Welcome to Hrvatsko Podunavlje - the Danube kingdom of wines and natural pearls

Welcome to eastern Slavonia and Baranja, a picturesque region located in the east of the Republic of Croatia along the border with Serbia and Hungary, on the last fifty kilometres of the Drava River and exactly in the middle of the Danube, from the German Schwartzwald to the Black Sea, which is 2,850 km long.
Due to its location along this mighty river, the easternmost part of the historical regions of Slavonia and Baranja is also known under the internationally recognized name "Croatian Danube".
By visiting our region at the transition from Central to Southeastern Europe, you will have the opportunity to experience an interesting area where Croatian, Austro-Hungarian and Ottoman heritage meets.

We are best known to our neighbours for our wide and fertile fields, large rivers and marshes, gentle green hills, colourful villages, old towns, cheerful people with interesting traditions (tambourine, folk music and costumes), gastronomic delicacies (venison roast, Čobanac - one from variations of goulash, Fiš-paprikaš - spicy fish soup made from red ground pepper, Kulen - traditional sausage, cheese strudel...) and - wine.

Wine has been produced in this region since the time of ancient Rome. The oldest winery in Croatia is located in the western part of Slavonia. It dates back to 1232, and here in the Croatian Danube, there are the second (Iločki podrumi in Ilok) and the third oldest winery (Vina Belje in Kneževi Vinogradi), both from the Middle Ages. Pinot, Chardonnay, Merlot and Frankovka are some of the most common wine varieties, and the most famous white variety Graševina is the pride of every local winemaker.
The Traminac wine variety is world-famous, with a sweet taste and the smell of freshly picked roses. The one from Đakovo and Ilok is especially appreciated, and it is not only enjoyed by Croats, but since the mid-20th century and the coronation of Queen Elizabeth II and guests at the British Court.

 day 1 - Baranja

Close to Osijek is the Kopački rit Nature Park, one of Europe's largest preserved natural wetlands. Located at the confluence of the Drava and Danube rivers, this intra-continental delta is home to more than 290 species of birds such as the bald eagle, white and black storks, herons, cormorants, swans and wild ducks. The park is also home to dozens of species of other animals such as deer, boar, badger, beaver, fox and mink, as well as various lizards and snakes, none of which are poisonous in the park area. Hidden deep in a dense oak and maple forest is the Tikveš hunting castle, once the famous imperial residence of the Habsburg family, and then of Tito, the president of communist Yugoslavia. Due to its exceptional natural value, Kopački rit was included in the List of Ramsar sites in 1993. This list includes areas protected by the Convention on Wetlands of International Importance, especially wetland bird habitats, which was signed in 1971 in the Iranian city of Ramsar (the so-called Ramsar Convention). It is very likely that due to its natural peculiarities, Kopački rit will soon be included in the list of UNESCO's World Natural Heritage.
You can visit the Kopački rit nature park in several ways. With an earlier reservation at the Reception Center, you can get to know the park by tourist train, boat, boat, bicycle and on foot. Start your walk in the park on the promenade - an educational path along the Mali Sakadaš lake to the pier for ships and boats on the Veliki Sakadaš lake.
One of the most attractive ways to get to know the park is by boat through two canals, from Lake Veliki Sakadaš in the direction of the Danube and Drava rivers accompanied by a professional guide/driver. This form of driving through the park will give you the opportunity to get to know the flora and fauna of the park in more detail, as you will go deeper into the park. For example, the path along the Čonakut canal (Hungarian: "boat path") leads through floodplain meadows and forests (ritom) all the way to the magnificent Kopački lake. The boat program runs from March to November (or depending on weather conditions).

INTERESTING: Kopačko Lake is located in the same plane as the geographical center of the European Danube Region, at the halfway point of the Danube, which runs from the Black Forest (German: Schwartzwald) to the Black Sea for a length of 2,860 km. In certain weather conditions, with a favorable water level, the lake takes the shape of a heart. This is precisely why Kopački rit is called the "Heart of the Danube" (the slogan of the park reads: the Heart of the Danube).
After visiting Kopački rit, it is recommended to visit one of the many excellent restaurants in Baranja, such as the restaurant "Cidatela" in the village of Vardarac, which is especially famous for its local river fish dishes such as fish and pepper and carp in forks, game dishes and traditional home-made delicacies cattle breeds – Podolca. Perkelt from Podolce, as well as roast Black Slavonian pig, are gastronomic delicacies that you must try when visiting Baranja..

