Croatia Airlines, the Croatian national air carrier, has recently officially confirmed that it has introduced many new direct flights in their summer timetable.

New seasonal flights are being added from Zadar airport to Munich and Zurich.

The first regular flight from Zadar to the Bavarian metropolis is scheduled for 3 May whilst from 29 September airplanes on that line will fly twice a week, on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Direct connection between Zadar and Zurich will start on 20 May and last until 30 September. This line will also operate twice a week, on Mondays and Fridays.

In the summer timetable Croatia Airlines will connect Zagreb with Istanbul on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays. Up until now Croatia Airlines had only been leasing seats on the flights of Turkish Airlines for this connection.

Return flights between Dubrovnik and Venice will also be established twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, from 19 May to 23 October this year. The aircraft which will connect these two pearls of the Adriatic is Dash 8-Q400, with the capacity of 76 seats. New flights will also be introduced from Dubrovnik to Athens (Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays) and from Dubrovnik to Belgrade (Mondays and Wednesdays).

There will also be flights from Split to Hamburg (Tuesdays and Saturdays), and once again, the line between Rijeka and London has been established, with flights on Wednesdays.

Another novelty is that Croatia Airlines, in cooperation with SAS, will fly via Copenhagen to New York and Washington, starting from this summer.

Italian airline Air One, owned by Alitalia, will from 25 September this year introduce a direct line from Milano
Malpensa to Zagreb. It will fly three times a week, on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

Visit Croatia Airlines for more info and booking.

The new services will operate twice a week  from Dubrovnik to Venice and three times a week from Dubrovnik to Athens.

Return tickets for the new flights can be bought on the company’s web site, in Croatia Airlines offices and offices of its business partners from 01.11.2010.

The national airline already operates flights linking Dubrovnik with Zagreb, Amsterdam, Dusseldorf, Frankfurt, London, Rome, Tel Aviv, Vienna and Zurich.

The new logo is design by graphic designer Orsat Franković of Laboratorium, Zagreb based design studio.

Wizz Air, the largest low cost airline in Central and Eastern Europe announced last week that it would add Split, and Dubrovnik to its choice of destinations from London Luton.

According to WizAir website, starting from 18 June 2010 there will be 4 flights per week  to Split Airport.  From London to Dubrovnik Airport there will be 3 flights per week , starting from 19 June 2010.

Tickets are already on sale on wizzair.com with fares starting from as low as EUR 42.49 one way,  inclusive of all taxes.

Find-Croatia.com admin in Dubrovnik yesterday

Once work is completed it will be easier for visitors to enjoy the panoramic views over city and archipelago. 

The cable car will have two cabins, with capacity of  30 passengers, and will reach top of Srd Hill (distance of 778 meter) in about 3 minutes .

The plateau on Srd Hill, located at 405 meters above sea level, will have two terraces, with telescopes and panoramic views, a snack bar, panoramic restaurant, a souvenir shop and amphitheater for 250 persons.

Dubrovnik Cable Car was built back in 1969 and was used by more than 2,5 million visitors who wanted to enjoy the panoramic views of the Dubrovnik Old Town and Adriatic Sea.  Back in the early 19th century, the neighboring tower ‘Imperial’ was strategically built on this spot.

The newly rebuilt Dubrovnik Cable Car will start operating in the summer of 2010 – visit their home page here

For 2010, Lufthansa is increasing its number of regular connections between Munich and Dubrovnik too. From March 27th, five connections a week will be operating between the two cities – on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays, Saturdays and Sundays. Lufthansa is also introducing two regular connections between Dusseldorf and Dubrovnik, on Thursdays and Saturdays. The number of flights to Split Airport will be increased to four a week and a connection between Zadar and Munich will also be introduced, operating ever Saturday.

Germanwings and Ryanair are also introducing new 2010 seasonal connections between the Zadar Airport and Hannover, Oslo and Brussels, as well as keeping the all seasonal connections from last year.

The new Germanwings connection to Hannover will start from May 1st till October 30th, once a week – on Saturdays. It is the fourth connection Germanwings has introduced between Zadar and German destinations, the others are with Stuttgart, Cologne, Bonn and Berlin.

