From Žumberak to Bilogora
How beautiful Croatia is and how much it has to offer which is yet to be discovered. Although both regions fall under the same tourist cluster, the distance between the two is almost 3 hours, so for this trip, we would recommend booking a whole weekend or even two weekends. From a local family farm on Plešivica, Visitor Centre Sošice in the middle of Žumberak, and then onto the Bilogora equestrian trail and finally the Cultural Centre in Veliki Grđevac. You can arrange this trip according to your own preferences, depending on whether you are with children or alone, on a motorcycle, bicycle, or by car.
The Visitor Center in Sošice, is the main place to get all the information you need on the beautiful Žumberak. Here you can get acquainted with all the flora and fauna of this area, but also experience how the area and the people who lived here once functioned. It is worth mentioning that a fifth of the entire biodiversity of Croatia exists in this small area. In this visitor centre, they have very interesting, modern, and interactive toys for children, like giant cubes and such. All this makes it a good idea for a family trip.
The Bilogora equestrian trail is so wonderful that you simply just want to stay there forever. The hosts are passionate and stand behind what they do.
Podravina and Slavonia
First of all, we visited the Visitor Centre – the Drava Story. It's an interactive centre where visitors can spend hours and hours. The Visitor center "The Drava Story" has developed facilities intended for different categories of the visitors - for the children and the young people through the implementation of school in nature programs, as well as various forms of field teaching for students, the River School, programs for nature lovers, healthy living and recreation for groups or individual visitors. All this together is a logical confirmation of the award that this centre received in 2020. Petar Preradović was one of the most important Croatian poets of the 19th century and the main advocate of romanticism in Croatia. And in Grabrovnica, the birthplace of Petar Preradović, there is a hologram of Preradović, which, when you turn it on, gives you the feeling that you are actually talking to the famous late poet. No trip is complete without some well-prepared food, and Podravina certainly has that too. A must try is the so-called magic soup of seven different types of plants that grow in the surrounding fields, but also the real heavy food that has always been eaten here.
The Sands of Đurđevac were formed by the deposition of glacial sediments, and to this day it remains a living proof of the changes taking place in the world.
The Hlebine Gallery of Naive Art was founded in 1968 and operates as a permanent museum exhibition of the donation of paintings by Ivan Generalić and a collection of paintings on glass of the first and second generation of original painters and sculptors of the "hlebine school". And you can conclude that Podravina is colourful, rich in history, natural beauty, and that it is unique and cannot be compared to anything.
Traditional cuisine - Photo CNTB
Slavonia is a land of legends, with its myths and secrets proudly passed down through the generations. Here the locals fiercely uphold their traditions, such as harvest festivals, traditional dresses and the popular local music. It is also a region of great cuisine. So tickle your taste buds with some traditional delights from Slavonia such as scones with pork cracklings, homemade bread with pork fat, real homemade "kulen", green "mlinci" (thin dried flatbread), famous "tačke" (dumplings) with cheese, meat cooked in a hundred different ways, a good drink, all in abundance and all homemade and delicious.
The hinterlands of Šibenik
Nature has always been extremely generous with this area, and the first proof of that is the beautiful Roški Slap waterfall and everything around it. Of course, the first place when it comes to the overall experience goes to mother nature and the surroundings, because it's simply perfect. Untouched nature protected from human hand and footprint. A special experience you can have here are the so-called necklaces, a place where the water cascades down the riverbed and creates a phenomenon which, when seen from above, looks like pearls stacked next to each other. It's really fascinating.
Stunning nature - Photo - Mladen Božičković/CNTB
In Tribunj, you yourself will feel like a royalty because you get to eat like one. It is a small town offering huge gastronomic pleasure. The hosts introduced themselves to us with their most recognizable products, salted and smoked fish. Smoked forkbeard is a forgotten story of the elders of this region, which the young are trying to recreate, and they're doing a great job. Sardines, anchovies; those small and healthy blue fishes are everything in this region. The people live from it and for it. As we like to say - the Mediterranean as it used to be!