Understandably, good food goes well with good wines, and Baranja or "Mother of Wine" as the name of this historic region is translated from Hungarian, is known for a number of excellent wine cellars. Although it would be nice to visit all the cellars in one visit, for one day it is quite enough to plan a visit to two wine cellars, for example the Josić Winery in the village of Zmajevac and the Kolar Winery in neighboring Suza. These wineries are located in a traditional type of cellar called "Gator", which in the Hungarian part of Baranja has already been included in the UNESCO World Heritage List.

Both food and wine used to be prepared and served in baked clay vessels in Baranja, as well as in the entire Danube region, and you can find out how they are made at the pottery workshops and souvenir shops "Asztalos", also in Suza. Making clay pots, which can be used both in modern ovens and on an open fire, is a somewhat forgotten skill today, although more and more restaurants in Baranja are reusing handmade pots to prepare dishes.

Spend the evening exploring Osijek, a city on the Drava, and end the day in Vukovar at the excellent guesthouse "Lola", from where you can explore another part of the Croatian Danube region the next day.

Day 2 – Vukovar and Ilok

Vukovar, that baroque pearl, was the place in 1991 where the war for Croatian independence from communist Yugoslavia showed its most terrible side. Fortunately, today the city has been almost completely restored, and you can enjoy exploring some of the main sights: the City Museum - the castle of the Eltz family, which is one of the most beautiful baroque palaces south of Budapest, the votive cross at the confluence of the Vuka and the Danube, the still "wounded" water tower, the Memorial Cemetery victims of the Homeland War... After walking through the city center, head downstream along the Danube towards Ilok, the easternmost Croatian town. Upon arrival, we suggest lunch on the bank of the river, in the restaurant of the Dunav Hotel, and we recommend a menu of river fish, fish and pepper, perch, catfish, catfish and carp prepared in various ways, with excellent Ilok wines and a "very Slavonian" dessert to finish - taška with jam, the sweetness of which will go perfectly with the pride of the local winemakers, Ilok traminec.

After lunch and a little rest, it is best to spend the "excess" calories by walking up the hill, even though you are in "flat Slavonia", in Ilok you should make it up the hill to the "Upper Town", i.e. the Ilok fortress with the Gothic church of St. Ivan Kapistran, the medieval Franciscan monastery and the castle of the Iločki princes, under which is one of the oldest and largest wine cellars in the entire Danube region, that of the Iločki podrumi winery. Even today, their wines are served at the British Court, which few winemakers can boast of. Before returning to Vukovar for the night, treat yourself to another tasting "with a view" of the town and the endless vineyards on the Principovac country estate, and at the very end, visit another acclaimed winery, that of the Papak family. Their wines regularly win prizes at wine competitions, and in a series of wine varieties, here too, you will be treated to a fragrant tramina, because you are in Ilok, the kingdom of tramina.

Day 3 – Vukovar

At the end of the three-day exploration of the Croatian Danube region, we suggest that after a later breakfast at the guesthouse "Lola" you go 5,000 years into the past and visit the Vučedol Culture Museum, which preserves unique examples of ceramic vessels such as the Vučedol "Vukovar" dove, boot and Orion, the first Indo-European calendar , and at the same time you will learn how the old Vučedolci were the first people in Europe to produce beer in what is now a wine region.

After the museum, and before lunch, in order to work up an appetite, we suggest that you climb 50 meters high to the Vukovar Water Tower, a symbol of the city's suffering in the Homeland War for Independence in 1991, from where on a fine day the view shoots far down the fertile Slavonian plain.

At the end of your visit to the Danube, and before the trip home, you should refresh yourself, and we suggest having lunch at the "Gondola" tavern, or as it is fondly called, "Kod Luca". Mrs. Lucija, the lovely owner of this restaurant in the suburban settlement of Sotin, will prepare for you a real feast like you would experience "at grandma's place in the country", with homemade salenjak for dessert and homemade brandy, sour cherry and Slavonian plum wine for the end of your perfect weekend in Slavonia, Barana and the Croatian Danube Region.