Ryanair will for 2010 establish connections between Zadar and nine European destinations. The air-carrier has announced it is introducing a new connection between Zadar and Oslo twice a week from March 31st, on Wednesdays and Sundays. The new connection between Zadar and Brussels will start from May 1st, three times a week  on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. With these new connections, Ryanair will for the very first time connect Croatia with Belgium and Norway.  The air carrier will continue with flights to Zadar  from Britain – London-Stansted and Edinburgh, Ireland  – Dublin, Sweden – Stockholm, Germany – Frankfurt and Dusseldorf-Weeze as well as with Italy – Pisa.

As I said in my previous post, the reason for this is high cost of running this ferry, as  it needs 62 crew members to sail while in winter month, there are only  in average 7 passengers that are using this ferry.

The author of the article emphasises this information is still unofficial, as official decision about future of this ferry line will be made at the end of February, when authorities will hold meeting with all interested parties.

So, for time beeing, if you intend to travel around Croatia out of June to October period, try not to base your travel plans around  Rijeka-Split-Hvar-Korcula-Dubrovnik-Bari ferry.

Join the conversation here : http://www.find-croatia.com/forum/index.php/topic,2186.0.html

“There is no more luxurious place to start a road trip than Dubrovnik. Well, landing in Dubrovnik airport doesn’t send me into raptures, but seeing the city, some 20km up the coast, is as spectacular and exciting as the first time I saw it on a school trip when I was 12… Driving up the winding coastal road towards the border with Bosnia-Herzegovina requires steady nerves – the curves are demanding, the landscape too beautiful to ignore. So I stop along the way in Ston and Mali Ston, two tiny settlements encircled by ancient walls, fantastic spots for eating local mussels and oysters. If they’re in season, I buy a kilo from the stands along the road to take to my mother….”

Read the whole article here

Richard Burton and Elizabeth Taylor used to escape to this beautiful Croatian city for a bit of holiday loving, and it still has the right atmosphere for a glamorous romantic break. The centre of the compact walled town is full of gorgeous boutiques and unusual jewellery stores (in case gifts are in order), pretty cafes with flower-filled gardens (should the Mediterranean sun make an appearance) and tiny bars with plenty of private nooks and crannies. Hidden Croatia (0844 477 9999; hiddencroatia.com) has three nights at the five-star Hotel Excelsior and Spa from £355pp, including flights and transfers.

Check which other perfect getaways for Valentine’s Day are recommended – read the whole article + More info about Dubrovnik, find other Dubrovnik hotels & look at Croatian Heart Shaped Island  - a tiny island in the Croatia that has become a holiday hit for lovers because it is shaped like a heart.

The planned new ferry route will run from Patras and will sail via Igoumenitsa , Corfu and Dubrovnik to Venice.

If this ferry line is introduced, it will be the first ferry link from Dubrovnik to Greece since October 1990 .

As Minoan Lines already serves a regular ferry line which runs between Patras, Igoumenitsa, Corfu and Venice, with ferry whith capacity of  few houndered vehicles and more than 1000 passengers, and is sailing  just 15 miles from Dubrovnik, it is expected that introduction of Dubrovnik as stop over will only extend sailing times slightly.

As Dubrovnik is located on ideal position on this route and if introduced, the new ferry will offer great additional options of travel around Italy, Adriatic, Croatia and Greece . Read more about Dubrovnik ferries and other ferries that sails around Croatia.
View Ferry Dubrovnik to Greece in a larger map

Beside Dubrovnik , the video shows short clips from variety of places in Dubrovnik County, including Peljesac, Mljet, Korcula, Lastovo, Elafiti.. Soothing instrumental music in the background brings alive the ambience

Have a look & enjoy:

Find out more about Dubrovnik, Dalmatia and Croatian Islands

EasyJet, the largest UK airline, today announced it would launch flights to Split and Dubrovnik from London Stanstead Airport.

Flights to Dubrovnik from London Stanstead will start on 15 May. EasyJet will fly this route on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Saturdays. Fares starts from £26.99 one way and £48.98 return.

Flights to Split from London Stanstead will start on 14 May. EasyJet will fly this route on Mondays, Wednesdays, Fridays and Sundays. Fares starts from £26.99 one way and £54.98 return.

Beside these two new routes, EasyJet will launch a further 19 new routes in the coming year, taking the total number of routes to be launched across its European network in 2010 to 70. The addition of these new services means the airline will now offer choice of over 500 routes connecting its 19 bases across the UK and the continent to key airports across Europe and North Africa.

