Europeans have vacationed in Croatia for centuries, but today the country is emerging as a destination for non-European travelers as well. Most visitors, European and non-European alike, know something about the country's stunning Adriatic coastal playground or its sophisticated capital, Zagreb, but virtually nothing about what lies beyond. In general, there is much less tourism chatter about Croatia's inland towns and treasures -- both close-in and farther away from Zagreb -- than about "going to the coast," even though these diverse inland geographic regions offer incredibly rich experiences that might appeal to travelers who aren't drawn to the country's sun-and-fun culture.
Croatia away from Zagreb and the coast dances to a much less frenetic beat than its glamorous siblings: The atmosphere in the cool, green hills is more down-to-earth and much less commercial than it is on the white-hot Adriatic beaches. Inland Croatia is where you will find working towns and farms juxtaposed with castles and imposing medieval fortresses built to protect the country from foreign invaders. This is where you will see pristine homes adjacent to houses bullet-pocked by wounds inflicted during the 1991 war.
The northern regions of Zagorje and Meimurje are places where many of Croatia's heroes were born and where many Croatian patriots died fighting for their country's freedom through the ages. These areas are where hilltop towers stand sentry as if to protect the land against invaders and where tiny klets stand between crop rows to provide shelter for farmers and their tools.
Today towns among the rolling hills and flatlands outside Zagreb are beginning to actively court tourists as the capitol spreads outward to meet fields of yellow sunflowers waving in the wind, vineyard-covered hills, and fewer and fewer foreboding signs flagging land-mine dangers in the forests. So get out of town and take a trip to the country, where the roads less traveled will lead you to the "real" Croatia and the warm and genuine people who live there.
