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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?

By the end of the year four new low cost air carriers will open flights to Pula Airport. These are the German companies Germanwings and TUIfly, the Hungarian air carrier Wizzair and the Danish Sterling. Direct connections to Pula are currently maintained by three low cost air carriers that operate during the peak tourist season – the Irish company Ryanair which links Pula to London and Dublin, Norwegian Air Shuttle and the Scottish Fly Globespan. These three companies will run their last flights to Pula in this season at the end of October.

The airport – at which tourists whose destinations are located across all of Istra – is only a few kilometres from the town of Pula, into whose historical edifices and cultural monuments three thousand years of history have been built.

With its recognisable antiquity period amphitheatre, the sixth largest in the world, which plays host to numerous cultural events and performances by artists from around the world, Pula has found its place among interesting cultural destinations. In the direct vicinity of the town are the Brijuni islands with their national park, only three kilometres from the mainland coast. Distinct by its specific types of flora and fauna, and archaeological excavations that bear witness to the settlement of ancient civilisations, Brijuni National Park is also the site of top class cultural and sports events, congresses and meetings. Near Pula, that has fast road connections to all the towns of the Istrian peninsula, there are also other attractive tourist destinations interesting at any time of the year.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

Croatia is a destination for faith tourism with a number of shrines, visited each year by millions of pilgrims. In the direct vicinity of Zagreb is Marija Bistrica with its shrine dedicated to the Virgin Mary, where pilgrims have been coming for over 300 years now. The first written documents relating to Marija Bistrica date from back in the year 1209, while the worship of the Mother of God of Bistrica started in the 16th century when a statue of the Virgin Mary became known by its miraculous healings and answered prayers. Nowadays the shrine consists of St. Mary‘s church, the open-air church of the Blessed Aloysius Stepinac and the remarkable Way of the Cross – the Calvary. Marija Bistrica is also the heart of Croatian honey and gingerbread making.

In Ludbreg, a small town in the Podravina region not far from the Baroque town of Varaždin is the unique shrine dedicated to the Most Precious Blood of Jesus. The Ludbreg parish of the Holy Trinity is mentioned in historical sources in 1334, while the church itself was constructed in 1410 – it was a year later that the priest leading holy mass noticed true blood in the chalice and notified the Vatican of the event. Ludbreg was proclaimed a shrine in 1512 by Pope Leo X.

In the heart of Split-Dalmatia County, in Solin, the Virgin Mary has been worshiped from as far back as the 6th century. The Croatian Queen Jelena built a basilica there in the 10th century with naves and four-cornered columns in which the coronations of Croatian Kings were then held. In Sinj, the centre of the Cetina region, is the shrine of Our Lady of Sinj, of which it is believed that she was crucial in the 1715 victory over the Turkish army. Ever since then this triumphant battle has been marked every year by the renowned chivalric tournament – the Alka of Sinj. In the environs of Knin is the shrine dedicated to Our Lady of Biskupija, in the foundations of which five churches are to be found, dating from the period of the Croatian kings from the 9th to 11th centuries. The area was a religious and church centre in the medieval Croatian state.

On Rijeka‘s Trsat is the ancient shrine to the Mother of Mercy, the Mother of God of Trsat, which is arrived at by a climb of 561 steps. The church of the Mother of God of Trsat was built in 1419. Later Croatian Ban (vicegerent) Duke Nikola Frankopan I built a larger church, in which Franciscan monks have lived since 1453.

The youngest shrine in Croatia is that dedicated to St. Joseph in Dubovac near Karlovac, proclaimed in 1987.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

Unique by its embroidery, cathedral, Lipizzaners and Eucharist wines, Dakovo is the tourism jewel of eastern Slavonia. The basilica of St. Peter dominates the town‘s landscape with its two 84 metrehigh belfries, built in 1882. The cathedral was erected in the time of Bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer, who by initiating the construction of numerous church and commercial buildings launched the development of the Dakovo episcopate. Throughout its 760-year history, namely, many bishops have left traces of their activities in Dakovo. In 1806, in the time of Bishop Antun Mandic, the first institution of higher education in Slavonia was opened – the School of Theology.