Check other Flights to Croatia news at Flights to Croatia Blog

Read about Dubrovik

The oldest cultural festival in Croatia, Dubrovnik Summer Festival takes place every year from 10th July to 25th of August in Dubrovnik . It started back in 1950′s . The Dubrovnik Summer Festival presents a rich programme of classical music, theatre, opera and dance on more than 70 open – air venues. Above image is festival advert from 1963. Click here to have a look at large image of  Dubrovnik Summer Festival Advert from 1963

British Airways has included Dubrovnik in its ten destinations that it expects to prove popular among travellers in 2010.

This is what BA says about Dubrovnik:

Known as the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’, Dubrovnik offers privacy and tranquility making it a popular hideout for the jet set, including recent visitors Jay-Z and Beyonce. 
Mirjana Dostal, BA commercial manager Croatia, said: “Dubrovnik holds many attractions and delightful boutiques, with each corner of the city offering a unique experience. However its cluster of private islands have made this a new favourite destination for Hollywood A-Listers to get-away.”

Other 9 destinations are: Cape Town, Istanbul, Las Vegas, Vancouver, Punta Cana (Dominican Republic), New York, Stockholm, The Maldives and Delhi.

Germanwings, a German low cost carrier, will introduce a direct flight from Hamburg on 2 May. Jet2, a British airline, will introduce flights from Edinburgh.

The  Finnish company Blue1 will introduce flights from Helsinki  to Dubrovnik in early spring, on Saturdays, from 3 April  and on Tuesdays as well from 4 May. They will will fly to Dubrovnik twice a week by the end of October. On 30 April, flights from Helsinki to Split will begin and will fly twice a week, on Fridays and Sundays.

The British company Bmibaby is planning to introduce flights from East Midlands airport from 30 May, twice a week, on Thursdays and Sundays, while the Scottish airline Flyglobespan has announced that the first plane from Aberdeen to Dubrovnik will take off on 5 May next year, after which there will be a flight connecting the two towns every Wednesday.

A couple days ago, Dubrovnik was featured as vinatage port in London’s popular papers Evening Standard, where it was introduced by following sentence: In the last few years, Dubrovnik has become a fixture for culture-hungry celebrities, idling their way across the Med on superyachts the size of small hotels…Read the whole article here

Since July of this year, Croatian tourism can add one more luxury tourist resort to its offering, the Radisson Blu Resort, located in Orašac, 10 km north of  Dubrovnik. The hotel features 201 hotel rooms and 207 residential suites and many different facilities. The resort was designed by architects Branimir Medic and Pero Puljiz. The interior design is the work of the London company Hirsch Bedner Associates, and the hospitality facilities are the design of Henry Chebanne of Blue Sky Hospitality,the world’s leading company in this segment, with over 100 design projects realized in over 25 countries all over the world.

The entire resort has been built out of local materials – stone from Dubrovnik and Brac while travertine and walls are decorated exclusively with works of Croatian artists. The horticultural development of the resort contributes greatly to its beauty, with the hundred year-old olives and rich Mediterranean greenery perfectly fitting into it.
The entire area, including several restaurants, bars and traditional taverns, has been conceptualised as a little town in itself. Greatly contributing to this atmosphere is the market that is part of the resort, with its bakery, fishery, butcher’s, wine-store and patisserie, where visitors can try, buy or prepare fresh products themselves.

For those who can not imagine their vacation without sports, the resort features many sports facilities and a rich wellness offering. Radisson Blu Resort & Spa Dubrovnik Resort also features contemporary equipped multifunctional areas – a large conference hall and several smaller business meeting halls.

Contact information: address: Na Moru 1, 20234 Orasac, Tel: + 385 20 361 500, Fax: + 385 20 361 501

Other Wellness and Spa Hotels in Croatia

The festival turns Dubrovnik, a city of exceptional beauty, into a unique stage. Its history dates back to 1950. It soon became clear that it is an exceptional cultural event. For instance, French author Claude Aveline, who took part in the very first festival, wrote ten years later that, at the time, he could never have known he was witnessing “the birth of one of the most well-known festivals of our era”.

In 1956, the Dubrovnik Summer Festival became a member of the European Festivals Association (EFA). Every year, the theatre, music and dance program is exceptionally rich and it is impossible to mention all its performances and participants. For this year, among others, two performances of the Festival’s theatre ensemble have been announced: Shakespear’s “Hamlet”, directed by Ivica Kuncevic, and “Na taraci” by Ivo Vojnovic, directed by Joško Juvancic. The play “Orgy of Tolerance., written by Jan Fabre, is also on the repertoire. It is directed by its author and produced by the Dubrovnik Summer Festival in collaboration with numerous other international festivals and theatres. “Epitaphio” by Marin Držic will be put on by the Student theatre “Lero. and directed by Davor Mojaš.

