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An historical monument becomes a sportive tourist attraction in Istria

This year a major new attraction was opened in Istria: ‘La Parenzana’,  a new biking and hiking trail starting in Savudria, passing Buje, Groznjan, Livade, Motovun and ending in Vizinada. The path is a great way to discover Istria, passes cozy towns, offers impressive panoramic views and is accesible to all, since it is nowhere steep. Indeed it follows an old railway track, nicknamed ‘La Parenzana’. The name comes from its final destination:  Porec or Parenzo in Italian.

The original railway was a project of the Austria-Hungary Empire, to which Istria belonged from 1815 to 1918. The steamlocomotives were operating on this track from 1902 to 1935. Then, during  the Great Depression, it was decided to abondon the railroad. This original railway was 123 kilometers long and was one of Europe’s longest narrow gauge railway’s. Leaving Trieste it first followed the coast and then turned eastwards towards the Istrian interior with its hilly landscape. The track reaches its highest point at an elevation of 293 meters above sealevel. Due to the many bends and ascents the average trains’ speed was only some 25km/h. There were all together 35 stops. The whole journey between Trieste and Porec took around 7 hours. At slower sections passengers could even jump off the train, pick some fruit from one of many orchards or releive themselves (there were no toilets in cars) and return back to the train. Many “blind passengers”, who could not afford to buy the expensive tickets, used the option to just jump on the train. At the steepest sections locomotives often could not handle the slope. So passengers had to disembark the train and hep pushing. Sometimes the train stopped because children greased rail tracks with figs. The journey could only be continue when the tracks were cleaned.

After World War II several ideas were formulated to reconstruct or reuse the railroad at least partially for the purpose of tourism. During the preparation of the railway’s centennial celebration in 2002, with the financial support of the European Union, the Italian and most of the Slovenian sections were used for the realisation of the ‘Trail of Health and Friendship,’suitable  for pedestrians an cyclists. Somewhat later similar works started at the Croatian side. In  2008 the trail from Trieste tot Vizinada was completed. Only the last section from Vizinada to Porec  (approximatly 10 km) still remains to be completed.

Today ‘La Parenzana’ is suitable for walking, jogging or bycicling. The trail runs through old towns and villages, along the sea, passes vineyards and fields with olive trees, through tunnels, over bridges, across valleys and over hills. There are several stops where visitors can take a break. On the farms along the way visitors can taste local wines and olive oil. The most beautifull part leads from Motovun, via Livade to Grosnjan. It offers spectacular views on the valley of the Mirna  down to the Adriatic Sea and on its way it also passes  Zaversje (Piemonte) and Opertalj (Portole), two remarkable small hilltop towns, embedded in the green landscape of the beautifull hinterland of Istria.

For people who want to avoid the crowd of tourists at the coast and enjoy the calm and beauty of nature in combination with a more sportive program, this Parenzana offers just the right thing. And why not staying in a villa or typical natural stone house along the way. You have houses that offer all the confort that you may wish, including a swimming pool and spa. For houses located in the neighbourhood of La parenzana we refer to Istra Panorama

A last information: on september 2008 the 26th, 27th and 28th the bicycle race Istra MTB Tartuffi Tour will follow the track of La Parenzana. With its specific formula (tourism and professional race) it attracts numerous home and foreign cyclists coming from all over Europe.

Today I went through several alternative croatia blogs around the web, and I came up with this blog of John: www.croatiatravelblog.com.

Next to my blog you should read his one, too

For most gourmands, not only in Croatia but also throughout the world, just the mention of mouth-watering truffles whets the appetites and brings a twinkle to the eye. Truffles are one of the world’s favourite delicacies, not only on account of their heavenly flavour, but also because of the mystery surrounding them – the “incontestable culinary kings” as the people of Istria refer to them.

There are numerous dilemmas related to the truffle. The first pertains to the method whereby they are gathered, as the truffle is hidden under the ground. Regardless of the fact that they are characterised by an exceptionally intensive scent it is impossible to locate them out of doors without the help of specially trained dogs.

