A beautiful city center and available beaches, vivid nightlife and an ideal position of being close to 5 National Parks and 2 parks of nature make Zadar a perfect place to start your tour de Croatia and a great holiday destination.
National Parks close by…
*Kornati Islands National Park is a group of more than 300 islands and islets and the natural phenomena of the Salt Lake that is also part of the park of nature Telašćica. The only way to approach Kornati Islands is with a boat.
*Paklenica National Park is a karst river canyon located in Starigrad at the southern slopes of the mountain Velebit. The canyon is split on Mala (Small) and Velika (Big) Paklenica but today through Mala Paklenica water doesn’t flow anymore. Paklenica is a great place for hiking and rock climbing. You can also visit a cave Manita peć.
*North Velebit is the youngest national park in Croatia. North Velebit is recognizable by its preserved biodiversity, richness of the natural phenomena and experience of pristine wilderness. Zavižan is located at 1594 meters above the sea level and it’s the oldest high altitude weather station in Croatia. Close by is the Velebit Botanic Garden.
*Krka Waterfalls National Park is approximately one hour drive from Zadar. Just one hour you need to try swimming under the beautiful waterfall Skradinski buk and take some amazing photos.
*Plitvice Lakes National Park is approximately two hours drive to the inside of Croatia, to the continental climate. Weather conditions usually change after crossing the mountain Velebit, sort of a natural border between the Mediterranean and the continental side, making the temperature perfect for a walk through the waterfalls, lakes and intact nature seeing it how it once was and how it should be.
Parks of Nature close by…
*Telašćica is a park of nature and a part of the Kornati Islands National Park. Telašćica is located on the island Dugi otok and contains the Salt Lake and rock riffs above the sea up to 196 meters high.
*Vransko jezero is a lake close to Zadar, declared as a park of nature. It used to be the largest water supply for the city and in the Roman times was built the aqueduct taking water to the famous wells in Zadar.