--- title: "Top 10 Things To Do in Croatia (City Guides) | Wimup" description: "Browse Wimup's Top 10 guides across Croatia: Dubrovnik, Split, the Dalmatian islands, Istria and Zagreb. When to go, how to get around, and where to start." url: https://wimup.com/country/croatia type: Country guide updated: 2026-10-28 publisher: Wimup (https://wimup.com) --- # Top 10s across Croatia From **Dubrovnik and Split** to **Istria, the Kvarner islands and Zagreb**, Croatia's cities each distilled to ten things worth your time, mapped and filmed. ## Quick answer Most first trips run down the Adriatic. **Dubrovnik** is the set piece: two nights, plus day boats to **Lokrum** and the **Elafiti**. **Split** is the base further north, a Roman palace with a city inside it and the ferry port for **Hvar, Brač and Vis**. Between them sit **Trogir, Šibenik and Zadar**, with **Krka** and **Plitvice** inland. **Istria** brings truffles, Roman Pula and Italian-looking hill towns. **Zagreb** is the way in by air. Go in **May, June and September**. ## Quick facts - **Best months:** May · Jun · Sep - **Ideal length:** 10–14 days - **Budget per day:** €90–150 - **Language:** Croatian - **Getting around:** Buses and ferries, a car inland - **4** City guides - **3,871,833** People - **2** Video guide Croatia travels as three countries that happen to share a border. Dalmatia carries the postcard: Dubrovnik at the southern tip, Split around Diocletian's palace, and the islands of Hvar, Korčula and Vis offshore. Istria in the northwest is the food and wine half, closer to Venice than to Split in both cooking and architecture. Zagreb and the continental interior hold the museums, the Habsburg streets and the lakes at Plitvice. The coast road links the south, the motorway links the north, and a ferry timetable decides most itineraries in between. ## 4 Croatia city guides 1. [Dubrovnik](https://wimup.com/city/dubrovnik.md): Europe · 10 picks 2. [Zadar](https://wimup.com/city/zadar.md): Europe · 10 picks 3. [Hvar](https://wimup.com/city/hvar.md): Europe · 10 picks 4. [Rovinj](https://wimup.com/city/rovinj.md): Europe · 10 picks ## Know before you go - **Population:** 3,871,833 - **Area:** 56,594 km² - **Density:** 68.4 / km² - **Capital:** Zagreb - **Major cities:** Zagreb, Split, Rijeka, Osijek, Zadar - **Tourism board:** Official site - **Currency:** Euro (€) The kuna was replaced by the euro on 1 January 2023. Cards work almost everywhere on the coast and in the cities. Keep some cash for island konobas, markets and the smaller bus lines. - **Language:** Croatian South Slavic, written in Latin script. English is widely spoken on the coast and in Zagreb, Italian in Istria, and German wherever Austrian and German holidaymakers go. - **Calling code:** +385 Prepaid SIM cards are sold at the airports and in any operator shop. Coverage is good along the coast and the motorways, and patchy in the Velebit and Lika interior. - **Power:** 230V, 50Hz, plug types C and F The round two-pin sockets used across continental Europe. UK and US plugs need an adapter, and US devices need to handle 230 volts. - **Emergency:** 112 One number for police, fire and ambulance, free from any phone. The older direct lines still work: police 192, fire 193, ambulance 194. - **Visa:** Schengen, 90 days in 180 Croatia joined Schengen on 1 January 2023, so days here count against the same allowance as France or Italy. Check the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs for your nationality. - **Getting around:** Buses and ferries No railway runs down the Dalmatian coast. Buses do, and Jadrolinija's ferries and catamarans reach the islands from Rijeka, Zadar, Šibenik, Split and Dubrovnik. Trains link Zagreb, Rijeka and Split. - **Driving:** Right-hand, tolled motorways The A1 from Zagreb towards Ploče is tolled by distance. From 15 November to 15 April, designated sections require winter tyres, or summer tyres with four millimetres of tread and chains. - **Tipping:** Round up, 5 to 10% Service is not added to the bill. Rounding up is normal in a konoba or a bar, and ten percent is generous in a restaurant. - **Time zone:** CET, UTC+1 Central European Time, with summer time from late March to late October. Same clock as Italy, Austria and Slovenia. - **National parks:** Eight Plitvice, Krka, Paklenica, Mljet, Northern Velebit, Risnjak, Kornati and the Brijuni islands. Plitvice and Krka sell timed entry in summer and both sell out, so book the slot in advance. ## When to visit - **Jan** - **Feb** - **Mar** - **Apr** (good) - **May** (best) - **Jun** (best) - **Jul** (peak) - **Aug** (peak) - **Sep** (best) - **Oct** (good) - **Nov** - **Dec** ## Fun fact The Croatian Hydrographic Institute counts 1,244 islands, islets, rocks and reefs off the Adriatic coast. Only 