We love food in Croatia. It’s varied, fresh, local, and tasty. In continental Croatia people eat lots of meat, while a diet in coastal regions is heavily based on fish and other seafood.

As a traveler you might also make some false assumption based on a food offer in touristy restaurants along the coast. One of the most popular posts on our blog is our post on must-try Croatian dishes. Make sure to read it so you don’t miss on some of the local specialties.

We also give a couple of tips on where to find  local, delicious, and cheap eats in Croatia.

And don’t miss our ultimate list of best places to eat in Croatia. Istrian restaurants rank the highest on this list.

Drinking

The tap water is safe to drink in Croatia. However, if you still prefer to drink a bottled water, bear in mind that bottled water is extremly expensive here. For instance, a 1.5 L bottle of a natural water costs around 6 kn in a supermarket, three times more expensive than in Italy.

Legal drinking age in Croatia is 18. Among alcoholic drinks, wines, beer, and spirits are very popular in Croatia.

Drinking usually takes place at cafe bars, serving any kind of drinks, from coffees, and teas, to wine, beer, and any alcoholic drinks. Cafes work all day, opening as early as 6 am, and closing usually around midnight. Night clubs, pubs, and some bars work until 4 am.

Local wines are good. In the last two decades many small family-run wineries lead the way with good quality wines made of indigenous grape varieties, like Malvazija, a dry white wine produced in Istria, or Plavac Mali, a red variety dominating vineyards of the southern Dalmatia.

Croatians also drink lots of beer, but you’ll hardly find an exciting choice of beers here in Croatia (not the case any longer, craft beer scene in Croatia is now super exciting!). The most popular mass-produced local beers are Karlovacko and Ozujsko, both light lager type. In recent years few microbreweries started putting on market a more appealing craft beer, like San Servolo, Nova Runda or Zmajska pivovara.

Spirits are very popular in Croatia, and they come with a variety of flavours. Here they are called rakija. The basic one is most often produced from grapes (called Loza), but then they are flavoured with different ingredients. The most popular are travarica (herb brandy), medica (honey brandy), orahovaca (walnut brandy), visnja (chery brandy), mirta (myrtle brandy), and rogac (carob brandy).

Travel insurance

Travel insurance covers all kinds of situations if things go wrong: from luggage loss, trip cancellation, to medical assistance.

If you are an EU-citizen then your European Medical Insurance Card covers your basic medical needs and emergency medical care. However, it doesn’t cover emergency transport to your home country.

Non-EU citizens are advised to check with their embassies for what level of medical care they are covered in Croatia, as it heavily depend on bilateral and reciprocal agreement between the countries.

For other damages like document and baggage loss, loss of belongings, and trip cancellation, you’ll definitely need to purchase a travel insurance. There are many travel insurance companies offering different insurance options and packages. You can compare all your options using a website like Travel Insurance Review.

Tours and activities

Croatia offers a lot of activities to do for all ages, and all year round. The country is rich in history, natural beauty, historical towns, wonderful architecture, pristine beaches, and rugged mountains.

Foodies will enjoy exploring restaurants in Croatia, especially in Istria, Zagreb, Dubrovnik and Split. Croatia produces some of the world’s best extra virgin olive oils (if you wonder why you should care, read Tom Mueller’s book Extra virginity: the sublime world of olive oil). There are lots of places where you can go for an olive oil tasting, and learn how to distinguish the real staff from the crap. A visit to a winery is a must if in Croatia, particularly in Istria.

Tisno on the island of Murter, Novalja on the island Pag, and the town of Hvar offer 24 h partying for young and restless.

An outdoor enthusiasts will love Omis, Paklenica, and Cicarija. They all offer an endless choice of adventures to enjoy.

We’ve written a full post on things to do in Croatia. You can also check Get Your Guide website for a full list of tours and activities in Croatia.

Itineraries

We are often asked to suggest or revise a proposed itinerary for Croatia. So here are few things to bear in mind when planning your Croatian itinerary.

Although the country is relatively small, it’s long (from Umag in the northwest to Dubrovnik in the south there is over 700 km), and it’s not that quick to travel from north or west to the south.

If you plan to visit Croatia for less than a week, we highly recommend you pick up one destination, and stick to it. Do day trips from there, but don’t pretend to visit entire country in less than a week. Also, in July and August, you need to take into account possible traffic jams, and congestions on the roads.

If you stay a week or ten days, you can visit few highlights, like Zagreb, Plitvice, Split and Dubrovnik.

Suggested week itineraries

a | Zagreb – Plitvice Lakes – Split – Hvar – Dubrovnik

b | Dubrovnik – Peljesac Peninsula – Korcula – Split – Zagreb

c | Zagreb – Plitvice Lakes – Istria

Suggested two-week itineraries

a | Zagreb – Opatija – Istria – Plitvice Lakes – Zadar – Krka Waterfalls – Split – Brac Island – Korcula – Peljesac – Dubrovnik

Shopping