The video features some lovely shots and wise comments – have a look:

Beautiful little photo album of Plitvice Lakes (Plitvicka Jezera) , one of the Croatian National Parks,  containing just 9 photos, is published at Jutarnji List newspapers. The photos are taken just few days ago at Plitvicka Jezera, where , at the moment, everything is frozen and white, real winter wonderland. Have a look at the photo album here or click on above image.  See Plitvice Lakes photo in spring/summer time

The Northern Velebit National Park

Representatives of 22 European tourist towns and regions from as many countries have received the 2009 European Destination of Excellence (EDEN) awards. For this year’s awards, 20 EU Member States and Turkey and Croatia put several hundred candidates forward to compete for the best destination under the theme of “tourism and protected areas”.

The awards were handed out in Brussels couple weeks ago by European Commissioner Pawel Samecki, responsible for regional policy. For the third consecutive year, the EDEN awards promote European high quality tourist destinations which care for their culture, their history and their environment. The winning destinations, chosen by national juries, are located in protected areas and areas bordering them, where an economically viable tourism product has been developed using the protected area as an asset, while respecting its protected environment and at the same time meeting the needs of local residents and visitors. EDEN helps to promote Europe as a world-class tourist destination and allows destinations to enhance their attractiveness.

The Northern Velebit (Sjeverni Velebit) National Park is situated in the north-western part of Croatia in Croatian regions of Lika and Kvarner, just a few kilometers from the Adriatic Sea .

It was among a competition of 261 natural beauties from 222 countries and 77 natural attractions and entered the semifinals based on the votes cast by visitors to the www.new7wonders.com web portal.

The campaign has begun in 2007 and votes can be cast via the website until 7 July. After the vote counting, an expert jury will elect 21 finalists and leave the final decision to another round of Internet, telephone and SMS voters who can make their final judgment on the seven world wonders of nature until 2011.

Often referred to as the most beautiful European garden of preserved beauty, Croatia has eight national parks, Plitvice Lakes being the most popular among them. It consists of sixteen lakes connected by falls. Due to the characteristic karstic base, the waters of Plitvice Lakes are rich in calcium bicarbonate, which is decomposed into calcium carbonate due to water breaking on the barriers.

Calcium carbonate is then deposited with the presence of algae, moss and other organisms. All this enables growth of gypsum barriers with magnificent falls splashing over them, their beauty leaving no one indifferent.

The national park, located in the interior of the country but easily accessible from the coastal area thanks to the modern roads, stretches over almost 30 thousand hectares, its prehistoric dense forests accounting for over 22 thousand hectares.

The exceptional beauty of the lakes and falls, strolls around the forest paths and over wooden bridges, comfortable hotels and restaurants offering local delicacies attract visitors from across the world throughout the year. Plitvice Lakes are on the UNESCO’s list of world heritage.

.. we handcrafted a holiday that offered all the elements they (teenagers) were after, albeit not in quite the same configuration. We would be providing them  with a foreign location (Croatia), sunshine (temperatures in the mid-30sC), an element of the urban (three independently organised days in Zagreb), plus plenty of own-age social opportunities in the form of a week-long families-with-teenagers activity holiday, run by the Adventure Company, at a little village in the beautiful Plitvice National Park…

Read the whole article here

The Gacka River has long been known around the world as one of the most beautiful rivers in which trout spawn, although now it also draws the attention of those visitors for whom fishing is not on the vacation list of priorities.

Many of the facilities on the Gacka River have been renovated over the past years, the most significant and most attractive of these certainly being the mills at Majerovo vrilo (Majer’s Spring) – a complex unique to Croatia.

As late as in the past century some 60 mills were in operation milling grain on the Gacka River and its tributaries.

Three of them have now been reconstructed and made operational. They too are a true treasure trove of traditional heritage. There is an info point in the first of the renovated mills with a well-stocked exhibition and sale collection.

The second mill is a closed type, while the third demonstrates to visitors how grain is milled with the possibility of purchasing three types of home made flour.

An electric power generator will be installed in the fourth mill, where renovation works are still ongoing, that will supply the entire complex with electrical energy.

Not far from Majerovo vrilo is Klanac vrilo where the milling and treading of grain can be viewed at Štimcev’s Mill.

The last in the series is Tonkovic vrilo where visitors can enjoy a well-appointed summer residence featuring a spacious wooden terrace above the waters. A few steps away is the Vrila Gacke, a restaurant offering Lika region and river specialities.

More info on Lika and Central Croatia + Otocac Tourist Board http://www.tz-otocac.hr/ + Lika County Tourist Board http://www.lickosenjska.com/

The motel is situated just off of the petrolstation at Zir near Lovinac. It offers 35 rooms, as well as the large restaurant.

The facility is certainly a welcome one, not only as a motorway facility, but also as yet another accommodation facility in the around Lovinac, which is increasingly developing its tourism offer.

About Lovinac: Lovinac is located to the southeast of the largest Karst field in Croatia – Licko polje (Lika Field) – in Lika-Senj County (Lika Tourist Board).

There are some archaeological finds in the Lovinac that indicate that the area was settled during the Roman era. Lovinac features a geomorphology based on limestone and dolomite, which imparts a special beauty to the area – the entire expanse is bordered by high mountain ridges and valleys, which makes it ideal for climbers and hikers. Mount Resnik is 1178 metre high ridge. Trnovrh is the highest peak at 1234 metres, followed by Risovac at 1112 metres. Besides mountains the area has variety of springs at Obsenice, Krušnice, Crvenih potoka, Lišcanih bunara and Holjevac.

Lovinac is also situated in the vicinity of other attractive Lika region locations – Plitvice Lakes National Park, Velebit National Park, the settlement of Krasno with its attractive bear sanctuary and the village of Smiljan where a museum dedicated to the world famous and deserving inventor Nikola Tesla is located.