78 of those are islands proper, and a fraction of the 78 are permanently inhabited. ## Stereotypes, sorted out - **Myth:** Croatia is Dubrovnik **Reality:** Dubrovnik is one walled kilometre at the far southern tip, and the drive from it to Zagreb takes most of a day. Split, Istria, the Kvarner islands and the Slavonian plain are separate trips with separate food, and only one of them is the one on the poster. - **Myth:** It is the cheap Mediterranean **Reality:** It was, and the euro arrived on 1 January 2023. Coastal Dalmatia in August now prices close to Italy. The value is still real, but it sits in the shoulder months, in Istria's konobas and everywhere inland of the coast road. - **Myth:** This is Eastern Europe **Reality:** The coast was Venetian for centuries and the north Habsburg, so Split reads Roman and Italian and Zagreb reads Vienna. Croatia joined the EU in 2013 and the euro and the Schengen area in 2023. - **Myth:** The islands are interchangeable **Reality:** Hvar is the party and the lavender, Vis was closed to foreigners until 1989 and stayed quiet, Korčula has a walled town and its own wine, Pag is bare rock, salt and sheep cheese. Pick two, not six. - **Myth:** You need to hire a car **Reality:** Not for the coast. Intercity buses run Rijeka to Dubrovnik all day and Jadrolinija's ferries and catamarans handle the islands. A car earns its keep in Istria, the Lika interior and Slavonia, and is a liability inside any old town. - **Myth:** It is all King's Landing **Reality:** Dubrovnik's walls and Lovrijenac did play the part, and the tours are a real industry. The city was a sovereign maritime republic for four and a half centuries before television found it, and the museums tell that story better than the tours do. - Coffee is a sitting, not a takeaway. An espresso can hold a table for an hour, and the Saturday morning version in Zagreb has its own name, špica. - Lead with dobar dan, add hvala and molim, and the register of the whole exchange changes. Almost no one expects a visitor to try. - Rakija is an aperitif and a welcome. It is sipped slowly, and refusing the first one outright reads as cold. - Cover shoulders and knees inside cathedrals and monasteries. Dubrovnik and Trogir enforce it at the door. - Lunch runs late and dinner later. A konoba filling at nine is normal, and kitchens on the islands often close by eleven. - The bura wind cancels ferries, sometimes for a day. Build a spare day into any island leg and check the timetable that morning. - Take your shoes off in someone's home. Slippers are usually waiting inside the door. - Do not open the Yugoslav wars as small talk. People will discuss it if they raise it; as an opener it lands badly. ## Famous Croatian faces - **Nikola Tesla**: Engineer born at Smiljan near Gospić, whose alternating-current systems power the world - **Luka Modrić**: Midfielder who took the 2018 Ballon d'Or after Croatia reached the World Cup final - **Ruđer Bošković**: Dubrovnik-born physicist and astronomer who worked out that the Moon has no atmosphere - **Janica Kostelić**: Alpine skier, four-time Olympic champion, the most decorated woman in the sport's history - **Goran Ivanišević**: Won Wimbledon in 2001 as a wildcard, at his fourth final - **Ivan Meštrović**: Sculptor of modern Croatia, who gave his Split villa and 190 works to the state in 1952 - **Lavoslav Ružička**: Born in Vukovar, 1939 Nobel laureate in Chemistry for work on terpenes and sex hormones - **Andrija Mohorovičić**: Geophysicist who identified the boundary between crust and mantle, still called the Moho - **Slavoljub Penkala**: Zagreb engineer behind the first mechanical pencil and a patented hot water bottle - **Faust Vrančić**: Šibenik polymath who drew the Homo Volans parachute and tested it past sixty-five - **Dražen Petrović**: Guard who carried European basketball into the NBA, inducted into the Hall of Fame in 2002 - **Davor Šuker**: Golden Boot at the 1998 World Cup, Croatia's first tournament as an independent nation - **Blanka Vlašić**: High jumper and twice outdoor world champion, in 2007 and 2009 - **Miroslav Krleža**: The dominant Croatian writer of the twentieth century, author of the Glembay cycle - **Marija Jurić Zagorka**: Croatia's first professional woman journalist, from 1896, and author of Grička vještica - **Vlaho Bukovac**: Cavtat-born founder of modern Croatian painting, who made Zagreb's 1895 theatre curtain - **Goran Višnjić**: Šibenik-born actor, best known abroad for eight seasons on ER - **Rade Šerbedžija**: Stage actor from Bunić who moved into international film after 1991 - **Oliver Dragojević**: The voice of Dalmatia for five decades, from Vela Luka on Korčula - **2Cellos**: Luka Šulić and Stjepan Hauser, the cello duo that took