Croatia Travel Blog

Archive for February, 2009

Let others head to the Dalmatian coast. Dare to be different! Now it’s getting easier to explore the untouristed eastern part of Croatia with Ryanair’s new route from Frankfurt to Osijek.

Located in Osijek-Baranjska county in Slavonia,  Osijek is interesting to visit for its “Tvrda” (fortress), its spicy cuisine and its pleasant promenade along the Drava river. It also makes a good base to visit the unique Kopacki Rit Nature Park and tragic Vukovar.

Flights are Wednesday and Sunday and start 6 May.

Read more about Osijek-Baranjska county and Vukovar-Srijem county or more on cheap flights to Croatia.

Get a head start on summer vacation planning? No problem, especially if you’ll be  taking a ferry from Italy to Croatia.  Two important lines have just published their summer schedules. From Venice to Porec, Rovinj, Pula, Rabac and Mali Losinj there are regular catamarans from 11 April to 10 October. From Bari to Dubrovnik, Azzurralines has just published their schedules as well for roughly the same time period. Their car ferries will complement the regular Jadrolinija lines that run all year. All summer ferries  can and should be booked in advance.

See the Venice catamaran timetables and online booking here and the Bari-Dubrovnik car ferry timetables and online booking here.

Flights from North America to Croatia are notoriously expensive but British Airways has come to the rescue. You’ll have to act fast though.

If you book a flight from New York to Dubrovnik before the end of March, you get a special low rate of EUR405 return including all taxes and charges. It’s an enormous discount over the regular fare.

The New York-Dubrovnik leg has a stop in London, but for the return you’ll have to stay overnight at an airport hotel in Gatwick.  But, get this, British Airways pays for it! So, it takes a little longer but you get a free overnight!

Note also, that your journey must begin before July 3, 2009.

So, go direct to the British Airways site or see more about flights to Croatia.

As of this month, the government has made it MUCH easier for foreigners, especially EU citizens, to buy property in Croatia. Now foreigners can buy under the same terms as Croatian citizens, which is to say, with much less red tape.

The change was made in response to EU regulations as Croatia is up for ascension next year.  It certainly was not as a result of public clamour for more foreigners owning land.

Contrary to dire fears among Croatians, that their choicest bits of real estate will slip under foreign control, it looks as though the economic crisis means that fewer foreigners than expected will be snapping up property. Consider the prices: 3,650 euros per square metre of a flat in Dubrovnik and  1,750 euros for the same  in Pula! Croatian real estate professionals had expected that loosening regulations would lead to a whopping 5% increase in sales but now even that estimate is being revised downward.

As it turns out, Germans are the biggest foreign owners of Croatian property. Figures show that as of January, only 11,517 foreign citizens or firms owned property in Croatia. The list was led by 5,149 Germans, and then followed by 3,131 Slovenians, 2,187 Austrians and 1,358 Hungarians.

The figures were several times smaller than what the Croatian media had estimated.

Find out more about buying property in Croatia.

It’s the biggest event in Split and one of the most prestigious events in all Croatia. I’m talking about the Croatia Boat Show of course, held each year in Split.

From March 25 to April 5, Split will be ground zero of the nautical business as everyone involved in making, outfitting and servicing yachts heads to Split’s scenic harbour for the festivities.

Global crisis? What crisis? The show’s organizer, Profectus, expects even more exhibitors, sponsors and visitors than last year when 50,000 nautical nuts choked the harbour in front of Diocletian’s Palace.  Find out more about the fabulous Croatia Boat Show.