Lily Colgan

Proud of its Mediterranean coffee culture, Zadar is blessed with an excess of cafés sprinkled across its endless rows of terraced streets. Whether you’re after a quick caffeine fix or somewhere to escape the thronging crowds, our local experts have picked out the best very cafés in Zadar. RECOMMENDED: where to eat, sleep and drink in Zadar.

Calling all culture vultures. The European Year of Cultural Heritage is putting on a range of cool initiatives celebrating the best of the continent. In Zagreb, six major museums and galleries have signed up to a project to make entry free all week. Yep, that's right - totally, 100% free! Here are 6 fantastic Zagreb museums and galleries you can visit this week without spending a single penny. Croatian Museum of Naive Art, May 7 - 13One of Zagreb's most unique collections, this museum features an array of incredibly bold and colourful works by Croatia's self-taught peasant painters from the late 1930s to the mid-1980s Sv Ćirila i Metoda 3 Dražen Petrović Memorial Center, May 7 -13Off-the-beaten-path, this museum is dedicated to the basketball legend who died in car crash at the age of 28, taking you on a trip through his short-lived career with medals, trophies and memorabilia. Trg Dražena Petrovića 3 Nikola Tesla Museum, May 8 - 13This museum houses aircraft, a 1930s snow-mobile, a World War II mini-submarine, 19th-century fire engines and a Dubrovnik tram from 1912, and the lab of the cult inventor and internet folklore hero Nikola Tesla. Savska 18Museum of Contemporary Art, May 8 -11Ride Carsten Höller's slides, get to know the '50s Croatian abstract generation and the Zagreb-based New Tendencies movement from the '70s, plus watch performances from artists Tom Gotovac and Vlasta Delima. You'll also see extravagant murals by Croatian street artists on your way in. Avenija D

Fantastic news for the city of Rijeka as it announces plans for €775 million of investment. Facing some scepticism about the realisation and timeline of the projects in local media, the city of Rijeka have released more details of their large-scale plans to spruce up the city, spanning infrastructure and private urban investment, setting 2020 as the date for completion. That target coincides with Rijeka's turn as the European Capital of Culture 2020. The port city won the bid back in 2016, beating Dubrovnik, Osijek and Pula: the first Croatian city to receive the title. The four-year development programme includes the renovation of former Yugoslavian leader Tito's yacht 'Seagull' into a museum, restaurant and hotel and the transformation of the old industrial complex Benčić into a cultural hub housing the Museum of Modern and Contemporary Art, the City Library and City Museum amongst others. While Capital of Culture projects aim to revitalise Rijeka's industrial and cultural heritage (no new buildings are planned) the latest investments focus on the urban infrastructure of the city.   © Marko Vrdoljak               Over half of the total investment, approximately €500 million has been allocated to improving the city's transport infrastructure and sewage systems. The Rijeka Prometni Pravac, a confusing and quite often dangerous part of Rijeka's transport infrastructure, was highlighted by the mayor. A new water treatment plant was also mentioned, in addition to the modernisa

Zadar City Museum has announced an exciting new exhibition taking place at the renovated Rector's Palace this summer. The exhibition celebrates the man who became synonymous with Pop Art, Andy Warhol. Warhol's work like the Marylin Diptych and the Campbell Soup Cans are some of the world’s most recognisable artistic imagery. But this surprise exhibition promises greater insight into the Pop Art king's work, journeying into the artist's iconic persona.   Image: Jack Mitchell               'Enter Into My Life: Andy Warhol' will showcase 50 or so works by Warhol, alongside never-before-seen documents and photographs of the artist. Characterising Warhol's genre-splicing approach to art production, there is more to this exhibition than fixed prints on the wall. The museum is preparing an accompanying programme of weekly workshops, creative events and performances inspired by Warhol. Every Friday, visitors are given an interpretative performance by youth drama ensemble Drama Plus and their spin on the legendary Studio 54, while space in the palace will be given over to young musicians, photographers, performers, designers and other creatives. August 6 marks Warhol's 90th birthday and in celebration, Drama Plus are performing an original play exploring the cultural phenomena that Andy Warhol embodied.   Ulli Lommel and Andy Warhol on the set of Cocaine Cowboys Image: Hollywood House of Horror   In collaboration with Rebel Kolektiv, The Andy Warhol Museum of Modern Art from Slova

Can you name five women philosophers off the top of your head? What about film directors? Or scientists? Social enterprise K-zona wants us to get clued up about amazing women and the contributions they've made to society, fighting gender inequality and emboldening the next generation of fierce women.     © Vox Feminae   K-zona's online platform, Vox Feminae is a powerful feminist voice in the region. The socio-cultural community centre 'Šesnaestica' and the Vox Feminae Festival is their answer to the lack of gender awareness and social engagement in Croatia. They have started crowdfunding for 'Fierce Women', a cool new card game that celebrates the women who changed the world. 'Fierce Women' is the first in a line of awesome products aiming to raise awareness of gender inequality. © Vox Feminae Working with Croatian women artists OKO, Sanja Stojković, Rina Barbarić, Tea Šokac, Željka Tkalčec, Ana Kovačić, Ivana Štrukelj, Branka Hollingsworth and Nataša Rašović, K-zona doesn't just celebrate the achievements of women in the past but also showcases a roster of cutting-edge women artists and entrepreneurs. Show your support for this year's International Women's Day campaign #PushforProgress and grab yourself a deck here.   A post shared by Fierce Women (@fierce_women_) on Feb 17, 2018 at 7:30am PST  

