It also confirmed continuation of flights from Belgrade to Dubrovnik (launched in 2011).

This year’s flights to Dubrovnik Airport will start in mid June, while flights from Belgrade to Pula and Split Airport will start at the beginning of July.

The routes will operate twice a week on Tuesdays and Thursdays afternoon.

More info and schedules / timetables are here

 International Travel and Destination Expo (ITDE) will take place in the five star Le Meridien Lav hotel in Split from 24 to 27 November this year.

This will also be the first year that the fair in Split will deal with connecting tourism trends with social networks (aka social revolution in traveling).

There will be a string of lectures and round tables about the influence of Facebook or Twitter on the tourist season. The fair is aimed at professionals in the tourism industry as well as users of their services.

Have a look at short intro video (Croatian language):

More info here + download ITDE brochure here

Venue : Diocletian Palace, Split, Croatia

Preview: Friday, November 4, 2011 at 8 p.m.

Opening hours: Every day, 9 am to 8 pm – closed on Sundays

The central topic of this year’s Split Salon, a biennial event in contemporary art, is the querying of the exhibition as site of ones own exposure and as potential site for the articulation of the lie as legitimate means of gallery narration.

One of the interesting terms to which life is related is the lie.  Provocative here is the fact of the semantic noise that is generated among the Croatian public by approximating two verbal forms: izlagati (to tell a lie) and izlagati se (to exhibit or expose oneself).

The platform of the 37th Split Salon takes its cue from this noise.  All thematic possibilities are taken into account, all possible investigations of the paths of the ‘urban lie’, the negation or distortion of truth, or its manipulation; political, personal, familial and social impulses as well as querying of the actual means of art and the possibility it has of being manipulated.  Nor are the very unstable positions and dangers of ones own exposure in the public domain of artistic appearance ignored in the meantime.

The lie can be understood as a provocation, as a legitimate means in the denunciation of all kinds of anomalies. But it can also be understood as space of freedom, a refuge, a deflection of too great exposure and openness.  Individuals are becoming increasingly accessible to the environment, and ever less to themselves. Cell phones, Internet, Big Brother and other reality shows private life is too easily giving way or is being entirely lost and negated. And after all, at the moment when we so facilely brandish the term transparency, expanding it to the area of political discourse, as well as the field of contemporary art and exhibition practices, iz-laganje has an almost subversive undertone.

In the area of private life, an internal reflexion of general experiences that become personal is being sketched out, as well as the exposure of ones own specialness, which becomes part of the public realm.  From the pith and marrow, the most covert desires, wishes and needs and traumas to the very borders of privacy, across which the individual approaches the other, a wide spectrum of connotations of rights and also responsibilities is revealed. Handling the private life goes on between two extremes  – introversion and extroversion.

In sum, this biennial contemporary art event is interested in the question of how the paradigms of the lie and of private life edge into the discursive space of city and gallery, that is, how they are articulated through contemporary art practice.

The project takes for granted the presentation of all media of artistic expression.

Curators of the 37th Split Salon are Dalibor Prancevic and Barbara Vujanovic.

About Split Salon:

The Split Salon is an exhibition of contemporary art that has been held, in a somewhat uneven rhythm of annual and biennial events, since 1969.

For more than four decades the Salon has brought together the potentials of the art scene not only from the region but from the whole of the area of the Republic of Croatia, organised entirely by the Split Croatian Artists Association, puts before the public the achievements of recent work through all the known manners of expression in the fine arts. The contemporary Split Salon, which is biennial, follows in its subjects the turbulent state of our social vicissitudes.  Through creative authorial commitment and art production the Salon enables fine artists to make reference to social reality and accordingly has become a place for the promotion of universal cultural reality.

By persisting with the project of the Split Salon, the Split Croatian Artists Association cultivates worthwhile humanist values, maintains a critical attitude towards market-oriented neoliberalism, raises the issue of the effective survival of the love of freedom and provides answers via uninhibited liberty of artistic expression mediated via concrete artefacts of high artistic value.

As well as the exhibition programme, the curatorial set-up in the gallery venues, the Salon also organises discussions on a given theme with respect for different viewpoints via public discourse.  The Split Salon regularly penetrates into the tissue of the city with the performative action of some of the participants in the project, exploring the reactions of not only the targetaudience but also of the whole of the public.  In this manner it will happen that casual passers-by become active participants in the Salon, not merely neutral consumers of the artistic fare.

37th Split Biennal is organised by:

HULU, Split (Croatian Association of Artists – Split)
Obala Hrvatskog narodnog preporoda 24,
21 000 Split, Hrvatska
http://www.hulu-split.hr/

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.

