Closest Campings

About Croatia

Croatia (Croatian: Hrvatska) is a country in Southern Europe on the east side of the Adriatic Sea, to the east of Italy. It is surrounded by Slovenia to the northwest, Hungary to the north, Bosnia and Herzegovina to the east, Serbia in the northeast and Montenegro in the south east.

Historic Regions

• Dalmatia
• Istria
• Kvarner
• Slavonia
• Central Croatia
• Zagorje
• Meðimurje
• Gorski Kotar

Cities

• Zagreb - the nation's capital.
• Dubrovnik - an historic coastal city.
• Split- ancient port city with Roman ruins.
• Pula - biggest town in Istria with the Roman amphitheatre (commonly called Arena)
• Poreč
• Rijeka
• Šibenik
• Makarska
• Varaždin - Croatia's former Baroque capital.
• Vukovar
• Zadar

Islands

• Krk
• Cres
• Lošinj
• Rab
• Pag
• Molat
• Dugi otok
• Ugljan
• Kornati
• Murter
• Pašman
• Žirje
• Drvenik
• Čiovo
• Šolta
• Vis
• Brač
• Hvar
• Korčula
• Lastovo
• Mljet
• Šipan
• Lopud
• Vir

Climate

Northern Croatia has a temperate continental climate wheras central, semi-mountainous and mountainous regions have a mountainous climate. The entire Adriatic coast has a pleasant Mediterranean climate. Spring and autumn are mild along the coast, while winter is cold and snowy in central and northern regions. The average temperature in the inland in January ranges from 0 to 2°C, August 19 to 23°C. The average temperature at the seaside is higher: January 6 to 11°C, August 21 to 27 °C.

By car

To enter Croatia, a driver's licence, an automobile registration card and vehicle insurance documents (including Green Card) are required. If you need road assistance, you should dial 987. The following speeds are permitted: 

• 50 km/h - within built-up areas
• 90 km/h - outside built-up areas
• 110 km/h - on major motor routes
• 130 km/h - on motorways
• 80 km/h - for motor vehicles with a caravan trailer
• 80 km/h - for buses and buses with a light trailer

When driving in the rain, you should adjust speed to conditions on wet roads. Driving with headlights is obligatory during both day and night. Use of mobile phones while driving is not permitted. Maximum permitted amount of alcohol in blood: 0.0 per ml! Use of seat belts is obligatory.

Hrvatski Auto Klub is the Croatian Automobile Club dedicated to promoting greater traffic security. Its site offers minute-by-minute updates, status of national traffic, weather, numerous maps and webcams located all over Croatia. Content is available in Croatian, English, German and Italian.

Eat

Croatian cuisine is quite diverse so it is hard to say which meal would be "typically Croatian". In the eastern continental regions (Slavonija and Baranja) spicy sausages kulen and kulenova seka is a must-try. Čobanac ('shepherd's stew') is a mixture of several different kinds of meat with a lot of red spicy paprika. In Hrvatsko Zagorje and Central Croatia pasta filled with cheese called štrukli is a famous delicacy (it is said that the best štrukli in Croatia are served in Esplanade hotel restaurant in Zagreb), as it is purica s mlincima (baked turkey with a special kind of pastry). Sir i vrhnje (sour cream with cottage cheese) can be bought fresh on the Zagreb main market Dolac. Croats love a bit of oil and you will find plenty of it in piroška and burek. Burek is a regional delicacy and is widely popular in the entire South and Eastern Europe, as its roots come from the medieval Ottoman empire which stretched from Turkey to Croatia in 1593. Carnivores will enjoy in ćevapčići (seasoned minced meat shaped in finger-like portions, served in bread, covered with kajmak and onions) and sarma (sauerkraut rolls filled with minced meat and rice), also dating back to the Turkish rule. In mountain regions of Lika and Gorski kotar famous are products made of mushrooms, wild berries and wild meat. For Lika tipical are police (oven-baked potatoes covered with bacon) and several kinds of cheese (smoked cheese and škripavac). Coastal region is well known for truffle delicacies and soup maneštra od bobić (Istria), Dalmatian pršut (prosciutto) and paški sir (Pag-island cheese). Dishes made of fresh fish and other products of the sea (calamari, octopus, crabs, scampi) shouldn't be missed also!

Desserts: Different kinds of gibanica and pita (similar to strudel and pie) such as orehnjača (walnut), makovnjača (poppy) or bučnica (pumpkin and cheese) are highly recomended. Dubrovačka torta od skorupa is hard to find, but worth the search. Paprenjaci (pepper cookies) are said to reflect the Croatian history because they combine the harshness of the war turmoils (pepper) and the natural beauties of the land (honey) and can be bought in every tourist shop as souvenirs. Fresh-made are always a better choice. Rapska torta (Cake of the Rab island) is made with almonds and locally famous cherry liker Maraschino. Chocolate candy "Bajadera" can be bought in every shop and is considered to be the pride of Croatian chocolate industry.

Every household in Croatia has to have a package of "Vegeta". It's a spice produced by "Podravka" and a common ingredient of every meal in the country.

Drink

Alcoholic: Try many different kinds of wines. Also worth trying is rakija,a trype of brandy which can be made of plum (šljivovica), grapes (loza), figs (smokovača) and many other types of fruit and aromatic herbs. Pelinkovac is a bitter herbal liquor popular in Central Croatia, but is said to resemble in flavour to cough-medicine. Non-alcoholic: Sometimes although very rarely you may find "sok od bazge" (elder-berry juice) in the continental region. Worth trying!

On a more general note, Croatia produces a broad palette of high quality wines (up to 700 wines with protected geographic origin) and brandies, fruit juices, beers and mineral water. On the coast people usualy serve "bevanda" with meals. Bevanda is heavy, richly flavored red wine mixed with plain water. Its counter-part in northern parts of Croatia is "gemisht". This term designates dry, flavored wines mixed with mineral water.

Two most popular beers are "Karlovačko" and "Ožujsko", but "Velebitsko pivo" has recieved a semi-cult status in the recent years. It is served only in some places in Zagreb and Croatia.

Modified: 14.02.2007 10:03:24 CET
Source: http://wikitravel.org/en/Croatia

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