In the direct vicinity of the cathedral is the wine cellar with its renowned Eucharist wines, served as an exceptional treat at special occasions. It will always be found on the table at state visits to Croatia or at presentations the Croatian National Tourist Board organises around the world for tourism representatives and professionals and journalists.

The historicist and Secession style old town core today draws the attention of a growing number of tourists, who come to Croatia on the cruisers that ply the waters of the Danube River from Budapest. And that is why a tour of the town must include a not-to-bemissed
visit to the National Lipizzaner Stud Farm, founded in or around the year 1506. Their beauty and grace was remarked upon by British Queen Elizabeth, who visited the stud farm in 1972.

Every year the Lipizzaners are a part of the traditional culture and tourism event known as the Dakovacki vezovi (Embroideries of Dakovo), held for its 41st time in July of this year. This function has long ago become a national event and this year drew performers from five continents and ten of thousands of visitors from around the world. With its tradition and far and wide renowned embroidery in gold thread, preserved trades and old skills, Dakovo offers tourists a cornucopia of possibilities for a quality vacation in an indigenous milieu.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

In Dubrovnik the new Rixos Libertas hotel will open its doors bythe end of the year featuring 315 luxurious rooms and suites. Itwas built at the site of the former Libertas congress hotel. The hotel, which is a mere 15 minute stroll from the old Dubrovnik historic core, has an interior floor space of 45 thousand square metres and offers a stunning view of the sea. Besides luxuriously appointed rooms, a congress centre has been built in the hotel withnine halls and a total capacity of 1,200, while a wellness and spa centre stretches across two floors of the hotel. A casino, night bar, two kindergartens and shops will operate in the hotel, and guestswill also have five bars and three restaurants at their disposal. This new Dubrovnik hotel is a part of the Rixos hotel group thatpools eight hotels with six thousand beds in four countries.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

On a large plateau in the craggy Obrovac region a real small Indian village recently appeared, and not just any village…

42 years ago, namely, a film was shot here about one the best known of the Indian chieftains - Winnetou. That was the motivation to set up this, the latest tourist attraction here, given that for years now fans of Winnetou have come to Obrovac and the nearby sites where the movie was shot. They initiated the development of this Indian village that consists of typical Indian tepees and other elements such as totem poles, campfires and even horses that have been brought to the village for the occasion.

For next year there are plans to widen the village whose offer will certainly be enriched by an indigenous culinary offer and programs for organised tourist visits. With the new Indian village near Obrovac, Zadar County has gotten yet another appealing tourist attraction.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

Just under the heights of Papuk in Požega-Slavonia County, in the heart of the Vale of Kutjevo, is the village Vetovo and near it a farmstead that has been drawing tourists for almost two decades now. A large number of visitors have come to the Schon Blick estate over these many years, many of which return on a regular basis because the homey atmosphere, the gentle landscape and the hospitable hosts are an excellent formula for a relaxing vacation.

Once there was only a single pond on the grounds, and the estate now boasts a large log house with a rich culinary offer of local meat and fish specialities, in front of which ponies move about freely.

Accommodations are offered in bungalows; five of them, and the estate is now surrounded by three ponds, giving it the appearance of an island in the midst of waters.

There is also no lack of facilities for fun – two tennis courts with night time lighting, a beach volleyball court, a children‘s playground and, what the kids love most – a small zoo where peacocks, rabbits, chickens and other small wild animals are free to roam, and deer often happen by.

Another reason to go is that fact that the estate is located close to the vineyards of Ivan Enjingi, Vlado Krauthker, Petar Majetic, the Kutjevo estates and other lauded Croatian vintners.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?