Recently opened hostel ‘Golly & Bossy’ is the latest cool accommodation option in Split.

This design hostel is situated in the neo-classicist building which used to be a shopping centre, in the centre of the city on Morpurgova poljana address.

The hostel has 28 rooms with 138 beds and free WIFI internet access.

Rooms on the first and second floor are with four and six beds, while on the third floor there are hotel type double rooms.  Every room has ensuite shower& wc.  An attractive view stretches from the balcony onto the historical core of Split and at the front of the building the large terrace offers nice views too.

The rooms are numbered in an unusual way. Every number represents a year from history that was important for Split. For example, on the floor in front of room 1221 it is written that this was the year pirates had attacked Split, while room number 2010 signifies the year the hostel opened its doors.

Check bellow latest offers from this cool Split hostel:

Golly & Bossy Design Hostel  ☆☆☆☆☆
Design Golly & Bossy is a modern hostel, offering great-value accommodation featuring trendy design. It is less than 200 metres from Split’s Bacvice Bay and just 5 minutes’ walk to Diocletian Palace. Guests can chose between shared and private… Prices from €20 – Number of rooms: 28 – Check Design Accomodation Golly & Bossy, Split availability

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.

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

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

According to World Architecture News, Šolta Island in near vicinity of Split will be home to Europe’s first rotating hotel (WOW !)

This is an excerpt from the article : 

A rotating hotel is to form the centrepiece of a new resort near Split in Croatia. Designed by Richard Hywel Evans of Studio RHE, specialists in holiday resort design, the concept was proposed from a desire to provide sea views from each room.

While most of the fine details of the hotel remain under wraps WAN can reveal “the 3 storey building is a 61 metre diameter very slow moving continuous turntable rotating 1.3 times per day, and will be built of steel in sections at the huge Split shipyards which are directly opposite the Island,” says Evans. “The building is entered from below at Lower Ground Level which does not rotate with the 22 metre diameter centre hub of the building which is also static containing the Reception, circulation stairs and lifts,” he adds…

See all photos of this rotating hotel proposal and read the whole article here

The Embassy of the Republic of Croatia  and The Croatian National Tourist Office cordially invite you to

SPLIT , ANCIENT AND MODERN: A CAPTIVATING CITY
an evening celebrating the town of Split and the Palace of the Emperor Diocletian

Thursday 16th of April 2009 6.00 to 9.00 pm

at the Croatian Embassy, 21 Conway Street , London W1T 6BN .

6.30 The evening will start with an illustrated talk by Joško Belamarić,  Director of the Conservation Department of the Croatian Ministry of Culture who will present the fascinating new research findings from Diocletian’s Palace

7.00 Ivan Sikavica, Conservator and Restorer, The Croatian Conservation Institute, will describe the current restoration and conservation work in the Palace

7.30 Vedran Matošić, Director of the Tourist Office in Split will present: “Events and Culture in European Cities – Split Project”

8-9 Reception

RSVP:  Croatian National Tourist Office: 020 8563 7979  or Flora Turner: 0207 387 3276

Nearest undergrounds:  Warren Street and Great Portland Street

With the kind support of the International Trust for Croatian Monuments and The British-Croatian Society

Croatian Tourism Minister opened in Split on Saturday the 11th international Croatia Boat Show, at which 1355 exhibitors are showing 450 boats.

The fair was organized by the Profectus Company and is open until 5th of April.

Some fifty thousand visitors are expected at the fair which, with extensive media coverage, is an important promotion of Croatia as a tourist destination,” said Bajs.

He recalled that Croatia Boat Show was also a sale show at which Croatian shipbuilders would present their product.

Bajs stressed that nautical tourism generated six per cent of arrivals in Croatia and 10% of overall tourism revenue and that more than 80% of nautical tourists had university degrees and earned more than EUR 3,000 a month.

“They are the most demanding, but also the most rewarding guests. They want more, but are ready to pay, so fairs like this one are very important.”  Bajs said nautical tourism expected the smallest losses this summer because of the crisis.

He announced that Croatia planned to build 15,000 new berths for boaters, but that in building new marinas it would see to preserving nature and protecting the environment.