International Women’s Day celebrates the achievements of women throughout history while bringing attention to gender inequality. From tomorrow, a collective of independent cinemas are clubbing together to put on a fourth mini film festival  'Ženijalni Dani' dedicated to kick-ass women in film. Over the course of 4 days, 33 cinemas in 26 different cities across the country will screen the feminist films that pay homage to brilliant women.   Whitney: Can I Be Me   French film director Claire Denis’s award-winning 'Let The Sunshine In' will kick off the festival on Thursday, March 8.  Co-written by novelist Christine Angot, an eccentric black comedy that follows the life of a divorced woman in Paris as she grapples with finding the 'the one' and the autonomy of desire. On Friday, the cinemas will screen the fab biopic 'Whitney: Can I Be Me'. Saturday remembers the fight for women’s franchise in the UK with the marvellously unfrilly period film 'Suffragette'. Sunday's film shines a light on women's suffrage in '70s Switzerland, in Petra Volpe’s offbeat, accessible comedy 'The Divine Order'. Not all cinemas screening 'Let The Sunshine In' (French) and 'The Divine Order' (German) will offer English and Croatian subtitles, so check in advance.   Suffragette     Let The Sunshine In   You can catch special screenings at these cinemas; Zagreb: MMC Zabok, Art-kino Metropolis, Kino Europa, Kino Kinoteka, Kino Tuškanac, MM centar Split: Kino Karaman, Kinoteka Zlatna vrataPula: Kino

Running through the heart of Karlovac County, the Mrežnica River stretches over 60km, flanked by bushy trees and 93 waterfalls. This undervisited destination will soon feature a fancy new boutique hotel, a cool ten-bedroomed building with a wooden and glass veneer. News of boutique hotel openings are increasingly commonplace in Croatia, but this site is interesting as its one of the first new developments away from Zagreb and the coast. Exclusive hotels like this could bolster Croatia's emerging river-based tourism industry in continental areas, offering swanky stays alongside adrenaline-pumped river rafting. Lotus Group Architecti     Lotus Group Architecti     Leading the renovation of the Old Mill hotel is Croatian architect Maja Bručić, CEO and founder of the company Lotus Architecti. Bručić and her team have tightroped the balance between tradition and swish contemporary aesthetics, using locally-sourced materials that compliment the original building. Within the wooden-clad stone walls, there are plans for a rooftop terrace, a pool, sauna and a spa.     Lotus Group Architecti   Lotus Group Architects         The Old Mill is an easy five-minute drive away from the town Duga Resa and 20 minutes from Karlovac.  RECOMMENDED: our pick of Croatia's best hotels.

For once, the superlatives are justified: Zadar's sunsets are dazzling. An epic smouldering visage of red and pinks set against the Zadar archipelago, Alfred Hitchcock famously declared it the most beautiful sunset in the world. Zadar's Sea Organ and Greeting to the Sun are galvanising visitors to this city of burning skies, but beyond its iconic sun-saluting sculptures there are a myriad of other beautiful places to watch the sunset. Have a look at this Instagram gallery to see our favourites. Five Wells Square and the Grimani Bastion  A post shared by Sime Modric (@simon_cerulean) on May 8, 2017 at 3:33am PDT Discover this spot at the entrance to the gardens of Queen Jelena Madijevka, at the southern boundary of the Old Town.   Spiridion Brusina A post shared by Mia (@wolandova) on Aug 3, 2017 at 3:50am PDT Ponder the universe with a founding member of the Croatian Society of Natural Sciences outside the beautiful philosophy department of the University of Zadar. The Riva  A post shared by Petra Murić (@pe_tra_.art._ep) on Nov 6, 2015 at 9:40am PST Take a step back of the waterfront and sit in the park lining the Riva promenade to watch the sunset through the trees. Branimir A post shared by Mia (@wolandova) on Oct 17, 2017 at 9:38am PDT Find striking views of the sun setting over the Old Town from the Branimir footbridge. Puntamika A post

