The heart of nature - a country estate near Karlovac

The village tourist estate Srce prirode (The Heart of Nature) has been opened in Gorica Lipnička, around twenty kilometers from the town of Karlovac. This family village estate spreads over 12 thousand square meters and contains three autochthonous renovated houses. The accommodation part of the estate offers nine rooms (18 beds), and the guests can also use a restaurant seating 80 people, a wine tasting facility, a gazebo and a tavern seating 50 people. The family estate offers eco food such as different kinds of honey, juices, wines, cured meats, etc. The meals in the restaurant are prepared according to old recipes. Two conference halls are equipped with modern technology. In addition, visitors to
the estate can engage in the following activities: paintball, Village Olympics, culinary workshop, speleo-adventure, football, archery, volleyball, badminton, boccie and berry picking. The owner of the estate also happens to own the 4-star family hotel Korana in Karlovac, a historic and attractive town located around fifty kilometers from Zagreb, with the old town of Dubovac as its trademark.

The hotel is located on Korana River, one of the four rivers in Karlovac, offering 15 double rooms and 3 business suites, as well as gastro, recreation and other offers.

Karlovac County Tourist Board
www.tzkz.hr

Karlovac Tourist Board
www.karlovac-touristinfo.hr

Seosko imanje Srce prirode & Hotel Korana
www.hotelkorana.hr

Vrbnička žlahtina - Original Croatian

Croatia is well known for its excellent wines, so it is hard to say which one is the best. Although this primarily depends on the personal taste, many experts and “practical wine lovers” believe vrbnička žlahtina is among the best. It is made from the autochthonous grape variety called žlahtina, which is grown in Vrbničko polje, a winegrowing region of protected geographic origin. Depending on the yield, between 700 and 900 thousand bottles of this original dry white wine with controlled geographic origin is made every year.

Connoisseurs describe the wine as “elegant, high-quality, having
a unique aroma and freshness, while all fruity scents and harmonious
features of the variety are expertly preserved “. This is the
reason why the Croatian Chamber of Economy awarded vrbnička
žlahtina the respected Original Croatian mark, stating is “reflects
the traditional Croatian culture of winegrowing, winemaking and
lifestyle in the rural areas on the islands of the Croatian littoral
where survival and sustainable development depend on persistent
and diligent growing of agricultural varieties and their processing
into added-value products.“ The wine should be served chilled at
between 8 and 12 degrees Celsius, and you will enjoy it the most if
you drink it with Mediterranean food. Staying on the island of Krk,
and especially in Vrbnik, a small picturesque town built on a 48-
meter cliff, is certainly an opportunity to try some original Krk food. In addition to fish and seafood prepared with quality local olive oil, it includes homemade pasta and particularly the local lamb, sheep cheese and prosciutto.

Primorje-Gorski Kotar County Tourist Board
www.kvarner.hr

Krk Island Tourist Board
www.krk.hr

Croatia – a respectable camping destination

A meeting of the European Federation of Campingsite Organizations and Holiday Park Associations (EFCO & HP), an organization established in 1979 and bringing together around 25 thousand European campingsites and camp resorts, was held in Umag in late September. Such important convention in Croatia, the region of Istria and the tourist destination of Umag is an acknowledgement of the local camping offer providing the guests with holidays in a beautiful and ecologically preserved environment, keeping up with the growing camping services standards. Croatia has a total of around 226 campingsites and 278 private estate campingsites having a total accommodation capcity of 224,000 persons. The private state campingsites account for around 10,000 units.

