Croatia

Top luxury experiences in Croatia

Our bespoke Croatia holidays can provide you with private guided tours of Diocletian's Palace (a living Roman monument), exclusive wine tastings at family-owned Istrian vineyards, and evening walks through Rovinj's Venetian-era cobbled streets.

Highlights of Croatia

The capital city of Zagreb encapsulates Croatia. The Upper Town, or Gornji Grad, rises above the terracotta rooftops, accessed by the charming 19th-century funicular—one of the world's shortest. The medieval Stone Gate, with its miraculous icon of the Virgin Mary, stands sentinel over cobbled streets where café culture thrives beneath chestnut trees. To transition from the historic heart to the elegant Austro-Hungarian Lower Town, stroll down through the vibrant Dolac Market, where farmers still sell produce from wicker baskets. Zagreb is home to the Museum of Broken Relationships, an utterly unique collection that captures the Croatian spirit—poignant, humorous, and deeply human. Though this city is the country's capital, it retains an intimate, walkable character. Plane trees shade the broad boulevards of the Lower Town, parks punctuate the elegant 19th-century architecture, and pavement cafés spill onto every square and street corner.

The walled city of Dubrovnik on the Dalmatian coast is rightly celebrated as the 'Pearl of the Adriatic'. The old town itself, with its gleaming limestone streets polished smooth by centuries of footfall, is a UNESCO World Heritage monument and looks out across the shimmering Adriatic Sea. The dramatic Dinaric Alps form a stunning backdrop. The city's main thoroughfare, the Stradun, leads directly from the Pile Gate to the elegant Luža Square, where Renaissance palaces now house museums and galleries. Visitors here benefit from all the beauty of Mediterranean Europe combined with a rich maritime heritage. Walk the complete circuit of the medieval walls—nearly two kilometres of ramparts offering breathtaking views across terracotta roofs to the azure sea beyond.

One of the natural wonders of Europe, Plitvice Lakes National Park is Croatia's most visited natural attraction, featuring sixteen terraced lakes connected by spectacular waterfalls and cascades. The wooden walkways that take you through this aquatic wonderland have allowed visitors to traverse the emerald and turquoise waters for decades. The park's travertine barriers create an ever-changing landscape—the waterfalls literally grow and shift over time. Guided tours draw your attention to features such as the 78-metre Veliki Slap waterfall, the rich biodiversity including brown bears and rare orchids, and the remarkable clarity of water that reveals submerged tree trunks and limestone formations.

In the heart of Istria lies the hilltop town of Motovun, perched dramatically above vineyards and the misty Mirna River valley. Its medieval ramparts have encircled the town for centuries, offering panoramic views across Istria's undulating landscape of forests and fertile valleys. The narrow streets wind upward past stone houses adorned with geraniums to the main square, where locals still gather for their morning coffee. In summer, the town hosts the renowned Motovun Film Festival, when the ancient walls are transformed into outdoor cinemas. The surrounding forests are famous for their white truffles, and autumn brings truffle hunters and their trained dogs to search beneath the oak trees.

The Dalmatian islands scattered along Croatia's coast number over a thousand, each with its distinct character. Hvar town, on the island of Hvar, combines Venetian elegance with lavender-scented hillsides and some of the Adriatic's clearest waters. The 13th-century city walls enclose a Renaissance cathedral and the oldest public theatre in Europe, dating from 1612. The harbour promenade, lined with palms and agaves, comes alive each evening as locals and visitors gather for the traditional evening stroll, or korzo. Meanwhile, Korčula—believed to be Marco Polo's birthplace—enchants with its herringbone street layout designed to protect against winds, whilst Vis remains beautifully uncommercialised, its dramatic coastline hiding the luminous Blue Cave on nearby Biševo island.

For a true insight into traditional Croatian culture, visit the Dalmatian hinterland, where the klapa singing tradition still thrives. In villages around Split and Omiš, men gather to perform this a cappella harmony singing, recognised by UNESCO as intangible cultural heritage. The coastal town of Omiš itself hosts an annual klapa festival each summer, where local groups compete beneath the fortress walls, their voices echoing across the Cetina River canyon.

Cultural highlights of Croatia

Split's historic centre is built within and around Diocletian's Palace, a UNESCO World Heritage site constructed by the Roman Emperor in the 4th century AD as his retirement residence. Unlike museum ruins, this palace is vibrantly alive—its ancient walls now contain apartments, restaurants, shops, and even a cathedral built into the emperor's mausoleum. The peristyle courtyard, where Diocletian once received dignitaries, now hosts summer concerts and late-night gatherings. Walking these limestone streets, you're literally living within Roman history, as locals have done for 1,700 years.

The baroque city of Varaždin in northern Croatia served briefly as the Croatian capital in the 18th century and retains an elegant, Central European atmosphere. Its pastel-coloured palaces and ornate churches surround spacious squares, whilst the imposing Varaždin Castle houses a city museum spanning five centuries. The town is particularly renowned for its elaborate baroque music festival each September, when period costume processions fill the streets and concerts echo from historic churches.

Rovinj, on the western Istrian coast, rises from the Adriatic like a jewel, its tightly packed houses in ochre, terracotta, and cream climbing the hill to the Venetian campanile of St Euphemia's Church. The Venetian influence pervades the old town—Gothic palaces, narrow calli (streets), and Italian-speaking locals reflect centuries under La Serenissima's rule. The Grisia Gallery Street becomes an open-air exhibition each August, when artists display their work along the cobbled lane. The harbour, with its traditional batana boats, remains a working fishing port where you can still watch the catch being landed at dawn.

Croatia's islands preserve traditional crafts and customs. On Pag, women still create intricate lace using techniques unchanged since the Renaissance—Pag lace is so fine it was once presented to European royalty. The island is also famous for Paški sir, a hard sheep's cheese aged in olive oil, its distinctive flavour imparted by the aromatic herbs the sheep graze. Meanwhile, on Hvar, the centuries-old tradition of lavender cultivation continues, the purple fields harvested each June in scenes that could be from Provence.