Also, the truffle only grows in certain types of soil. In Croatia they can only be found on the Istrian peninsula where they flourish in the grey, clayish soil found in the Istrian interior, more precisely in the oak forest surrounding the town of Motovun and from Motovun northwards to Lanišce, along the Raša River heading southeast and in the environs of Pazin to the south of the peninsula. The people of Istria value in particular the white truffle, which is gathered in the autumn and is prepared as soon as possible upon its extraction from the soil. And that is why autumn in Istria and its small, specialised restaurants and rural farmsteads exude a special mood and atmosphere. This is true especially of the period from mid October to mid November when the Truffle days are held across all of Istria, a cornucopia of events that all have the same goal – to celebrate the unique Istrian truffle. During those thirty days the scent of truffles wafts from many plates, and visitors from all across Croatia and the world come to Istria to revel in the flavours of the world’s most famous aphrodisiac. The Truffle Days kicked off October 7th with a folk festivity in Sovinjak, a picturesque settlement in the Istrian interior from whose walls a striking view of the surrounding hills shoots out. The 14th incarnation of the popular “Tuberfest”, as the white truffle fair is known started that same day in the settlement of Livade, part of which is the selection of the largest and best looking truffle. The events in Livade continued over the coming days with agricultural products fairs, olive oil sampling and a truffle culinary festival. In November the Truffle Days move to the town of Buzet where on the 3rd and 4th the Flavours of the Buzet Region truffle weekend / gastro gathering is staged – an exhibition of truffles and other local products, an ethno and gastro offer, a course in preparing truffle-based dishes and a truffle “hunt” with accompanying cultural program. The Days will close in Livade where November 12th will see a festivity at the Zigante Restaurant to mark the 8th anniversary of the uncovering of the largest ever white truffle, which made it into the Guinness Book of World Records. For those who, in spite of it all, do not manage to come to the Truffle Days, here are a few restaurants whose quality the Istria County Tourist Board recommends: Zigante in Livade, San Rocco and Morgan in Brtonigla, Marino in Momjan, Igor and Malo selo in Buje, Pod voltom in Motovun and the Stara Oštarija, Toklarija and Vrh in Buzet.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

Another luxury hotel was opened in June on the central Dalmatian island of Hvar, known as one of the sunniest Croatian islands, with an offer based on a rich spa offer.

The Adriana Hvar marina hotel & spa, as the hotel’s full name reads, is situated on the very Hvar waterfront and offers a view of the best known Hvar localities – the Cathedral of St. Stephen, the Arsenal, the main square and Hvar harbour. This is actually a newly-renovated facility operating within the Suncani Hvar hotel company, and which offers its guests accommodation in 50 deluxe rooms, nine classic suites and several spa-specific suites.

The hotel has received a high four-star rating, and along with the classic amenities it also offers a range of attractive additional facilities like a covered heated pool with seawater in which guests will be able to swim yearround. A restaurant has been opened on the hotel terrace, a classic bar and an attractive The Top sky garden bar whose luxurious design and unique setting will certainly become another favourite gathering place for the people of Hvar and their guests.

But the most attractive part of the offer is the new Sensori spa centre that offers numerous therapeutic and beauty treatments, massages and many spa programs like yoga and relaxing excursions into the outdoors. The centre stretches over three storeys with about 1,400 square metres housing all of the indoor and outdoor amenities.

The hotel offer is therefore for the large part based on the concept of wellness and spa, and that this is really a top level of quality is attested to by the fact that the Adriana, Hvar marina hotel & spa recently became a full member of the prestigious global group – The Leading Small Hotels of the World.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

In its sixty years of operation Jadranka d.d. of Mali Lošinj has developed into one of the most successful hotel companies in Croatia. It was founded in 1947 by a decision of the People’s District of Mali Lošinj when the hotels Alhambra and Istra were allotted to its management, while the construction of the hotel Helios in Cikat and the hotel Punta in Veli Lošinj started in the 1960s. The hotel Bellevue was built at the end of the 1970s, and in 1977 the hotel complex Suncane uvale was opened which included the hotels Aurora and Vespera. Parallel to the hotel business Jadranka in the 1960s developed its camping offer and later went on to branch out into other activities, among which their property management activity is gaining in importance over the past years.

Up to 2005 Jadranka d.d operated as a hotel and hospitality industry company, and then the Jadranka Group was founded in which Jadranka d.d. is the owner of three sister companies – Jadranka hotels d.o.o., Jadranka camps d.o.o. and Jadranka trade d.o.o. Jadranka is also co-owner of the Lošinj Airport, and Jadranka Yachting, which has this year launched a charter operation with six new vessels in its ownership.

