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LONELY PLANET, 31 January, 2005

Hot Spots: LP Staffers' Top Destinations for 2005

It has become a tradition each December to ask Lonely Planet staffers around the globe to name the top travel destinations for the new year, and then to announce the results of this poll in early January, six countries emerged as clear favorites last year. Croatia is one of the only countries in the world to appear on the list of winners in 2004, 2005 and 2006. Here are last year's top picks:

Croatia soared to the top of last year's poll after a fourth-place finish in 2004. Croatia's appeal was its unique combination of culture, history, cuisine, accessibility and affordability. As one staffer wrote in 2005, "This is Croatia's year. It appeals to a wide range of travellers with its rich diversity of attractions. And it has not yet been over-touristed, but it has developed an excellent tourism infrastructure -- so that it suits both adventurous travellers and those who need a degree of comfort in their planning." Another staffer wrote, "Croatia's combination of easy accessibility (it's within driving distance of a large chunk of Europe), relative affordability (especially compared to the beach countries like Spain and Italy), and high quality will mean that it will be a 'hot' destination again next year." Other staffers lauded its "stunning beaches and islands," "magnificent food" and "wonderfully preserved towns such as Dubrovnik." Congratulations, Croatia!

23.07.2006. Chicago Tribune - Walled in (and loving it) - Historic Dubrovnik plays to the crowds
In good warm weather, Dubrovnik can feel like a museum specimen, filled with visitors eager to experience its beauty and marvel at the intricacy of its historic buildings.
Trouble is, the admirers obscure some vistas and crowd through interiors that otherwise would transport them back through the centuries. All those flip-flops, cruise-ship caps and digital cameras play havoc with the imagination and keep reminding us that the Renaissance has come and gone.
And yet here I am spending more ink on the place, drawing more attention to it. Obviously, this no longer can be considered one of Europe's delicious secrets. But it should be on everyone's must-see list, throngs or no throngs. Ideally, Dubrovnik is absorbed, savored over many days. Still, even a glimpse is better than nothing. No other city on the Continent quite compares....read the whole article

15.07.2006. Telegraph.co.uk - Is this the new Riviera?
The Croatian coast is now attracting A-list celebrities by the boatload. James Bedding boards a yacht to find out why....read the whole article

22.01.2006. The New York Times - Istria: For Foodies, the Next Tuscany
With a bounty of seafood in the surrounding Adriatic waters, and with white truffles in its rolling hills, Istria, a heart-shaped peninsula in northern Croatia, is starting to attract adventurous foodies weary of overpriced and overcrowded tables in Tuscany and Provence.
Lidia Bastianich, chef and author of "La Cucina di Lidia" grew up outside the town of Pula near the tip of the peninsula and travels there at least four times a year. "In Istria you'll find intensely wonderful pristine flavors from the earth. That's the beauty of the region. One is still able to go around and taste artisanal products almost straight from the family table." ...read the whole article

11.01.2006. UsaToday.com - Six destinations to keep on your radar for 2006
Croatia is the latest country in Europe with "hidden gem" status. However, according to the United States Tour Operators Association (USTOA), Croatia began experiencing a boom in tourism in 2005, one that is likely to increase even more over the next few years. This Mediterranean country has plenty of things to offer visitors, from its capital city, Zagreb, to the islands scattered along the Dalmatian Coast, and the old city of Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage site...read more

28.11.05. Ethical Traveler - Croatia : One of the Best Destinations for 'Ethical Tourism'
Croatia is one of thirteen countries in the world, which have been chosen to be best destinations for 'ethical tourism'. Croatia is a country deserving a visit not only due to its beauty, but also due to its care for the environment and the country’s social development. This was concluded in a report by the ‘Ethical Traveler’, a non-profit organization from Berkley, California....read more

02.11.05. - National Geographic Adventure - Destination of the Year: Exploring the New Croatia
They're calling it the New Riviera and the New Capri. But after launching a full-blown, 400-mile (644-kilometer) sea kayaking expedition down Croatia's island-flecked coast, Jon Bowermaster finds ancient haunts and real salt-of-the-sea excitement...read the whole article

09.10.05. - The Sunday Times - Escape: Croatia has the taste of old Tuscany
The architecture, landscape and truffles on every menu will remind you of Italy, but Istria has a brand of hospitality all of its own, says Claire Prentice. The first sip of Romano’s rakia makes the hairs in my nose prickle. By the second my eyes have filled with tears and my throat is on fire. My host looks on approvingly as Rina, his wife, pushes over a plate of freshly baked cake. I have only been in Istria a few hours and already I’m being treated as one of the family...read more

20.09.05 - Hello Magazine - Sir Rodger Holidays at " Jewel of the Adriatic" Sir Roger Moore is the latest high-profile visitor to the fashionable coastal resort of Dubrovnik , until recently a little known gem which is fast becoming a hotspot for celebrities drawn by its historic charms. The Bond actor has been basking in the late summer sunshine on the Adriatic coast with his wife Christina Tholstrup.... By holidaying in the area, Sir Roger was following in the footsteps of supermodel Naomi Campbell and England footballer Rio Ferdinand. The city is also a favourite with Hollywood actor John Malkovich, who makes regular trips to the Adriatic . The Dangerous Liaisons star, whose family originates from the former Yugoslav Republic , has even bought property locally. During the summer he is a regular sight as he strolls along the alleys of the walled medieval city. read more ....

