Croatia Highlights

Croatia is awakening from its turbulent past and is now moving towards being a popular tourist destination. Here are the main points of interest especially among wine enthusiasts

- Nikhil Agarwal

If I had to summarise Croatia in two words I would simply say ‘raw beauty’. I went there to know more about their wines. Croatia is a very old wine-producing region and they have a lot of indigenous grape varieties that you and I have perhaps never heard of. These include Malvazija, Istria Malvazija, Debit, Pošip, Plavac Mali and Teran that are grown with the usual Chardonnays and Cabernet Sauvignons of the world. A majority of the boutique wineries there have really small production.

STROLLING THROUGH ZAGREB

Zagreb, the capital city is tiny and gorgeous. Walk around the old town and take in Jelai Square, visit the Zagreb cathedral and the St. Mark's Church. In the evening you must stop at Tkalieva, which is packed with bars, restaurants and café are all lined up on either side with outdoor seating as well.

The Dolac Market is also a great place to stroll around. Adorned with beautiful colors of fruits and vegetables, I found this market to be fascinating. I visited a couple of wineries, one called Petra which is not too far away from Zagreb and another called Gali in Kutjevo which is a couple of hours away. Kutjevo is a major wine producing region in Croatia with multiple wineries.

ISTRIA