Straddled between government buildings and tourists attractions is the oldest gallery of Naïve Art in the world, showcasing Croatia's most original heritage paintings, hidden away in Zagreb’s upper town. The effervescent oil on glass paintings produced by leading names from the Croatian self-taught Naïve movement (as well as a few works by international artists) brighten the dark walls of the gallery, depicting fantastically bizarre rural scenes and intricately dotted cityscapes that verge on psychedelic. Unusual and brilliant, the Croatian Museum of Naïve Art is unlike anything else. This hasn't gone unnoticed by the city which plans to relocate the gallery from its eighteenth-century home to a shiny building.       Ivan Rabuzin, Na Bregovima, 1960   Plans for the museum will be officially announced at the Mimara on Tuesday. The new site will be in Vranyczanyeva park, overlooking downtown Zagreb near the recently renovated Grič tunnel. Bizarrely, the museum itself wasn’t first consulted about the planning, nor was it financially involved, but after viewing the proposal for the new site it has enthusiastically backed the project.     Proposed design for Museum of Naive Art Architect Mario Pehnec     Architect Mario Pehnec   Over the past decade or so the museum has broadened its collection to include other forms of so-called outsider art beyond big Croatian names like Ivan Generalić, Mirko Virius and Ivan Rabuzin, which in turn has heightened its global significance. RE

Until fairly recently, Zagreb was overlooked by visitors in favour of Croatia's more obvious coastal destinations. Zagreb may not be as pretty as Ljubljana, as happening as Budapest or as culture-stuffed as Vienna, but it certainly has its own pulls. The city's laid-back vibe and budget prices are increasingly coaxing city-breakers to the capital, while it's impressive Advent programme stands shoulder-to-shoulder the best-established yuletide celebrations in Europe. With the realisation that Zagreb is becoming a destination in its own right, the past few years have seen massive changes in the city's hotel industry. Following the recent announcement that two new Hilton hotels will be opening in the city this year, there is chatter of two or maybe even three more luxury hotels, opening as early as autumn this year. Image: Amadria Park Hotel The first of the new developments will be opened by Amadria Park Hotels that run several boutique hotels in Šibenik and Opatija. They plan to renovate the 1920s Wiener Bankverein building on the corner of Jurišićeva and Palmotićeva into an intimate 112-room boutique hotel, which will carry a 'Heritage' badge.  Image: Amadria Park Hotel Plans to renovate another building on Praskoj 6, just a few hundred meters away, have been submitted to the city by another company, but they are yet to release details. There are rumours about the hotel taking over the Croatia Osigurnanje building on the main square, but legal disputes surrounding ownersh

The annual Animafest held in Zagreb attracts some of best art and progressive animation from around the world. Second only to Annecy in terms of its global significance, the festival reaches a huge audience and as such, so does the awesome artwork chosen to represent the festival. Animafest has just announced that Stipan Tadić will create the official illustrations for the festival. As one of the most visible Croatian artists of his generation, participating in group and solo exhibition around the world, this decision celebrates a progressive direction in contemporary Croatian art, something that Tadić has continuously redefined with his academic approach to modern and popular art forms.     Personifying this year's theme, Horror in Animation, Tadić's design for the poster depicts an anatomically surreal cross-section of a man. The design is inspired by what he has described as the psychedelic forms and mutation of shapes within the body, along with his love of the trippiness of late '60s and early '70s aesthetics. Somewhat differing from the style of his other works, Tadić has suggested this marks a new stylistic form. In the name of Animafest, Tadić will also be exploring a new media: animation. Collaborating with animators, filmmakers and musicians Petra Balekić, Luka Hrgović, Luka Šipetić and Dino Santaleza, he will be illustrating the official trailer for the festival too.     Stipan Tadić      

‘It finally happened. In Croatia, we have a true, highly motivated, lover of contemporary art.’ The words of Emil Matešić, director of KIC's gallery in Zagreb, excitably announced in his open letter last weekend. What inspired this declaration of giddy praise? Well, it wasn’t a raving write-up or an enthusiastic message left in the visitor's book, but a thief who blagged a black and white photo right off the gallery's wall. Security footage shows the unidentified assailant removing the picture, returning the frame to its place, slipping underneath her cardie and sliding out in less than a minute. Somehow inspired by this brazen act of thievery, the gallery has taken the unorthodox approach of giving amnesty to the crook if she comes forward, as well as offering her a fully paid job, hoping to channel her love of art into something a bit more law-abiding. A slick PR trick, or an honest approach to stirring up engagement in the arts? It's a tough one to call. The stolen photograph is part of Goran Pavletić’s first solo exhibition, Blue Streets. The collection, and the empty frame will be on view until Wed 7 March. © KIC Galerija na katu  

Appetising new wine bar Vivat Fina Vina is making a splash in Martićeva, set opposite the wine merchant’s flagship shop in Zagreb. For a bar this fancy, the price list is very reasonable indeed: you can grab a decent bottle from 65kn, with local wines sold from 15kn a glass and a biodynamic Italian Pinot Noir costing a little over 30kn. Spanning a hundred or so wines, the list will eventually grow to incorporate a selection of ultra-luxury wines, as well as exploring natural and organic Croatian wines. Wine is obviously the main draw here but other tipples include fruit juices from Austria, Sardinian grappa and Italian craft beers. French-style patisserie La Marquise provide a delicious array of sweet and savoury pastries, and Croatian celebrity chef Mate Janković is conjuring up a menu of charcuterie and other cold plates which will be available soon. Yum. RECOMMENDED: Our essential guide to Croatian wine.