Croatia Travelers Recommend

Thanks to Dubrovnik's location in the southernmost part of Croatia, day trips to nearby Montenegro are easy - the border is only an hour from Croatia's most popular city. Just over the Montenegrin border lie a number of coastal towns, such as: Kotor is one of the most popular towns in Montenegro. Located in the Bay of Kotor, the city retains a strong Venetian influence and its walled Old Town is a UNESCO World Heritage site. Another Montenegrin coastal city, Herceg Novi is located at the entrance of the Bay of Kotor, at the foot of Mount Orjen. The city is one of the youngest settlements on the Adriatic coast, yet offers up plenty of sightseeing opportunities. Further down along the coast, Budva lies roughly 2.5 hours from Dubrovnik. This popular resort city is full of young sun-chasers in the summer months, making for crowded pebble beaches and a bustling nightlife scene.

Dubrovnik, with its location at the southern tip of Croatia, makes a great jumping-off point for jaunts into nearby Bosnia & Herzegovina. This mostly land-locked country on the Balkan peninsula is predicted to have one of the highest tourism growth rates in the next 10 years. The most popular Bosnian destination from Croatia (whether for a day or a week) is the city of Mostar. This UNESCO World Heritage site delivers a blend of eastern and western cultures thanks to its ties to the Turks, and also offers visitors a unique look at the consequences of the Bosnian War of the 1990s on the region. While the city is still recovering from Bosnia's revolution, this fact only helps add to the Old Town's intrigue and character.

Start your explorations in the central Jelačića square from where it’s an easy walk to all the city’s top attractions. Ride the funicular to the Upper Town (Gornji Grad) where you can take in the views from the picturesque Strossmayer Promenade, light a candle at the Stone Gate (Kamenita vrata) shrine, and pay a visit to the grand Gothic Zagreb Cathedral of the Assumption. In the Lower Town (Donji Grad), stop for coffee in Cvjetni Trg (Flower Square), then discover the scenic loop of Lenuci’s Horseshoe, stopping off to check out the Botanical gardens and the Croatian National Theatre along the way. The streets of central Zagreb are brimming with museums and art galleries, and you could easily spend an entire day taking in the highlights. The Mimara Museum is a must, housing the extensive collection of artworks and artifacts amassed by collector Ante Topic Mimara, as is the award-winning Museum of Broken Relationships, one of Europe’s most unique museums.

Fantasy dramas have an uncanny way of bringing out the magic in a real-life location – just look at what Lord of the Rings has done for tourism in New Zealand – so its no surprise that Croatia has seen a spike in tourist interest since fan-favorite Game of Thrones began filming there. The multi-award-winning HBO show is set in a fantasy world revolving around the fictional continents of Westeros and Essos, and a number of locations around the southern Croatian town of Dubrovnik have made their small-screen debut in the series – doubling up as fictional towns and villages. Memorable locations from the series include the Minceta, Bokar, and Lovrijenac fortresses; the Dubac quarry; the island of Lokum, just off the coast of Dubrovnik; the village of Mlini; and the island of Mrkan just off the coast of Cavtat. If you’re lucky enough to visit during the months of filming you might even catch a glimpse of the actors themselves.

Forget the icy wilderness North of the Wall and the rugged woodlands surrounding Winterfell; the breakout star of fantasy drama Game of Thrones is the dramatic coastal city of King’s Landing, the fictional capital of the seven kingdoms, based in Dubrovnik, Croatia. Game of Thrones fanatics visiting Croatian shores have a number of ways to get the inside scoop on the hit HBO series, starting with an exclusive walking tour of Dubrovnik’s many Game of Thrones filming sites. You’ll get to explore the city’s UNESCO World Heritage-listed Old Town from street level, climb the city walls for a view over the Blackwater Bay landscape that stars as King’s Landing in the show, then visit the Lovrijenac Fortress, which was transformed into the Red Keep on screen and hosted memorable scenes like King Joffrey’s name day tournament.