Istria

Croatia's best music festivals

Croatia’s music festival scene is flourishing, with exciting new events popping up each summer. Local and international organisers make the most of the incredible Adriatic coast and a stunning setting is pretty much guaranteed, with idyllic beaches, islands, lakes and meadows hosting crowds of delighted festival goers.

There are plenty of unforgettable experiences to be had, from hip-hop greats playing in a Roman amphitheatre, to intimate boat parties DJed by electro superstars. Whatever you choose, you’re bound for an unforgettable experience. Here’s our pick.

Anna Tyler

Lonely Planet Writer

Truffles in Croatia: the gourmet's golden egg

Whether you want to go hunting for prized black truffles or to enjoy the gourmet fungus in risottos, pastas and omelettes, the perfect place to do it is in Istria, Croatia.

The truffle trade is less like a business than a highly profitable cult, revolving around an expensive, malodorous, subterranean fungus which is picked in dark woods and sold for a small fortune. Devotees claim that once you've tasted this small, nut-shaped delicacy, all other flavours seem insipid.

Lonely Planet

Lonely Planet Writer

Istria: the heart of Croatia

Continental Croatia meets the Adriatic in Istria, the heart-shaped peninsula just south of Trieste in Italy. While the bucolic interior of rolling hills and fertile plains attract artsy visitors to its ancient villages, rural hotels and farmhouse restaurants, the verdant indented coastline is enormously popular with the sun'n'sea set.

Heading inland from the Istrian coast, you'll notice that crowds dissipate, hotel complexes disappear and what emerges is an unspoiled countryside of medieval hilltop towns, pine forests, fertile valleys and vineyard-dotted hills. The pace of daily life slows down considerably, defined less by the needs of tourists and more by the demands of harvesting grapes, hunting for truffles, picking wild asparagus and cultivating olive groves.

Anja Mutić

Lonely Planet Writer