Also taking part this year is the greatest theatre director of our time Peter Brook with his adaptation of Shakespeare’s sonnets, put on by the French theatre ‘Théâtre des Bouffes du Nord’.

The music program features a performance of the Zagreb Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Vjekoslav Šutej, and the soloists Nadja Michael (soprano) and Zoran Todorovich (tenor), and a gala concert of the Philharmonia of the Nations, conducted by Justusa Frantz. The audience can also look forward to a repeated performance of last year’s great success, F. Handel’s opera ‘Acis and Galatea’, performed by the Festival’s Opera Ensemble and the Croatian Baroque Ensemble.

Dance enthusiasts will certainly enjoy in the chamber ballet based on the motifs of Boris Vian, “The Plumber”, and numerous other performances by Croatian folklore ensembles.

This year, the Dubrovnik Summer festival will once again gather some of the most prominent artists from the entire world. One of them is certainly one of the greatest violin players of our time, Vladim Repin, who will perform together with the prominent piano player Itmar Golan, in the Atrium of the Duke’s Palace on 22 August.

One of the festival’s greatest specificities is certainly the ambient of the City of Dubrovnik and the eight unique venues at which it is held: the Atrium of the Duke’s Palace, in front of the Church of St. Blaise, the cinema house “Jadran”, the Art School park, the Lea of Ruder Boškovic, the fortress Revelin and its terrace, and the fortress Lovrijenac. Tickets
for the 60th annual Dubrovnik Summer Festival are available online at www.ulaznice.hr

More info on Dubrovnik Summer Festival site  : http://www.dubrovnik-festival.hr/

The fact that only incredible natural and urban locations are chosen as venues for this world-class event, and Dubrovnik and its fortress Lovrijenac indubitably belong to this circle of destinations, only adds to the divers’ excitement.

Dubrovnik already was host to this event nine years ago. This year, divers, including the nine-time world champion Orlando Duque, are facing a 26-metre dive. When diving, divers only have seconds to decide which diving elements to put together, depending on the spatial factors and weather at hand. Never before did athletes have to dive eight times in a row from such a high cliff, which means that this year’s championship and its participants will push this sport to its very limits and set new standards. Only 30 to 40 athletes in the entire world have the capacity to do this exclusive and extreme sport.

12 great divers from nine countries are taking part in this year’s series, which, apart from Dubrovnik, is held in destinations in France, Italy, Turkey, Germany, Switzerland and Greece. To them and all extreme sports enthusiasts, Dubrovnik will prove an interesting and attractive host, and the beauties of this city under UNESCO protection an ideal background.

The Dubrovnik Summer Festival presents a rich programme of classical music, theatre, opera and dance on more than 70 open – air venues over 47 days in summer each year.

Every story has its beginning. Great stories have many beginnings. And there is no absolutely reliable historiographic method to distinguish the truth. Or is it, maybe, impossible for great stories to start with just one beginning? I guess that’s why every History has to have its Prehistory…

The history of Dubrovnik Summer Festival was – undoubtedly – conceived during thirteen nights of September 1950, when a real town persistently and uniquely transformed itself into an imaginary Town. Ten years later, French writer Claude Aveline, who had taken part, wrote how he could not surmise that he was attending “the birth of one of the most glorious festivals of our time”.

The prehistory of the Festival is not as easy to reach. It seems that its rudiments go back as early ad the rudiments of the Town itself. As if they both grew out of the medieval urban matrix. They put forth leaves within humanist horizons, flowered in renaissance and baroque. In the eighteenth century they grew ripe. Then they tire in, so it seemed, inseparable co-operation in the dawning of the national epoch, when the imaginary Town irreversibly loses its nationally constructed counterpart. But a genius locus does not tire! The energy of the millennial history keeps on shining with artistic endeavours. Ever since, by command of its historical being, sharing the destiny of other Croatian lands.

