Croatia - Land of natural beauty

I live in a country that has thousand islands, beautiful coasts and preserved nature. Croatia is a mediterranean tourist destination with a long tourist tradition. The advantages of it's tourism are preserved nature and environment, cultural and historical heritage, mild mediterranean climate and a possibility of vacation in one of the environmentally protected destinations.
Croatia offers a rich variety of tourist attractions, nautical tourism, diving, ecological, culture, adventurous, fishing, wellness and cruises.
Croatia has a long shore that stretches over the Adriatic sea with many regions that offer tourist satisfaction. Istra, Kvarner, Dalmatia, Dubrovnik, are the most famous tourist regions on the coast.
Capital city of Croatia is Zagreb.

Croatia has 8 national parks and 11 nature parks, these are the areas that contain natural beauty and great preserved ecological system.

- National park Brijuni
- National park Kornati
- National park Krka
- National park Mljet
- National park Paklenica
- National park Lakes of Plitvice
- National park Risnjak
- National park Northern Velebit

National Park Brijuni

Brijuni are a group of 2 bigger and 12 smaller islands on the western coast of Istra, near the town of Pula. Brijuni islands are famous by preserved vegetation of oak, pines and cypress. There is a safari park with exotic herbivores and culture heritage from Roman and Byzantine period. Because of the remarkable beauty this is a favorite destination for vacation of world statesmen.

National Park Kornati

Kornati are the most indented part of the coast, it has about 140 uninhabited  islands. Kornat islands are famous by their unusual shapes and high cliffs. It's being also called a labyrinth of sea and rocks.

National Park Krka

Krka river is known by it's beauty and waterfalls, which are like the Lakes of Plitvice incurred by deposition of limestone. After magnificent waterfalls the river goes into a lake and after that the water floes to a bay, near the town of Šibenik. Among many waterfalls there is an island Visovac with a Franciscan Monastery.

National Park Mljet

Mljet is an island in southern part of Croatia, west of the most famous summer resort of city Dubrovnik. There are two deep  bays and lush and diverse vegetation. On a little island in the centre of the bay there is a complex of benedictine monasteries from 12th century.

National Park Paklenica

Paklenica has the most attractive parts of croatian biggest mountain called Velebit including it's highest mountain tops. The main attraction are the two gorges of big and small Paklenica. There are a few caves and rich flora and fauna. This is a place of wilderness but it's still available to visitors because of the nearby tourist road and the city of Zadar.

National Park Lakes of Plitvice

The lakes of Plitvice is the most famous national park protected by UNESCO. The main attraction of this park are 16 lakes connected with waterfalls surrounded by the forest. Besides lakes and forest the park has a lot of caves, water sources, meadows, and brown bear which is a protected and rare animal.

National Park Risnjak

Risnjak got a name by it's most popular inhabitant which is a lynx (Croatian = Ris). The park is rich with mountains and all kinds of forests of this area and a lot of different plants and animals. Beautiful forest and magnificent sights attract a lot of mountaineers and other nature lovers.

National park Northern Velebit

Northern Velebit is a youngest Croatian national park. It has most attractive natural areas on northern Velebit. In this area there are the most attractions, like the botanical garden and Lukas pit which is one of the deepest in the world. Mountaineers think that this is the jewel among Croatian mountains.

- Nature park Biokovo
- Nature park Kopacki rit
- Nature park Lastovo
- Nature park Lonjsko polje
- Nature park Medvednica
- Nature park Papuk
- Nature park Telascica
- Nature park Ucka
- Nature park Velebit
- Nature park Vransko lake
- Nature park Zumberak

Nature park Biokovo

Biokovo is a mountain in the middle part of Dalmatian coast. It lowers towards the sea with very steeply roads where people and animals can walk.

Nature park Kopacki rit

Kopacki rit is a nature park not far from Drava river and it is one of the most attractive swamp areas in Europe. The beauty of untouched nature, water, animals and plants besides the tourist attracts scientists aswell. A part of Kopacki rit is strictly protected as a special zoo reservation.

Nature park Lastovo

Lastovo consist of a group of 44 islands, of which the biggest is Lastovo. The land part is rich with plants and animals and the sea is one of the richest in Adriatic sea. There are many archeological findings aswell.

Nature park Lonjsko polje

Lonjsko polje is a valley with interesting architecture of wooden houses. Oak forest and meadows are a big part of it and there are many rare european animals (eagle, gray and white heron etc.) swamp meadows are inhabited with ducks.

Nature park Medvednica

Medvednica is a mountain which can be visited by walking or driving and the special pleasure is driving by ropeway. In southwestern part there's a cave called Veternica. Tourism on Medvednica has a long tradition there we have first mountain object in Croatia built in 1870, a small wooden pyramid.

Nature park Papuk

Papuk is a mountain with a lot of water, it is protected because of it's geological and biological diversity. It has a culture and historical value with a lot of mountain houses and it's a nice location for mountaineers.

Nature park Telascica

Telascica is a bay with sand and muddy bottom. Northeast coast is usually only rocks, but southwestern part under a pine forest and olives. It is one of the best protected natural harbors on adriatic sea.

Nature park Ucka

Ucka is the highest mountain of peninsula of Istra. In this nature park there are a lot of different recreations that people come to do, like, Mounain climbing, speleology, cycling... With different variety of plants it's different than other mountains near the sea.

Nature park Velebit

It is the highest mountain in Croatia divided with 2 national parks and it is protected as a world reservation of biosphere of UNESCO Nature park Velebit is the biggest protected area in Croatia.

Nature park Vransko lake

Vransko lake is a very clean source of water that doesn't need to be filtrated. There are many caves and there are many fantastic stories about Vransko lake like the one telling that there are fairies living in the caves.

Nature park Zumberak

Zumberak is a highland for vacation in balance with nature. The most visited tourist centre is near the canyon of creeks where the celtic graveyard is and roman necropolis.

Croatia is a country with a lot of natural beauties and whatever place you choose to go on a vacation you can always find a national park nearby that will leave you speechless.