Jadranka currently manages six hotels and several smaller villas, located in three separate and specifically positioned tourist zones and six out-of-accommodation hospitality industry facilities. It recorded about a half million overnight stays last year, with about 35 percent of the guests having stayed in Jadranka hotels more than once.

In its camping sector Jadranka has a total of four caravan parks on the islands of Lošinj and Cres – Slatina, Baldarin, Bijar and Cikat – and given the seafaring tradition of the people of Lošinj, a project that aims to develop nautical charter tourism has been launched with foreign partners.

Over the past sixty years of the development of tourism Jadranka has always nurtured the protection of the natural environment, respecting its cultural and traditional attributes. In this vein on the occasion of its 60th anniversary, instead of the customary letters of thanks and recognitions, it has donated funds to the Apoxiomen exhibit at the Museum of Lošinj. Apoxiomen is a unique statue of a Greek athlete dating to the 4th century BC, found on the seabed just off Mali Lošinj, currently exhibited at the Archaeological Museum in Zagreb.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

With the aim of renewing traditional heritage and putting it in the function of tourism, across all of Baranja, a region situated in the far north-east of the country, this year will see the launch of the renewal of ten new tourism projects.

One of the more fascinating of these projects is certainly the Ethno Street of Forgotten Times were intensive works are already under way. The street is located in the village of Karanac, in the very heart of Baranja, already known to the world of tourism on account of its attractive offer of rural tourism. This is the popular Baranja House, a rural homestead behind which the mentioned “street of memories” is being built. The owner of the Baranja House has decided to broaden the offer so that soon the street will feature traditional Slavonian “ambar” (corn storage sheds) with construction to start soon on a smith’s house of mud, and ice-house, a potter’s and carpenter’s workshop and a number of other “forgotten” things. Besides this project another old smithy will be opened in Karanac, which will certainly earn the village the epithet of a real Slavonian ethno village.

Standing out among the other tourism projects is the renewal of traditional wine cellars in the village of Gajic planina.

The most funds, however, will be invested into the renovation of the landing dock at the Kopacki rit Nature Park. Along with the landing dock an awning with a belvedere will be built on the site of the old Komarac restaurant, which will widen the existing tourism offer at Kopacki rit.

There will also be building going on in the well known Baranja rural tourism destination – the village of Bilje where there are plans to build a local style Baranja home, and the city of Beli Manastir will also “get” its first real Baranja ethno house.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

The Regent Esplanade Zagreb – one of the symbols of the hotel tradition and quality of the Croatian capital – recently received two valuable recognitions for quality: the Superbrands status and logo and the International 5 Star Diamond Award.

The Superbrands status – whereby the international organization of the same name recognizes brands that achieve a higher quality than its competition – has given the Regent Esplanade the right to use the Superbrands logo in marketing campaigns and promotions.

The other international recognition – the International 5 Star Diamond Award, was awarded to the Esplanade by the members of the American Academy of Hospitality Sciences, part of an exclusive network of professionals in the luxury hospitality industry sector.

They base their evaluation of top quality on marks for complete service, offered luxury, the quality of the surroundings, the relationship towards the guest, the culinary experience, cleanliness and the most important criteria – hospitality.

The Esplanade was constructed in 1925 to provide top class accommodations to passengers on the renowned Orient Express running on the Paris-Istanbul line. After a complete reconstruction in 2004 this 209 luxury room and suite hotel has operated as the Regent Esplanade Zagreb.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

Mystic stories, fairy tale settings, indigenous food and fascinating events that along with thematic happenings offer excellent possibilities to meet with the local inhabitants – this is all just a small part of the interesting story of tourism in continental Croatia – the country’s central region presented in the latest image brochure from the Croatian National Tourist Board.

The Palace With a View brochure – featuring an offer based on tradition, natural beauty and new tourism trends – features the tourism value of several of Croatia’s continental counties: Bjelovar-Bilogorje County, Karlovac County, Sisak-Moslavina County, Varazdin County, Medimurje County, Krapina-Zagorje County, Koprivnica-Krizevci County and Zagreb County and is a synthesis of their rich natural and cultural heritage.

Under the moniker “A Walk Through the Year” – today’s reader and tomorrow’s guest – will get to know this truly fascinating region in all seasons of the year and also through mythology, customs, beauty and attraction.

Spring, summer, autumn and winter – each season is coloured with “its own colours”, to which is added the specific ways of life, customs and myths – in short, a real wellspring of experiences that are a real draw for tourist visits.