According to the Croatian Camping Union, campingsites account for 23.7 percent of the country’s accommodation capacities and they have an approximately equal share in tourist overnights. Around fifteen campingsites having a total capacity of 22.5 thousand persons are classified as four stars, while 57 campingsites having a capacity of a little over 88 thousand persons are classified as three stars. High-category (4 and 3 stars) are mainly in Istria, which also has the most numerous camping capacities, followed
by Primorje-Gorski Kotar County and Zadar County in the third place. Dubrovnik-Neretva County, the southernmost part of Croatia, is the second in the number of four-star campingsites. The Croatian Camping Union evaluated with year’s camping season as successful. According to their estimates, Croatian campingsites had 12.624 million overnights in the first eight months, or 3.2 percent over 2007. Istria, the most developed Croatian camping destination, had 6.825 million overnights, or 3.4 over last year. The average annual campingsite occupancy is 59.1 days, the highest figures achieved in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County – 67.1 days. Of course, the longest stays are achieved in four-star camps – as much as 87 day. The average duration of stay in campingsites is 6.7, with Istria as
number one with an average duration of stay of eight days.

According to the Central Bureau of Statistics, Germans are the most numerous campingsite guests, followed by Slovenia, The Netherlands, Austria, Czech Republic… Every year, the traditional markets are accompanied with new ones. The Croatian Camping Union plans to present the offer more intensively to such guests.

Croatian Camping Union
www.camping.hr

SAS introduces direct flights to Zagreb

On Monday the 31t of March, SAS introduced flights between Stockholm-Arlanda Airport and Zagreb, Croatia. The line between Stockholm and Zagreb will be operated with departures on Mondays and Friday afternoons. From the 30th of April there will also be departures on Wednesdays.

SAS Sverige has already announced the start of the line between Gothenburg and Split starting on the 7th of June and will continue to operate the line between Stockholm and Split on Tuesdays and Saturdays. With all these direct lines between Sweden and Croatia SAS Sverige will be the largest operator of direct flights from Sweden to Croatia.

"With the new lines we continue our important expansion in Europe. The destinations in Croatia are a result from an increased interest in our flights from Sweden to Croatia, as a destination for holiday but also as a destination for business trips, says Susanne Dahlberg, head of Commercial at SAS Sverige."

"We have been waiting for the line between Stockholm and Zagreb for more than ten years. A direct flight opens up for new travel possibilities such as group- and incentive travels, culture, sports and health travels and not to forget the business travels. With this line and segments we can expect the travel between Sweden and Croatia to increase further, says Dario Matosevic, head of the Croatian Tourist Board in Stockholm".

Source: Easier Travel

A romantic break in the city of hearts - Zagreb

Champagne, chocolates, abundant red roses in an elegant room in a five-star hotel. A relaxing bath drawn by the butler from the bath menu, a city tour by limousine and a candlelit dinner in an Art Deco restaurant.

Here, on Valentine’s Day, is a romantic package that is available all year at the Regent Esplanade Hotel in Europe’s city of hearts, Zagreb. And at €499 (£370) for a couple for two nights with breakfast, it is a fraction of the price of similar packages in many European cities.

Zagreb might seem a surprising recommendation, but it exudes a lively style and knows how to welcome visitors, young and old, romantic or businesslike. When the good and the great started to arrive in increasing numbers aboard the Orient Express in the early 1920s, a suitably stylish hotel was needed to accommodate them – and up went the Regent Esplanade on a field close to the railway station.

Just over three years ago, the hotel reopened after a two-year renovation that retained the marble and oak-lined entrance and lobby but freshened up the rest of the building. The piano bar and bright, airy Zinfandel’s Restaurant look out over the Oleander Terrace to the Fountain Park. The garden bistro has floor-to-ceiling windows and is famous for its strukli, the Croatian pastry and ricotta cheese speciality. The 209 bedrooms, even without the romantic extras, are comfortable and welcoming and the Emerald Ballroom, with a decorated glass oval in the centre of a ceiling covered with tiny blue lights, is the perfect place for a wedding celebration.

Zagreb can be just as romantic as the hotel and earned its soubriquet because of the tradition of giving decorated honey dough cakes called licitar hearts to loved ones, especially on Valentine’s Day. It is an ideal city for strolling around, hand in hand, dipping into the occasional jewellery shop, cosy café or cultural museum.

