We, from Croatia4me, have some great ideas and tips to help you plan a day or more days out in specific regions in Croatia. These are just ideas you can add to your own holiday plans, you can follow the day to day ideas we have written below, or mix it all up or pick one or two items that suit you best. We just hope you will enjoy your stay in Croatia to the maximum and that our ideas and tips will give you some new insights!
Day 1 Castle Trakošćan, nature, walking and resting
Visit the beautiful and idyllic located castle Trakošćan. Take a tour with or without (English) guide through the museum in the castle, and then go for a leisurely walk of more than an hour through the woods and along the beautiful lake. Close the morning off with a simple lunch in the cafe at the entrance of the castle park, or go for a full lunch or dinner at Hotel Trakošćan across the road. Fill in the afternoon with a brisk walk through the mountains above Trakošćan, or go relax in the spa area of the hotel.
Day 2 Site-seeing in Varaždin, shopping, or hiking
Go by car to the Baroque town Varazdin, go for a morning hike on mountain Čevo, then go visit the town of Varaždin to have lunch in the city center. Park your car in the spacious underground garage in the centre of town – note: in the centre car traffic is routed in a one-way direction.
photo ©EMRE d.o.o.
After lunch, visit the ancient fortress with city museum, the churches – Cathedral of the assumption and the Franciscan church and monastery of St. John the Baptist – and the many small shops. Sit on a terrace on the cosy central square for an ice-cream or refreshing drink. Outside the city are two major shopping centres with ample parking space, it is easy shopping but not really atmospheric. Supernova and Lumini, located on the road to the highway is covered there is inside a bowling alley and a multiplex cinema, across the street side of the road is the outlet store of Calzedonia, Intimissimi and Tezenis.
Day 3 Rural town of Čakovec, markets, vineyards and great food
Visit the small green province of Medimurje situated between the rivers Mura and Drava located in the northern tip of Croatia. Go to the city of Čakovec, walk past the old castle and go shopping for souvenirs, there is a daily food and flower market at the centre, but Wednesday and Saturday mornings are the main market days. Buy delicious honey or fresh fruits and vegetables. On Wednesday there is out of town, direction (road 2018 that runs west from the city centre along an industrial zone between the villages Pribislavec and Stefanec) a real farmers market which is nice to visit with handmade items, second hand flea market items, locally produced fruit and vegetables, honey, plants and some small farm animals. Go by car to the northern part of Medimurje toward Štrigova a well known wine growing region, follow the wine route -each wine producer is marked with a brown sign- and go to a vineyard for a wine tasting, visit the mill on the river Mura, and go eat in a lovely restaurant along the way, or go for lunch/dinner to Čakovec where in the old castle is a good restaurant.
photo ©visitmedimurje
Day 4 Prehistory and Middle Ages
Visit the modern museum of prehistory in the town of Krapina, after visiting the museum walk through the open-air museum in the wooded area and see how the Neanderthals might have lived in the local caves. Go for a lunch in a local restaurant and after a morning of pre-history, go for a late medieval history experience to the castle of Veliki Tabor. Or swap a morning or afternoon with a bath in one of the spa’s near Krapina.
Day 5 Croatian Naive Art, Koprivnica and walking
Visit the artists’ village Hlebine, with the Museum of naive art, go visit the house and museum of the famous Croatian artist Ivan Generalic, there is also a traditional house decorated as people used to live here. Stop by the various artists at home in the village, you can recognize them by the signs outside their houses. Visit the town of Korpivnica and go for lunch or dinner in the hilltop restaurant Podravkska klet (Prvomajska 46a Koprivnica Mondays closed), enjoy the food and views and make a beautiful walks in the adjacent woods. Podravka is a Croatian company which prepares all kinds of soups, vegetables and other foodstuffs, it is one of the best known companies in Croatia focused on the Croatian cuisine.
Related article: Experience medieval festival in Koprivnica