The aforementioned genius loci gave power to the ideas leading to the constitution of the imaginary festival Town. Rumour has it that even Reinhardt couldnt resist them at the eve of World War I. And than in 1993, the occasion being PEN World Congress in Dubrovnik, Gundulićs “Dubravka” takes place in front of Rectors palace, for chosen international audience. It was a starry dress rehearsal of the birth of Dubrovnik Summer Festival. But it took horrid expectation in new age martyrdom before the happy moment.

Both history and prehistory from the very first artistic steps of the newborn Festival were at the same time a precious impulse and a limitation. Controversy had been noted a long time ago. And it lasts until nowadays. Because true art will never be a copy of no matter how glorious tradition. The strategy of this obstinacy was written by no other but a sequence of happy festival nights that divined reality. Nights in which Beauty was won.

Many an artist danced the Festival reel. Domestic and foreign. Famous ones and those who will come to fame under Dubrovnik sky. In the course of the half a century names and generations followed each other. But all of them were and always will be enchanted by siren call of the ancient Njarnjas and unrepeatable Dubrovnik, holding in common with its audience, creating at least temporary imaginary Town.

This is history without names or numbers. There is just too many of them, and they are all equally important. For the Festival is nothing but an imaginary parade. And a dream that rounds up that little life of ours.

Text by Ivica Prlender, director of the festival – Find here detailed programme: www.dubrovnik-festival.hr

In today’s Observer in article titled ’20 undiscovered island gems’ , Sarah Turner ‘reveals a clutch of true hideaways’. Two among ‘undiscovered islands’ are Croatian Islands – here are the excerpts:

Lopud, Croatia:  Croatia has islands to suit every mood but Lopud is one for purists. Only two miles wide, with no cars, the Dubrovnik elite have used it as a hideaway for decades. For somewhere so idyllic, it is rather easy to get to – there are regular ferries, as well as speedboats from Dubrovnik. No roads – and unusually for Croatia, there are sandy beaches here, especially Sunj with its gently shelving white sand.

Sveti Klement, Croatia: The largest of the Pakleni Islands, which lie a short boat-taxi ride from the island of Hvar, Sveti Klement boasts sandy coves and pine-backed beaches and the picturesque hamlet of Palmizana where a clutch of elegant villas lie surrounded by pine forest. The Meneghello family have lived on Sveti Klement since the 19th century, creating a lushly beautiful botanic garden along with villas, bungalows and a renowned restaurant.

Read the whole article here

Tom Marchant, the founder of award-winning travel company Black Tomato, wrote an article about his top three spots in  Croatia  – this is an excerpt:

.. Whilst many people know about the charms of Dubrovnik (and rightly so) Croatia still contains many hidden gems that the travelling world is only just waking up to. I could write an essay on the wonders of the place here, but space doesn’t allow it, so I have had to filter through my long list of highlights and share with you my top three spots. How to learn about the rest? Simple. Just go…

Read the article at this link

THE LOPUD COLLECTION Hotels and Villas offers a rich art program this June in Villa Vilina and its ART Restaurant and Gallery on the island of Lopud. All exhibition openings are accompanied by a guitar performance of Jazz and other types of music by Vedran Mezej of Dubrovnik. Hidden Croatia Marine offers organized trips with their speed boats from Dubrovnik to Lopud and back and include a gourmet dinner in the package.

The art season starts on June 5th with the opening of PARCO, an exhibition of paintings by Petra Ševeljević, a young Zagreb born Croatian painter celebrated in the contemporary art circles. This cycle of paintings is thematically connected with parks and specifically emphasized black pine trees. Petra playfully incorporates other elements not connected with the Mediterranean parks themselves.

On June 19th there is the opening VENUS, an exhibition of stone sculptures of different female forms, popularly called Venus’s, by Petar Hranuelli. Petar is an acclaimed Croatian sculptor and painter, born on the island of Brač where stone is “in the blood” of the people.

One June 26th Villa Vilina hosts the opening of a photography exhibition by Srđan Babić, a native of Makarska. We have rarely seen such an eye for details and photography as Srđan has it. You will be inspired to take the camera yourself and try to achieve something similar. Srđan’s photos are a true work of art.

Aside from the art, every Thursday Villa Vilina organizes Wine Tasting followed by a 3-course lunch, while on Sundays you can enjoy in the Sunday Brunch from 11am till 3pm and indulge in excellent buffet food, Mimosas (Champaign cocktails) and other drinks.

Lopud island and THE LOPUD COLLECTION, the most amazing island escape, awaits you!

website: www.villa-vilina.hr