The state secretary for the sea, Branko Bačić, said this was part of the government’s strategy to build 15,000 new berths in 15 Croatian prestigious destinations along the Adriatic in the next 10 years and to reach HRK 15 billion in annual revenue from nautical tourism. He added that last year nautical tourism brought Croatia EUR 800 million. (source: Hina) + Read about Sailing in Croatia

Here is an excerpt from the article:

.. Today Split is the holiday gateway to a spectacular stretch of coast, to beautiful islands and to thousands of years of history.  Yet the city is often overlooked in favour of Dubrovnik to the south and the Istrian coast to the north… But the city and its environs are worth discovering. Behind a modern waterfront promenade is an astonishing building: Diocletian’s Palace, a huge, square Roman citadel built in AD300…

Read the whole article here

Sudden snowfall in Dalmatia brought traffic at standstill in Split , Zadar and on some Islands

• See more photos at Slobodna Dalmacija photo gallery  ,
• Even more photos at Jutarnji gallery ,
• Photo of Zlatni Rat beach under the snow  ,
• check current weather forecast for Croatia

Copenhagen, Oslo and Helsinki will be connected with Split and Dubrovnik by direct flights during the summer season.

Norwegian low-budget airline Norwegian Air and Denmark’s Cimber Air will take over flights previously arranged with the bankrupted Icelandic airline Sterling from the Danish capital to Croatia.

From June 2009, Croatia Airlines will introduce direct weekly flights from Gothenburg to Split and Dubrovnik, and during the season there will be additional flights between Copenhagen and Zagreb. (source www.hina.hr)

Flybe

The sale applies to bookings made before midnight 26.01.09 for travel between March 1 and May 31.

Flights from Southampton to Dubrovnik starts from £91.99, flights from Exeter to Dubrovnik starts from £64.99, and flights from Southampton to Split starts at £53.99.

Additionally, all flights that are booked in January with Flybe are now backed up by redundancy cancellation insurance cover.

This is a luxury hotel having a total area of 750 square meters. The hotel has 21 rooms arranged on three floors and a luxury 150 square-meter suite in the attic.

The hotel is located in a reconstructed building of a former shopping mall.

During the reconstruction an additional storey was added and a 15th century defensive wall was reconstructed as instructed by conservators which become an integral part of the interior.

In addition to Hotel Peristil and Hotel Vestibul, Marmont is the third hotel in the center of Split, in the historical Diocletian Palace.

Hotel Marmont  – more info, photos and booking

In last week’s edition of the Time Out’s ‘City confidential’ section, Split is featured as the ‘Croatia’s second city and main port, with its centrepiece-a gutted Roman palace-provides the finest night of bar-hopping you’ll find on the whole Dalmatian coast.’ Here is an excerpt:
After dark, the Diocletian’s dark, unmapped passages offer wonderfully random bars 0 DJ bars, gallery bars, cocktail bars, bars with pseudo-Egyptian themes, bars in deserted open squares. There’s no excuse for restraining your request for drink. For relaxing start, pick any terrace cafe along the palm-fringed seafront, Riva. Following the day’s passage to sunset, bars at the eastern, harbour end nearest the market empty as those towards the west slowly fill… And if you are not ready to go to bed yet, nearby Puls and Academia Ghetto Club buzz till the 1am Old Town’s curfew. After this, a ten minute walk from the Riva past the bus station will bring truly dedicated drinkers to the all-night action at Bacvice beach. See large photo of the article + Read more about Split + see some photos of Split

• Flights from Split to Düsseldorf are in operation every Saturday, starting from 5th April 2008
• Flights from Dubrovnik to Düsseldorf are in operation every Sunday, starting from 30th March 2008
• Flights from Zagreb to Düseldorf are in operation on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays , starting from 19th May 2008
• Introduction of flights from Zagreb to Copenhagen will start in 20th May 2008. Flights will be in operation on Tuesdays, Thursdays and Sundays.

As reported by HRT, Croatia Airlines has also decided to introduce a direct flight between Zagreb and Pristina, Kosovo. As of June a regular Zagreb to Podgorica, Montenegro flight will also be introduced. The three capitals will be linked three time per week.

More about Flights to Croatia

Austrian Airlines will feature to each destination this coming summer 10 flights a week.

The flight schedule to Zagreb will also increase. There will be  two additional flights a week  – bringing the total number of flights to 33 a week. In neighbouring Slovenia, flights to Ljubljana will increase to  28 flights a week.

Additional option for combining travel to Croatia and Montenegro are three extra scheduled flights that will operate to Podgorica, the Montenegro capital in the summer of 2008, which will be served by 8 flights a week.

With this expansion of its flight schedule, the Austrian Airlines is underlining the huge importance to the company of the region of Central and Eastern Europe.

