The Islands of Croatia. Rudolf Abraham

      Korčula town, said to have been the birthplace of Marco Polo

      A ceasefire and UN negotiations in early 1992 were accompanied by the withdrawal of the JNA, although significantly it did not mark a return to pre-war borders or provide for their future settlement. In May 1995 Croatian forces took matters into their own hands and entered occupied western Slavonia, quickly regaining control of the area; the Krajina Serbs responded by shelling Zagreb. In August Croatia retook the Serb stronghold of Knin. In December 1995 the Dayton Accord was signed in Paris, and Croatia’s international borders were recognised.

      The years since 1995 have seen most of the physical scars of the war repaired, at least on the coast – although many parts of Vukovar in eastern Slavonia still remain in ruins. Tourist numbers and foreign property buying have soared, and local salaries have risen. Croatia achieved candidacy status for EU membership in 2004, finally joining the EU in July 2013.

Language

      Croatian is a South Slavonic language, closely related to Serbian and Bosnian. The relationship between Croatian and Serbian is variously seen as similar to that between British and American English, or as that between two wholly separate and distinct languages, depending on one’s point of view. The standardisation of language while Croatia was part of the Federal Republic of Yugoslavia (1945–1991) resulted in the amalgamation of Croatian and Serbian (as the two dominant languages within the Federation) into Serbo-Croatian or Serbo-Croat. This was written in the Latinised Croatian alphabet in Croatia, and in Cyrillic in Serbia. Since independence, there has been a concerted effort on both sides of the border to untangle, and in some cases polarise, the two languages.

      English is widely spoken in Croatia, particularly in Zagreb and major tourist centres on the coast (although less so in smaller towns and villages off the main tourist trail). However, as anywhere making the effort to learn at least a few words of the local language will be appreciated by locals and make travel more rewarding.

      Road sign at Križići, on the island of Cres (Walk 8)

      Croatian is a phonetic language – that is, every letter in a word is pronounced, and the pronunciation of a given letter is always the same (which makes it far more consistent than English). A number of letters occurring in English are pronounced completely differently in Croatian, most notably ‘c’ (pronounced ‘ts’) and ‘j’ (pronounced ‘y’), so learning the correct pronunciation of these will greatly improve your chances of being understood properly.

      See Appendix E for a list of useful Croatian words and phrases.

Getting there

      By plane

      Visitors can fly to Croatia and take a ferry to the islands from the Adriatic coast. There are several major airports on the coast – (north to south) Pula, Rijeka (the airport for which is actually on the island of Krk), Zadar, Split and Dubrovnik. For the walks in this book, Split, Zadar and Rijeka (see Appendix B for information on these gateway cities) are the most convenient, as they are the main departure points for the islands by ferry (see ‘Getting around’ for more information on ferries and Appendix C for ferry routes). Visitors who plan to see a bit more of the country than just the coast and islands should consider flying to Croatia’s lovely capital, Zagreb, and making their way to the coast from there by bus or train (see ‘Getting around’ for more details on local transport).

      Croatia Airlines (www.croatiaairlines.com) has direct flights from London (and other European cities including Paris, Brussels and Frankfurt) to Zagreb and (either direct, or via Zagreb) all major Croatian cities including Split, Zadar and Rijeka. British Airways (www.ba.com) also flies to Zagreb and Dubrovnik for roughly the same fare as Croatia Airlines. Ryanair (www.ryanair.com) flies from the UK to Zadar, Rijeka and Pula; Easyjet (www.easyjet.com) to Zagreb, Split and Dubrovnik; and Wizz (www.wizzair.com) to Split. Other airlines operating routes from the UK include Flybe (www.flybe.com), Jet2 (www.jet2.com) and Monarch (www.monarch.co.uk), and (via Cologne/Bonn) German Wings (www.germanwings.com). Flights get heavily booked in the summer – so book as far in advance as possible. Note also that schedules (especially those of the low-cost airlines) are subject to frequent change. Always check online.

      By train

      Visitors can get to Croatia by train from Western Europe. However, note that a train ticket from the UK will almost certainly be more expensive than a flight unless you’re willing to be very flexible with travel dates, and you’ll need to change trains a few times. The train is likely to be a more attractive option for those arriving from cities in neighbouring countries, such as Trieste, Venice, Ljubljana, Budapest, Belgrade and Sarajevo. See the Rail Europe (www.raileurope.co.uk) and especially the Deutsche Bahn (www.bahn.com) websites for possible routes and fares. Better value is an InterRail (www.raileurope.co.uk) or a Eurail (www.eurail.com, which must be bought outside Europe) pass, which allows travellers to stop off and explore several other countries on their way to Croatia. InterRail tickets, once the privilege of those under the age of 26, are now available to all age groups.

      By bus

      International coach services run to Croatia from the UK, Germany and other countries in Western Europe (see www.eurolines.com) – although the fare from London is not much less than a flight.

      Catamarans in front of the harbour building and Diocletian’s Palace, Split

      By ferry

      There are several regular ferry crossings between Croatia and Italy – note that some of the following routes only operate in the summer.

      The Croatian state ferry company Jadrolinija (www.jadrolinija.hr) sails from Bari to Dubrovnik twice weekly, from where the ferry continues up the coast via Korčula, Stari grad (Hvar) and Split to Rijeka. It also operates services between Ancona, Stari grad (Hvar) and Split, and between Ancona and Zadar. Azzurra Line (www.azzurralines.com) also sails between Bari and Dubrovnik. SNAV (www.snav.it) sails between Ancona and Split; Blue Line (www.blueline-ferries.com) sails from Ancona to Split, and Ancona to Hvar; Sanmar (www.sanmar.it) sails between Pescara, Hvar and Split. Venezia Lines (www.venezialines.com) sails from Venice to Pula, and from Venice to Poreč and Rovinj; Trieste Lines (www.triestelines.it) sails from Trieste to Rovinj and Pula; Commodore Cruises (www.commodore-cruises.hr) operates ferries between Venice and Pula, Rovinj Poreč and Umag.

Getting around

      By ferry

      Travelling by ferry along the Croatian coast and between the mainland