnjan is a typically depopulated hilltop Istrian village of a few hundred souls whose attractions would be extremely modest were it not for its renowned observatory. More than 100 minor planets, two comets and 1,400-plus asteroids have been discovered here. On Saturday evenings from May to September, the public can take part in Astro Nights, two hours of observations, children’s workshops and a tour. Explanations in English are provided.

Gableci

Back in the day when everyone in Zagreb started work at 7am with just a cigarette and a coffee, gableci were found all over the city. Loosely translated as ‘elevenses’, gableci were more substantial than that, more a hefty lunch of local fare partaken mid- to late morning. Although working practices have changed, some traditional eateries still offer absurdly cheap gableci – such as bean soup, pork chop – advertised on a board outside. The clientele remains staunchly working-class.

Gruž Market

Near Dubrovnik’s main port and bus station, Gruž Market is very much a resource for locals. Vendors trek down from Konavle or the Neretva Delta with their wares. You’ll find next to no tourist tat here, only fresh produce and (soon snapped up) fish.

Night fishing

All down the coast and over the islands, fishing is offered to tourists. But few tourists go out when locals do, which is after dark, zipping over the moonlit waves to do battle with the sea, when the fish are most plentiful. Though the Adriatic is calm 24/7, it’s still a good idea to go out with a local, who will know the waters like the back of his hand.

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