Along the Adriatic Sea between Slovenia and the nation of Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia rises from flat plains in the northeast to low mountains and highlands along the coast. The country also includes 1,185 islands in the Adriatic, 67 of them inhabited. Part of the Austro-Hungarian Empire until the end of World War I, Croatia joined the Kingdom of Serbs, Croats and Slovenes in what would become known as Yugoslavia. After the long reign of Marshall Tito and the fall of communism in Eastern Europe, Croatia declared independence in 1991, though four years of sporadic fighting would pass before a permanent peace agreement was reached.
On the mainland or off the coast, there are plenty of destinations to keep a traveler busy in Croatia. In Zagreb, the capital, the Archeological Museum is home to some 460,000 items including the Zagreb Mummy with the world’s longest Etruscan text still in existence. A series of green parks and avenues stretching out from Zrinjevac in the city center provide a nice backdrop to for any sight-seeing tour. Split, on the Adriatic Coast, offers a mix of Roman and Venetian-Gothic architecture from white squares to well-preserved temples. No matter where you go in the old town, you’ll have a brush with antiquity, as old Split lies within the walls of Emperor Diocletian’s palace built in the 4th century. Dubrovnik is a picturesque city, spilling out of its ancient walls to the surrounding hills. Spend time in the old town, right on the water, with its red-tiled roofs and breathtaking views.