Check other flights to Croatia

This is what he says about Croatia:

In Split, the harbor-front promenade called the Riva has been completely overhauled. The café umbrellas, concrete, and patchwork landscaping were replaced by a broad, sleek, bright-white public space. While some people enjoy this snazzy and slick people zone, many locals think it clashes with the higgledy-piggledy Old Town.

Dubrovnik: Croatia’s top destination is being rediscovered – including by cruise-ship crowds. On a very busy day in summer, as many as 30,000 passengers (seven giant ships’ worth) inundate the little Old Town. Non-cruise travelers should do their sightseeing (especially walking around the City Wall) early or late to avoid the midday crush and heat.

The Nona Ana catamaran – which swiftly connects Dubrovnik to Mljet island (with its national park) - has extended its run. In the summer, it now also continues four times each week to the ever-popular island town of Korcula.

My favorite sentence in the whole article is :  They’ve been tinkering with it for thousands of years, but Europe is, wonderfully, still a work in progress.

Read the whole article here

Beyond Boundaries Travel has created two customized tours of Croatia that will have travelers cruising the islands, sightseeing in the beautiful port cities and quaint island harbors, and taking cycling tours of the islands.

The tour begins in Split and concludes in Dubrovnik, includes visit to Trogir and can be done in reverse if preferred. The tour takes visitors through olive orchards, vineyards, medieval fortifications, green forests, fertile valleys, and subtropical parks with free time to explore a number of Dalmatian islands including Brac,  Korcula , Hvar , Mljet and Sipan.

Cyclists ride as a group, with each rider proceeding at their desired pace. There will be two guides to lead both the cycling and walking tours and guides provide a briefing and maps for each cycle tour. Each ride will include stops for refreshments and to visit interesting sights.

The “Kapetan Jure”, the accommodation for the duration of the trip, is an 88 foot wooden motor yacht built in 2000 in a traditional Croatian motor sailor style. The ship has 15 passenger cabins with 11 twin bed cabins on the main deck and 4 double bed cabins below deck. Each cabin has a private bath. The below deck area is air conditioned. The upper deck contains an open sundeck and the main salon and bar where all meals will be served.

Trip Includes: 7 nights aboard the motor yacht “Kapetan Jure” + All meals in Croatia + Multi-speed tour bicycle + Bicycle tour guides + All airport transfers and ground transportation + Daily Cabin Cleaning + Towel Change Midweek

Cost is $1699 per person (double occupancy). Tour dates are September 6th-13th, 2008 and for reverse trip: September 13th-20th. For more information, please visit the website: http://www.beyondboundariestravel.com/barge_bike/2008/croatia.html

The low-cost carrier has announced plans to add a new aircraft to its operations from Warsaw, as well as increase the frequency of flights on its network. The airline will be flying to five new destinations starting in June, including the new route between Warsaw, Poland and Split, Croatia.

Flights to Split service is staring from 21st of June until 25th of October 2008. It is once a week, Saturday morning flight, departing from Warsaw at 7 am arriving in Split at 9am. Departure from Split is at 9:40am arriving in Warsaw at 11.40. Prices are starting from 28 Euros net.

Norwegian began operations in September 2002 and has since become the largest budget airline in the region. Today, the airline flies 35 aircraft across a network of 141 routes, offering flights to 75 destinations. The company’s headquarters are located in Fornebu, Norway.

EasyJet, the low cost airline that fly to Split, Croatia is offering £10 per person off for all flights departing from 1st of  April to 21st of May 2008.

Flights has to be booked by Monday 18 February 2008.

All you have to do is to enter the code LOVE2008 at step 3 of the booking process when you book a flight.

To get this discount, booking must be made before midnight on 18 February 2008 for travel between 1 April and 21 May 2008 inclusive. The voucher will take £5.00 off the cost of every flight for every person on your booking. If you only book a one way flight, you’ll only receive a £5.00 discount.

Last week at Brussels, Hrvatske autoceste – the Croatian Motorways Company was awarded for the tunnel Brinje of motorway Zagreb – Split (A1), as one of the safest European tunnels in 2007.

To come to this conclusion, EuroTAP  – European Tunnel Assessment Programme inspected 51 tunnels important for European road traffic located in 13 countries across Europe including Croatia with tunnels Ucka, Tuhobic, Plasina, Javorova Kosa, Gric and Mala Kapela.

Accoring to European Tunnel Assessment Programme, every fifth tunnel in Europe does not satisfy minimal safety standards. The most common shortcomings refer to a deficiency in fire protection and lacking escape and rescue routes.

Brinje tunnel is 1540 meters long. It was opened for traffic in the 2004 as part of Zagreb-Split Motorway.

More about roads in Croatia