Croatia is a unique country of unspoilt coastal waters and with a thousand years history. The Adriatic Sea has always offered the most economical trade route between Europe and the East thus becoming the cradle of ancient civilizations. Archaeological findings prove that in the 6th century BC the ancient Greeks had commerce with the Illyrians by means of the sea, and that they founded their colonies there. Testimony to those glorious times can be found not only on the mainland, but also under the sea in the shape of shipwrecks and remains of the detritus of great ships.

Croatia has an amazing 5,835km of coastline, 4,057km of which belongs to islands, cliffs and reefs. There are 1,185 islands in the Adriatic, but only about 70 are populated. The largest island is Krk (near Rijeka) at 462 square km. Thanks to this favorable geographical characteristics of the coast, with its numerous bays, inlets and coves, the coastal belt still is a significant mercantile and nautical route. Croatia also has a strange shape, which comes as a result of five centuries of expansion by the Ottoman empire towards Central Europe (although Croatia was never conquered by the Turks).

The climate is Mediterranean along the Adriatic coast, one of the sunniest in Europe, with warm dry summers and mild winters, while in the interior, the climate is continental with hot summers and cold, snowy winters.

Istria, the peninsula bordering Slovenia and Italy, and the Dalmatian coast are by far, the most popular destination for visitors to Croatia.