Holidays in Croatia

Tourism in Croatia is a well-developed industry as Croatia is an attractive tourist destination, particularly because of its extensive coastline and well-preserved coastal Renaissance towns.

Croatia's official currency is the kuna. In many tourist places prices will be also given in euros. Although some business owners may even accept euros they will usually not be authorized to do this.

Croatia was the first country in Europe to start with the concept of commercial naturist resorts. According to some estimates about 15% of all tourists that visit the country are naturists or nudists (more than one million each year). There are more than 20 official naturist resorts as well as a very large number of the so-called free beaches which are unofficial naturist beaches, sometimes controlled and maintained by local tourist authorities.

In fact, you are likely to find nudists on any beach outside of town centers. Naturist beaches in Croatia are marked as "FKK". The most popular nudist destinations are Pula, Hvar and island Rab.

Water sports: in bigger tourist centers, it's possible to rent boats, fishing and diving equipment, and there are numerous scuba diving schools and schools for wind-surfing. Rafting is organized on rivers Cetina and Dobra. You can experience a wild kayak or canoe riding on rivers Kupa, Korana, Mreznica, Cetina and Una.

Entertainment: most highly rated hotels have casinos and nightclubs, especially in Zagreb, Opatija, Umag, Porec, Rovinj, Pula and Dubrovnik. All larger cities and major tourist resorts on the Adriatic have disco clubs, while in summer, dancing evenings under the open sky and various entertainment events are regularly organized.

banks are open from 7 am to 7 pm weekdays, and till 1 pm on Saturdays; in major cities, banks on duty are also open on Sundays.

Did you Know:

- Croatia is the homeland of Marco Polo, the world renowned 13th century traveller, who was born on the Dalmatian island of Korčula.

- Croatian inventor, Slavoljub Penkala, invented the first mechanical pen in 1906. as well as the first fountain pen in 1907.
- That 100,000 egg yolks were used in making the plaster covering the lighthouse at Veli Rat on the island of Dugi otok.

- That the White House in Washington is built of marble from the island of Brač.

- That the Carnival in Rijeka is one of the three most attractive carnivals in Europe.
- That Istria has its own leaning tower. The belfry in Završje stands 22 metres tall and is tilted by 40 centimetres.

- That movie director Alfred Hitchcock (1899-1980) said during his stay in Zadar that the sunset there was the most beautiful in the world.

- Around the year 1635, some six thousand soldiers and knights came to Paris to give their support to King Louis XIII and Cardinal Richelieu. Among them were a great number of Croatian mercenaries. The traditional outfit of these Croats aroused interest on account of the unusual and picturesque scarves distinctively tied about their necks. Later on, during the reign of Louis XIV, the Croatian scarf was accepted in France, above all in court, where military ornaments were much admired. The fashionable expression, ’a la croate’, soon evolved into a new French word, which still exists today: la cravate.