The best hiking routes in Croatia

Croatia's walking terrain splits sharply between the forested highlands and the dry, limestone coast. In the northern interior, Karlovačka županija offers rolling, green hills and dense beech forests where paths run over soft forest soil and damp clay. This is a quiet, low-altitude landscape of small-scale farming and running water, lacking the dramatic rocky peaks found further south. In contrast, the coastal regions of Primorsko-goranska županija and Ličko-senjska županija present steep, white limestone cliffs and scrubby karst terrain. Here, the ground underfoot is sharp, loose stone that requires sturdy boots, and the vegetation is reduced to hardy shrubs shaped by the coastal winds.

Further south along the Adriatic, in Zadarska županija and Šibensko-kninska županija, the landscape becomes increasingly arid and exposed. Walking here means navigating bare limestone pavements and dry stone walls that mark out ancient sheep pastures. The paths are often rough and stony, with very little shade during the hot summer months of July and August. These coastal routes offer direct views of the sea and the offshore islands, but they lack the running streams and deep shade of the northern forests.

To the far east, the flat plains of Osječko-baranjska županija and Vukovarsko-srijemska županija offer a completely different experience. This is a vast, low-lying agricultural landscape shaped by the Danube and Drava rivers, where walkers follow dirt tracks and grassy dikes. There are no hills or rocky climbs here, only wide agricultural fields and oak forests that grow in the fertile river clay. It is a slow, level landscape where the main challenges are the lack of elevation and the mud that forms on the dirt tracks after heavy autumn rains.