CROATIA - Regions

Istria
A large peninsula jutting into the northern Adriatic, Istria (Istra) is Croatian tourism at its most developed. Many of the towns here were tourist resorts back in the last century, and in recent years their proximity to northern Europe has ensured an annual influx of sun-seekers from Germany, Austria and the Netherlands. Yet the growth of modern hotel complexes, sprawling campsites and (mainly concrete) beaches has done little to detract from the essential charm of the region. This stretch of the coast was under Venetian rule for 400 years and there's still a fair-sized Italian community, with Italian very much the second language of the region. Regular trains and buses from Zagreb (and the Slovene capital Ljubljana, another good gateway to the region) arrive at Istria's largest centre, the port city of Pula. With its Roman amphitheatre and other relics of Roman occupation, it's a rewarding place to spend a couple of days - rooms are relatively easy to come by and most of Istria's interesting spots are only a bus ride away. On the western side of the Istrian peninsula, resort towns like Porec and Rovinj, with their cobbled piazzas and shuttered houses, are almost overwhelmingly pretty.

Kvarner
Travelling on from Istria towards Zagreb or Dalmatia, most routes lead through the brusque port city of RIJEKA, hardly worth a stopoff in its own right but an important transport hub for onward travel. Regular buses run from Rijeka to Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik; and it's also the starting point for the once-daily Jadrolinija coastal ferry, which calls in at Split and Dubrovnik on its way south. Rijeka is easy to get in and out of. Train and bus stations are about 400m apart; the former at the western end of Borisa Kidrica, the latter at the eastern end of the same street on Trg Bana Jelacica. The Jadrolinija ferry office (daily 7am-6pm, Wed & Sun 7am-8pm; tel 051/22356) is just along the waterfront from the bus station at Riva 16. OPATIJA to the west (bus #32 from Rijeka; 20kn) couldn't be more different - a former Austro-Hungarian society resort which still sports the refined air of Mitteleuropa. To the souteast are many small towns as Bakar, Kraljevica, Crikvenica and Novi Vinodolski, each with it´s own historical value to the region, developed as small touristic centers.

Dalmatia
Stretching from Zadar in the north to the Montenegrin border in the south, the region of Dalmatia (Dalmacija) possesses one of Europe's most dramatic shorelines, the sheer wall of Croatia's mountain ranges sweeping down to the sea from stark, grey heights, scattering islands in their path. For centuries, the region was ruled by Venice, spawning towns, churches and an architecture that wouldn't look out of place on the other side of the water. All along, well-preserved medieval towns sit on tiny islands or just above the sea on slim peninsulas, beneath a grizzled karst landscape that drops precipitously into some of the clearest - and cleanest - water anywhere. The main centres to aim for are in southern Dalmatia: the provincial capital Split is served by buses and trains from Zagreb and provides onward bus connections with the walled city of Dubrovnik. Ferry connections with the best of the islands - Brac, Hvar, and Korcula - are also made from Split.

Dubrovnik
DUBROVNIK is a beautifully preserved fortified town pressed against the sea within magnificent medieval walls. Considered the jewel in the crown of Croatian tourism, Dubrovnik was the subject of a largely spiteful attack by Yugoslav forces in autumn 1991. Bombarding the town from the rocky heights above, and aided by a blockade by the Yugoslav navy, they subjected Dubrovnik to an eight-month siege that was only broken by the UN-mediated ceasefire of May 1992. Now almost totally rebuilt and restored, the town is back on the tourist map with a vengeance. Dubrovnik was first settled by Roman refugees in the early seventh century, when the nearby city of Epidaurus (now Cavtat) was sacked by the Slavs. They took up residence on the southern part of what is now the old town, then an island, and gave their settlement the name Ragusa. The Slavs, meanwhile, settled on the wooded mainland opposite, from which the name Dubrovnik (from dubrava, meaning a "glade") came. Before long the slim channel between the two was filled in and the two sides merged, producing a Latin-Slav culture unique to the region. Sandwiched between Muslim and Christian powers, Ragusa exploited its favourable position on the Adriatic with a maritime and commercial genius unmatched anywhere else in Europe at the time, and by the mid-fourteenth century, having shaken off the yoke of first the Byzantines and then the Venetians, had become a successful and self-contained city state, its merchants trading far and wide. Dubrovnik fended off the attentions of the Ottoman Empire with cunning and pragmatic obsequiousness - and regular payment of enormous tributes. It continued to prosper until 1667, when an earthquake killed around 5000 people and destroyed many of the city's buildings. Though the city-state survived, it fell into decline and, in 1808, it was formally dissolved by Napoleon.

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