|
Plitvice Lakes : Croatians may feel their pride hurt when this national park is compared with the Niagara Falls in the U.S. and the Iguazu Falls near the border of Brazil and Argentina, at least in natural beauty. The national park is Croatia’s largest protected area and one of the most popular tourist attractions. The park embraces the kind of landscape unique enough to stick in a visitor’s memory for a lifetime. At its heart is a string of turquoise lakes, each fed by a sequence of terraced waterfalls. These cascades were created over several millennia by a waterborne limestone sediment known as travertine, picked up by mountain rivers and deposited downstream to form a sequence of natural dams. The process is still ongoing, and silvery-gray travertine can be seen coating the pebbles and plant stalks of Plitvice’s lakes. The rush and thunder of the rapids contrasts markedly with the untroubled calm of the larger lakes, although the silence is frequently broken by the sound of croaking frogs. Above the lakes, there are forests thick with fir and beech, an ideal habitat for deer, wolves, lynx and brown bears. / Courtesy of Croatian Tourism Board |
 When you plan to visit Croatia, the following regions are worth travelling. You can start your tour by visiting Zagreb, the capital city of the Mediterranean country. One day is enough to look around the truly central European cultural center.
This reporter who crisscrossed 1,500 kilometer of the country by a car in April, believes that Dubrovnik, the southern tip of the country, is another must-see.The Plitvice Lakes, which are about 90 minutes from the capital city, are another amazing sight Croatia has to offer.
Split, the home of the historical complex of Diocletian’s Palace, built 1,700 years ago is a UNESCOworld heritage site. You can enjoy the history of the new early-Christian, Byzantine and early-medieval art and its cathedral built in the Middle Ages.
No other place has two cities with monumental heritage under UNESCO’s protection registered in the World Cultural Heritage within just 30 kilometers. They are the Diocletian Palace in Split and the historical core of the town of Trogir.
Istria, which is the largest peninsula inCroatia, boasts blue seas, white stone and green interior. The blueness of its shoreline is contrasted by the lush greenery of its interior.
The heart-shaped peninsula reaching deep into the clear blue waters of the Adriatic Sea is a hidden garden of beauty which opens the door to the sunny and warm Mediterranean. This is an area where wide-ranging diversities have come together.
Opatija is also a fashionable Adriatic tourist resort. It is a place of luxury hotels, villas and private summer residences.
There are currently no direct flights between Korea and Croatia, but it is an easy reach by plane from such cities as Frankfurt, Vienna, Rome, Budapest, Rome, London and Venice.
Many travelers include Slovenia on their itinerary when they visit Croatia.
|
|
yistory@koreatimes.co.kr