31.08.05 - LA Times - Charming trips to Zagreb and beyond
Coastal villages, Roman ruins and emerald lakes are just three reasons to visit Croatia. Oh, and the prices can't be beat. ITS currency and expenses are among the cheapest in Western Europe. Its flowering Adriatic coastline is among the world's most scenic. And its coastal villages are a charming combination of Roman ruins, Venetian architecture and Austro-Hungarian excess. Add to this a variety of resort properties in various price ranges, and you have the reason Americans are choosing vacations in Croatia this year. The chief attractions are its coastline and islands — 1,240 miles of shoreline dotted with timeless fishing ports and 1,185 islands. Most visitors start their stays in the capital, Zagreb. And although it isn't a compelling town, you might take time to relax at a cafe amid decaying Beaux-Arts buildings, tour museums and take the funicular up onto Gradec, a leafy hilltop district of Baroque buildings, to see the modern sculptures in Ivan Mestrovic's former studio....read the whole article

17.07.05. The New York Times - In Croatia, A New Riviera Beckons
"YOU will cry when you see it. Bring tissues. You will need them."
We are finishing a marathon meal at Macondo, a seafood restaurant on a nameless back alley in Hvar. My dinner companion, a local painter, writer and actor named Niksa Barisic, was talking about a historic theater built in 1612 during the Dalmatian Renaissance and still in use half a millennium later. But he could just as well have been describing his feelings for Hvar itself, a mountainous, lavender-scented isle set in the blue, sun-blasted Adriatic Sea off the Dalmatian coast of Croatia.
For centuries, the island has lured visitors and inspired poets. "I know paradise now, I know Hvar," a lyric local saying goes. Now, 10 years after the end of a bloody civil war that devastated much of Croatia, it still struggles as it sees hope for its future in ancient tourist meccas like Hvar, sister islands like Korcula and Mljet, and Dubrovnik - Croatia's, and, arguably, Europe's, most beautiful city....read more

If you like the Costa Brava...you'll love the Dalmatian Coast
Croatia probably has Europe's most spectacular coastline, with mountains tumbilng into the island-scattered, clear sea. Ruled for centuries by Venice, the architecture of the surprisingly well-preserved medieval towns is gorgeous. Marvel at the remains of Diocletian's Palace in hectic Split, then take a ferry to the sleepy island of Brac and chill out on the magnificent, ever-shifting Y-shaped beach at Bol. Go there before it's too late.
Jan Barden, The Daily Mail, June 11th 2005

There's a bubbling just below the surface in Zagreb, the Croatian capital of one million people, and most visitors sense it instantly. It's a well-worn, East-meets-West passion called Balkan culture that equally embraces a consumer's desire to visit a newly opened fragrance shop and the cafe next door where an entire goat turns slowly on a spit.
Alex Crevar, The New York Times, May 1st 2005
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Since much of Croatia is a long narrow strip of coast, it’s an obvious candidate for the classic sunny summer holiday. Having emerged from the bust-up of old Yugoslavia with the lion’s share of the shore, it offers almost 1,000 miles of seaside, reaching all the way from the Slovenian border to the Montenegrin one. And should you run out of mainland, there are still 1,185 islands to play on — many of them as easy to reach as the Isle of Wight from Hants.
David Wickers, The Sunday Times, February 13th 2005
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The last time I went to Lastovo, one of Croatia's more remote islands, it was as a backpacking student disgorged from a rusting ferry in Tito's Yugoslavia when much of the island was a military reserve, with secret submarine pens burrowed into its shores. Thirty years on, gliding into a harbour on the state-of-the-art 90ft world-cruising yacht Boo Too, the contrast was sublime.
Tom Reynolds, The Sunday Times, January 23rd 2005
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If the museum is a time capsule of the 1950s, so is the island — its fading grandeur only adding to its charm. It is untouched by modernity. Brioni is the largest of a chain of 14 islands known as Brijuni to the Croatians and Brioni to the Italians, who lost them after the second world war. They were closed to the public until 1984, when they were turned into a national park.
Deirdre Fernand, The Sunday Times, January 23rd 2005
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Croatia's coastline may now be getting all the attention, but glance at a map of the country and you will see that it is shaped like a boomerang, with one blade pointing down the coast towards Dubrovnik and the other poking inland across the Pannonian plain. Few of us ever make it beyond the capital, Zagreb, so on a recent visit, I decided to explore the vast hinterland to the east.
Tony Kelly, The Times, January 22nd 2005
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Sunday Times February 2004: "Croatia rediscovered"
... Better sailing than Turkey, islands to rival those of Greece, and a cuisine to match Italy's: it's the hot spot that came in from the cold.
…Ask anyone: Croatia is the hottest destination in the Med this summer. The Dalmatian coast, they will tell you, with its close-hauled constellation of 1,000 islands, is the "new Riviera"; while the Istrian peninsula, with its Italian looks and flavours, is "the new Tuscany".
... In the 1980s, half a million of us came here to play and almost universally loved it, but during the civil war, we shifted to Spain, Greece and Turkey- even though most of Croatia was never touched by the conflict. Well, we are finally back. The smart set are already there in force. Steven Spielberg, Pierce Brosnan, Andre Agassi, Gywneth Paltrow and Sean Connery are all among the celebrity names to appear in the hotel visitor books. Some like to country so much they bought a piece: Robert De Niro, Clint Eastwood and Sharon Stone are each rumoured to be buying their own private island. The Istrian peninsula- as you'd guess from looking at a map, the Italian influence is strong in this northern corner of the country. The area was ruled from Venice for 400 years and its influence is stamped on the local architecture-in the spectacular walled towns, many bear the imprint of the Venetian lion…