Gradec, known as the upper town, is the most charming quarter and most easily reached by a quick funicular ride from Ilica, the city’s main street. The ride takes you to the foot of the 13th-century Lotrascak Tower, from which a cannon is fired at noon every day.

In the quiet streets behind the tower are the Parliament building, the Prime Minister’s office and St Mark’s Church with a roof of red, white and blue tiles in a diagonal pattern, and with two coats of arms. A cluster of museums include the Croatian Museum of Naive Art, with half a dozen rooms full of intriguing and frightening images, and the Zagreb City Museum, with a collection tracing the city’s history.

There you will learn that the citizens of Gradec were often at loggerheads with the people on the neighbouring but lower hill, Kaptol, which has a cathedral with 105m tall spires at its centre. The districts were finally united in 1850, together with adjoining settlements, into the undivided town of Zagreb, leading to the development of the lower town – now the city’s business and shopping heart.

The planners ensured that it remained a pleasant place to wander by creating the “green horseshoe”: a line of parks running down from the main square to the station and linked by the botanical gardens to a parallel line of city squares to the west. The most prominent of these is Marshal Tito Square, which many locals hope will soon be renamed after the imposing building at its centre, the National Theatre.

Sunday afternoon is the best time to stroll around the city when all the museums and shops are closed. Timing is important if couples are not going to fall out on a visit. Weekend breaks should start with a Croatia Airlines flight from Heathrow on a Friday morning, returning on a Sunday afternoon or Monday. The only Saturday morning flight stops en route and the afternoon departure will only get you to your hotel by 9pm.

Shops in the city centre start closing from 3pm on Saturday but those in shopping malls stay open until 9pm. Museums close at 1pm on Sundays and reopen on Tuesdays.

Article Source: Times Online

Everything about Croatia on your cell phone

Ever since the Split-based IT company Gideon Multimedia
presented its new version of the mobiEXPLORE cell phone based
tourist guide in July of 2007 over three hundred thousand tourists
have accessed the guide to inform themselves of the tourist
offer, local customs and points of interest, to reserve a table at a restaurant, a room in a hotel or any of the many other contents the guide offers.

Although targeted above all to tourists, before coming to Croatia
or upon arrival, mobiEXPLORE has shown itself to be very
interesting to local users looking for information of daily culture and entertainment events, and the hospitality and recreation offer.

A tourist guide on the screen of your cell phone provides almost
160 destinations in Croatia and offers information on various
aspects of the tourist offer by way of text, photos and interactive
maps of cities and regions: culture, history, points of interest, active vacationing, accommodation, cuisine on offer, entertainment,
news, useful tips, a mini dictionary for quick access, local customs, events and more.

The project is unique on the global market, is entirely free of
charge to users and is also available at the Internet address www.
mobiexplore.com.
The project grew out of the independent production of Gideon
Multimedia, the only Croatian member of the Nokia PRO Forum,
a program backed by Finnish Nokia pooling advanced cell phone
program solution developers.

MobiEXPLORE won the gold medal at the ARCA 2007 international
innovation exhibition, and has been included among the prominent
applications on the Nokia web site as an “application that sets
entirely new levels of expression, efficiency and interactivity for
mobile tourist guides.”

The success of the first mobiEXPLORE Croatia project is
confirmation of the feasibility of the announcement of an entire
series of cell phone tourist guides for all of the key destinations
in Europe that the Gideon Company has already started in
collaboration with its strategic foreign partners.

www.gideon.hr

Trends: Eco-hotels, cruises, Croatia await in '08

From hotels to cruising, adventure travel to destinations, USA TODAY asks travel industry insiders to predict the hottest trends for the new year. Here's what in the air — and on land and sea — for intrepid travelers

Emerging destinations. Carlson Wagonlit's Eastern European bookings are heating up, and Croatia, in particular, is "on fire," says Loucks, thanks in part to the relative strength of the dollar in European countries that don't use the euro. Similarly, lesser-known Latin American destinations such as Nicaragua, where the dollar still has some clout, are drawing more interest among Americans, some of whom are looking for retirement homes, Frommer says.

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