:: Travel News for Your next Holiday & Vacation in Croatia | Croatia Blog ::

It is a well-known fact that Croatia is a country of top-quality athletes, documented by the many medals they have won around the world, thus becoming a role-model for many children. Thanks to the initiative of the Valamar tourist group, the manager of facilities in Porec, Pula, on the Island of Krk, in Rabac and Dubrovnik, their idols are now a bit closer to them. In July and August, famous athletes such as Franjo Arapovi, Slavko Goluza, Domagoj Duvnjak, Vlado Sola, Sanja Jovanovi and Petra and Dario Kliba will show the little ones the secrets of basketball, handball, swimming and sailing. The program includes everyday training, lunch and dinner with the athletes, and a photograph taken with them. Also the children will be able to enjoy a rich animation program. This is also an opportunity for the parents to spend their vacation according to their wishes. The training will be held until the end of August. Swimmer Sanja Jovanovi will be holding swimming lessons from August 10th to August 17th in the Valamar Club Dubrovnik, and Petra and Dario Kilba will be holding sailing lessons in the Valamar Club Tamaris from August 23rd to August 30th. The program is intended for children form the ages of seven to 15, and is open for both visitors and locals.
Source: Croatia.hr

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16 January to 1 February, Croatia will host the 21st Men’s World Handball Championship Croatia 2009 to be held in several cities: Zagreb, Zadar, Split, Osijek, Varaždin, Porec and Pula. Sport halls, most of them multipurpose, are built for the occasion and will be opened during December, ready to receive the best handball players from the entire world.

As major sporting events like this always have a tourist angle, it is quite clear Croatia will present itself as an excellent host in this segment as well. The event was preceded by the Croatian Handball & Tourism Days in November, during which the Croatian tourist offer was presented in 13 countries participating in the championship, namely in the cities such as Budapest, Oslo, Copenhagen, Stockholm, Bucharest, Moscow, Warsaw, Belgrade, Madrid, Skopje, Paris, Frankfurt and Seoul. The presentation included press conferences, presenting the Croatian tourist offer to the invited guests and business partners with emphasis on the cities where matches will be played. This was also an opportunity to try the Croatian wine & gastro offer and see an entertainment program featuring prominent Croatian artists. The presentations were aimed to send a special invitation to business partners and guests and express a welcome to be felt by the athletes and guests in both the host cities and across the country.

Source: press.croatia.hr

Here are some useful links for you:

• adria24.com
• all about Croatia
• Videos from Croatia
  
• Vacation in Croatia

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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.

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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?

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As of recently a cycling tour of the Vukovar Veterans Way is an integral part of the tourism offer in Vukovar and its environs Over the past few years Vukovar has recorded an increasing number of tourists who most often come to the town individually or on the cruisers that ply the waters of the Danube River, or by bicycle on the Danube Tour. And that is precisely why a cycling tour has been conceived that covers all of the key points in the town and its environs. It is 38 kilometres long and starts in the town centre, from where you head out by bicycle to Eltz palace. In this way tourists can best get acquainted with the wartime story of the people of Vukovar, but also of life in the city and its surroundings as it is lived by the people of Vukovar today. Given that the tour is quite long, the best places for a break have been indicated in the route, where tourists can refresh themselves with the local brandy, or in nearby souvenir shops where they can see for themselves the manufacture of souvenirs the Dove of Vukovar, the well-known Vukovar water tower and the cross on the Danube River. Source: ?Croatia Tourist Board?

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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?

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Local people from Korcula, living on the island surrounded by the sea, has a long steady tradition in sea fishing. That tradition is going on from the ancient times when fishing was a important source of food finding.
Fishing is particularly developed in villages Lumbarda and Vela Luka. Lumbarda is famous for, so called, ‘ small fishermen’ – people who fish as their hobby and as source of side income, while Vela Luka has a long professional fishing tradition, that includes even a sardine factory. Fisherman’s from Vela Luka fish the whole Adriatic and their catching are sold in many Croatian towns and exported abroad too.
If you come and have a look at Korcula harbour, one will see a lot of boats owned by local people, used for fishing and excursions around the islands SKOJI.

If one has no boat, one can fish from the shore too. There are various good spots for angle fishing , such as Riva ( harbor in front of Hotel Korcula) or Nova Riva ( harbour on the easter side of Korcula Old Town)
There is a fishing shop in Korcula right in the very centre of Korcula Town where one can buy various fishing equipment – bites, floats, angles, hooks, fishing rods, etc….

Source: korculainfo.com

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