Financial Times August 2003: 'A Dalmatian dream home'
… Croatia- the Mediterranean's latest property hotspot… Sailing is a big draw in Croatia. Sixteen of the country's 50 harbours have Blue Flag status, and scores of new ones are being built. In the marina at Hvar, gleaming yachts from Trieste, Nice, London, Southampton, Sydney and the British Virgin Islands rival the line-up at St Tropez. It is no wonder Croatia is being rediscovered- not just by tourists, but by house hunters. Tourists are being loured by the promise of this "new Cote D'Azur" as well as by the secluded bays, villages crammed with Venetian, Roman and Slavic architecture, pristine beaches and by national parks. … Sharon Stone, Clint Eastwood, Claudia Schiffer, Michael Schumacher and Princess Caroline of Monaco are among the celebrities rumoured to have been scouting the Istrian and Dalmatian coast for homes. … - the region has so far escaped the advance of cheap apartment blocks that have blighted so many other Mediterranean hotspots…

Elle ( Germany) July 2003: 'Comeback'
... Croatia is this summer the trend holiday spot of the high society. … Croatia the new top destination of the jet set: the international jet set was spotted last year in front of the Croatian coastline. Caroline from Manaco was crusing with her yacht. Steven Spielberg and Bernie Ecclestone lunched in Dubrovnik...

Times June 2003: "Is this the new Cote d'Azur?"
…Stylish hotels and visiting celebrities are sending Croatia upmarket… …Rumour has it that both Clint Eastwood and Sharon Stone are trying to buy one of the 1,000 or so sun-baked and mainly uninhabited islands off the narrow Croatian coast. Ivana Trump is a sailing party regular and Bill Gates is said to have booked a €20,000-a-week villa last summer on the island Hvar… Dubrovnik is called the "jewel of the Adriatic". It has beautiful people and to-blue-to-be-true sea, so unpolluted that you can take a dip straight form the city walls. … Next year the Hilton Imperial will open and there are even talks of the super stylish hotel group Amanresorts converting one hotel…

The Sunday Times September 2002: 'New Frontiers for Seaside Heavens'
...For anybody looking to find a seaside plot on which to build their dream home, it's probably too late for the Mediterranean coasts of France and Spain, but if you look away from the most obvious spots- in places such as Croatia, Greece and Italy- there are still possibilities...

The Times July 2002: 'The new Tuscany'
...A wonderful coastline, crystal clear water and a house by the sea: what could you want more? Croatia, they told us, is the new Tuscany. Greece before the masses, Spain before the high rise buildings, and the place to invest before it is discovered...

Financial Times May 2002: 'Islands for sale: Affordable, unspoilt and just two hours' flight from London.'
...There are 1.185 uninhabited islands along Croatia's Adriatic coastline, and many are now for sale. Some are so close to the mainland that their owners could breakfast at home, lunch in Dubrovnik and dine in Italy. … Most overseas buyers are from Germany, Austria, Italy, and the UK. … There are people who spend millions on houses in London or New York, but all that money doesn't buy you good weather or privacy...

The Mail May 2002: 'Is Croatia the new Tuscany?'
...Forget Italy. Suddenly Croatia is becoming the fashionable spot to buy a place in the sun. …One of the most dramatic coastlines in Europe, pretty little towns and deep blue sea...

Conde Nast Traveller ( UK) April 2002:  The new Capri? It's in Croatia'
… some islands are still undiscovered. Vis is like Capri before the tourists…

TATLER Magazine October 2001: 'Croatia is about to become one of the most sought after destinations in Europe'