Croatia

Discover Croatia

Fun Foods

Ćevapi, Pljeskavica, Burek, Strukli, Fritule, and Langoustine

A Roman emperor liked this coast so much he built his retirement home here. Diocletian's Palace in Split was finished around 305 AD. People still live inside it, 1,700 years later.

But humans arrived long before the Romans did. Illyrian tribes settled along the Adriatic over 3,000 years ago. They traded, farmed, and built hilltop forts before Rome swallowed them up.

Diocletian ruled the Roman Empire, then did something emperors rarely did. He quit. He moved to Split and spent his final years growing cabbages in his palace garden. His retirement home became a city.

Croats arrived from Central Europe in the 7th century and gave the country its name. They formed a kingdom in 925 AD but spent the next thousand years under Hungarian, Austrian, and eventually Yugoslavian control.

Yugoslavia broke apart in 1991. Croatia's fight for independence turned brutal. The war lasted four years and killed over 20,000 people. Even Dubrovnik's ancient walls took hundreds of artillery hits.

Croatia rebuilt and joined the European Union in 2013. The scars faded faster than anyone expected.

Today over 1,000 islands dot the Croatian coastline, each with beaches, villages, and clear Adriatic water.

Dubrovnik's walls wrap around the old city for nearly two kilometers. Walk the loop and look down at red rooftops that Hollywood used for King's Landing in Game of Thrones. Plitvice Lakes connects 16 lakes with waterfalls you can almost touch from wooden walkways. Split's palace ruins now hold restaurants, apartments, and a cathedral built inside Diocletian's tomb.

Ćevapi are grilled meat tubes served with flatbread and onions. Kids eat them by the handful. Fritule are mini donuts rolled in sugar, warm and addictive. Strukli is baked cheese pastry that stretches when you pull it apart.

Black risotto is dyed with squid ink. It photographs terribly but tastes incredible.

Sinjska Alka is a knights' tournament held every August since 1715. Riders charge on horseback and aim lances at a tiny ring. The whole town celebrates Croatia's victory over the Ottoman army.

An emperor retired here. Now millions visit every year.