classical technique to arena rock - **Josip Broz Tito**: Born at Kumrovec in 1892, led Yugoslavia from the war until his death in 1980 - **Mate Rimac**: Started Rimac Automobili in a garage in 2009 and built an electric hypercar maker ## Must-try Croatian food - **Peka**: Lamb, veal or octopus baked under an iron bell buried in embers, ordered hours ahead. - **Ćevapi**: Grilled minced-meat fingers in flatbread, with raw onion and ajvar. - **Sarma**: Soured cabbage leaves rolled around pork and rice, the winter plate everywhere inland. - **Pašticada**: Beef marinated then braised in red wine with prunes, served over gnocchi. - **Soparnik**: A thin chard pie from Poljica, baked on the hearth and protected under EU rules. - **Paški sir**: Hard sheep cheese from Pag, where the bura salts the pasture the flock eats. - **Dalmatinski pršut**: Air-dried ham, cured by the wind and not by smoke, cut thin with cheese and olives. - **Blitva**: Chard and potato crushed with olive oil and garlic, the default side with grilled fish. - **Crni rižot**: Risotto blackened with cuttlefish ink, and the reason for the napkin. - **Brudet**: Mixed fish stewed with tomato, onion and vinegar, eaten with polenta from the pan. - **Buzara**: Mussels or scampi opened in white wine, garlic and breadcrumbs. Bread is the point. - **Istarski tartufi**: White and black truffles from the Motovun forest, shaved over pasta, eggs or steak. - **Fuži**: Hand-rolled Istrian pasta quills, usually under game sauce or truffle. - **Maneštra**: Istrian bean and vegetable soup thick enough to be the whole meal. - **Zagorski štrukli**: Dough parcels of fresh cheese and cream, baked or boiled, from the hills north of Zagreb. - **Kulen**: Slavonian paprika sausage, matured for months and properly hot. - **Purica s mlincima**: Roast turkey with mlinci, the Sunday plate of the Zagorje. - **Fritule**: Small fried dough balls with citrus zest and rum, sold by the paper cone at festivals. - **Rožata**: Dubrovnik's set custard, turned out and scented with rose liqueur. - **Kremšnita**: A square of custard between pastry, at its best in Samobor west of Zagreb. - **Rakija**: Fruit brandy poured before the meal. Travarica is the herbal one on the coast. - **Plavac Mali**: The dark red of the Dalmatian coast, at its best from Pelješac and Hvar. - **Malvazija**: Istria's dry white, and the glass poured by default with anything from the sea. ## By theme - [Island escapes](https://wimup.com/islands.md) - [Old towns](https://wimup.com/old-towns.md) ## Films - [Dubrovnik Travel Guide](https://wimup.com/watch/dubrovnik.md), 12:28 - [Zadar Travel Guide](https://wimup.com/watch/zadar.md), 11:13 ## FAQs ### How many days do you need in Croatia? Ten to fourteen days covers the coast without rushing: two nights in Dubrovnik, three in Split with a day on Hvar or Vis, then Zadar or Šibenik with Krka or Plitvice on the way north. A week is enough for one half, either Dalmatia or Istria with Zagreb. ### When is the best time to visit Croatia? May, June and September. The sea is warm from June, the ferries run the summer timetable from late May to late September, and the old towns are walkable in a way they are not in August. October is fine for Istria and Zagreb, and thin for the islands. ### Do you need a car in Croatia? Not for the coast. Intercity buses run the length of it and Jadrolinija's ferries and catamarans handle the islands, so a car mostly becomes a parking problem outside walled towns. Hire one for Istria, the Lika interior and Slavonia, where the buses thin out. ### Is Croatia in the Schengen area, and what does it use for money? Both changed on 1 January 2023: Croatia joined the Schengen area and replaced the kuna with the euro on the same day. Arriving overland from Slovenia or Hungary means no border check, and days spent here count against the same 90-in-180 Schengen allowance as the rest of the zone. ### Which Croatian islands are worth the ferry? Hvar for the lavender fields and the nightlife, Vis for how little happened to it while it was closed to foreigners, Korčula for a walled town and its own white wine, Brač for Zlatni Rat and the stone quarries, Mljet for the salt lakes inside a national park. Two islands in a trip is plenty. ## Related countries - [Italy](https://wimup.com/country/italy.md) - [France](https://wimup.com/country/france.md) - [All of Europe](https://wimup.com/europe) Part of [Europe](https://wimup.com/europe.md) ## Sources - [Tourism board](https://croatia.hr/en-gb?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - [Visa](https://mvep.gov.hr/en?utm_source=wimup.com&utm_medium=referral) - Rankings are Wimup editorial picks. Prices, durations and budgets are editorial estimates, not live quotes; check the official site before you go.