:: Croatia Blog ::

Many of the Croatian athletes who have earned top medals at global sports events are intensively training in Delnice in Gorski kotar. Throughout the year the wooded slopes of Gorski kotar are the scene of the intensive training of numerous Croatian representations in various athletic disciplines – from handball, volleyball, football (soccer) to cycling and the tae kwon do representation – with accommodation in excellent tourist facilities.

Delnice are situated at about 750 metres above sea level, and together with Crni Lug and Brod na Kupi are the hub of the settlement of this part of Gorski kotar. Because of its natural beauty, crystal clear streams, caves, fissures and sinkholes, various fruits, an abundance of mushrooms and medicinal herbs, and the proximity of Risnjak National Park, it is a favourite among alpinists and hikers, speleologists, skiers, cyclists, kayaking and rafting enthusiasts and many others. Risnjak was proclaimed a National Park in 1953, putting the entire area under protection. The borders of the park were later expanded, which even more increased its attractiveness and enriched the tourist content of the park, from the viewpoints of which an unforgettable view shoots out over the shores of the Adriatic and of the Alps in Slovenia.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

With the send-off of a caravan procession from Opatija that passed the old roads leading to the interior came the close of this year‘s Summer on the Lujzijana and Karolina Roads culture and tourism event. In the past these roads were used to transport passengers from the Kvarner coast to Karlovac and Zagreb by carriage, passing through the Gorski kotar area, under the peaks of Risnjak and Bjelolasica, and along the stunning Kupa and Dobra rivers.

Developing this thematic route for tourism today vividly illustrates the significance of these roads in the development of Primorje (the littoral region), Gorski kotar (the highlands) and Pokuplje (the Kupa River basin). These traffic routes were once also used as key caravan routes used in the transport of spice and other vital goods, marking various cultural periods – from the period of the Dukes Frankopan and Zrinski, Emperor Carlo VI, Empress Maria Theresa and Joseph II during whose rule the Karolina was constructed, right up to Austrian Emperor Francis I, the Napoleonic wars and more.

The Delnice-based Lujzijana Association is the organiser of the entire project, which launched the project in 2006, and whose realisation will run through to 2013. Also in the works is their linking with other Croatian and international thematic routes, where the „Lujzijana and Karolina in the Network of European and Tourism Routes“ will be a Southeastern Europe pilot project.

There are a total of 20 towns on the thematic route, linked by fast modern highways, starting with Opatija in the Kvarner area, where the info point is located, to Zagreb in the country‘s interior. Each of the towns on the route feature a wealth of history, offering travellers a number of local points of interest and an offer of various attractive tourism and hospitality facilities.

Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?