Are you interested in a tale of a miner’s garden, a witch’s dance, the imaginative depiction of Croatian fairy tales, do you want to literally live the ancient stories of Croatian legends or enjoy a wealth of scents and flavours? Do you want to experience the unexplored regions near Zagreb, get to know the wealth of the fertile Moslavina valley, give your eyes a rest in the stunning scenes of green Zagorje, Prigorje and Medimurje, enjoy the baroque image of the city of Varazdin or the mystical legends that still “live” in the environs of Karlovac and Ogulin – all this is but a small part of what Central Croatia offers by way of tourist attractions. The experience would not be complete if the tourist offer did not include the rich offer of wines and cuisine – along with the quality wines of this area there is also ecologically produced health food the flavour of which will – just like this entire region – take you back to a somewhat already forgotten time. The hospitality is, of course, also evident in the wealth of accommodation on offer in hotels and private estates, always in the right measure of professionalism and sincere welcome.

If you want to head out into this, to many tourists still unknown, part of Croatia take some time to read Palace With a View. The 120-page brochure has been printed in 120,000 copies and in eight languages – Croatian, English, German, Italian, French, Hungarian, Slovene and Czech.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

The Croatian tunnel Brinje, located in the A1 Zagreb – Split motorway is the best tunnel in Europe in 2007! This top recognition for the 1540-metre-long twin tunnels was won in a field of 51 other tunnels covered by the EuroTAP project testing which this year pooled 12 national automobile clubs from 11 European countries. The recognition of the Croatian tunnel, opened in 2004, is all the greater because Croatia is the only non-EU member encompassed by the testing.

A total of 51 tunnels were tested across Europe. 18 tunnels received a mark of very good, 11 good and 12 satisfactory, while 10 tunnels did not earn a passing grade.

The Brinje tunnel was opened in 2004, the total value of the investment being 36 million euros. It is equipped with the latest system for the 24-hour control and regulation of traffic, video cameras, a system that automatically detects a stoppage in traffic and the use of lighted road signs to inform drivers. It also has a developed communication system in the event of an accident, an automatic fire detector and fire alarms along the length of the entire tunnel and a number of other solutions and advantages that increase passenger safety and driving pleasure. Croatia has a total of 42 kilometres of tunnels on its motorways of which 11 are over a kilometre in length.

The closest “competitor” to the Brinje tunnel in this test was the German tunnel of Spreebogen opened last year in the Berlin Mitte district.

EuroTAP (European Tunnel Assessment Programme) is one of a total of eight tunnel safety research projects, worth 4.2 million euros and supported by the European Commission with 1.5 million €.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

A new tourism project was recently launched in Istra called Parenzana – Route of Health and Friendship in the frame of which is the Parenzana Code Kit guidebook, which offers an intriguing game for all tourists with wanderlust, a desire to explore and for adventure.

For a start a quick reminder of what the Parenzana is – an old railway track from the early 20th century that linked Trieste, Kopar and Porec, passing through much of the Istrian interior. The railway has now been completely overgrown, but the route passing through luxuriant wilderness, right next to many Istrian towns and old fortifications will take tourists on an adventurous trip to unusual places that offer a primeval experience of places and people, incomparable to the traditional form of tourist sightseeing of the usual destinations.

The Parenzana Code Kit is an exploratory and enigmatic guide book through which, step by step, parts of the fascinating mosaic of the past and present of Istra and the highlights of the Parenzana are revealed. Concretely, it is a volume of maps with directions on how to orient oneself along the Parenzana and information necessary to break the code. The maps are numbered and the basic assignment is to discover the proper order they are to be read in order to solve the Parenzana Code.

The code covers the area from Buje to Vižinada, and tourists can head out on foot, by bicycle or car to solve the enigmatic code, all with the help of the maps, and depending on the mode of transport one can solve the riddle in a day or more.

Adventure tourists will certainly find this very interesting, and along the 123 kilometre route they can get to know some of the most attractive places in Istra: Buje, Motovun, Grožnjan, Oprtalj, Završje and Kostanjice. The project will be further developed and the opening of a small Parenzana Museum in Livade is in the works, as are ethnological workshops and cycling races. A DVD is being produced with 3D effects of the train passing, cycling maps as is other promotional material and the installation of information and road signs.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?