The days are longer and warmer and there are already question marks hanging over our heads – where to go for the weekend? Is there anything exotic within reach? What alchemy can we use to keep inflation out of our budget for travel-aholic joys?

Slavonia and Baranja – a straight to the point welcome

You can keep missing the point or you can continue reading this rare hedonistic Eastern wisdom. The solution to your problems is simple, and it is hidden behind the words Slavonia and Baranja. The east of Croatia offers the best of the plain, its fruits and people this spring. Speaking of people, did you know that the ubiquitous Booking.com recently included this region among the 10 most hospitable destinations in the world? If even cold algorithms have felt it, who are we to resist the magic of the Pannonian welcome?

Spring in our hair, barefoot through Slavonia and Baranja

The poet was carried away, but it is still too early to set off on a journey barefoot. But, that you can set out with an open heart and meet a gallery of colorful, hardworking and warm hosts. Slavonia and Baranja live through their people, embodying the best of the past and present of this golden region.

Where the land creates art

Dare to go “all in” and reach the Danube edge of our beautiful country. In the Baranja plain, you will find charming villages and their ethno-champions: the famous Baj and his Baranja house in Karanac, where the fairytale-like, yet real estate of Ivica and Marica is located. A little further east, in Suza, Asztalos transforms the Baranja land into the art of ceramics. In neighboring Zmajevac, known for its surduci and gatori, the legendary Mišika on the slopes of the Baranja Planina Mountain transforms the land and the sun into top-quality sweet white wines and wine and gastronomic experiences that you could only wish for, and whose stories only he can tell. In nearby Podolje, the family-run Lenđel cheese factory has everything you and a kulen needs. If you are looking for a combination of Baranja and exotic notes, stop by the Čudesna šume in Bilje, where the famous photographer Mario Romulić built an oasis of peace and greenery for his family and guests.

From the Danube to Đakovo – a horseshoe of happiness

So that you don’t think you have to “get stuck” in Baranja, follow the trail of the great river and return to the Slavonian side. Visit Erdut, a place of excellent wines and the most beautiful Danube views. These qualities are masterfully combined by family wineries such as Brzica. Enjoying the views from their vineyards and wine cellars, you will understand the point of the refrain “where the Danube loves the sky”. If you get hungry, experience a gastronomic time machine under the Stari dud, directed by our and your aunt Zlatica. Of course, a time machine, like a time machine, does not work from “8 to 4” but by appointment (as, after all, most of our masters of experience do). While you are in Đakovo, home to one of the most impressive cathedrals in Croatia, stop by the Stud Farm. Not only for the beautiful Lipizzaners, but also for the infectious smile of the guide Silvija. In Đakovo, look for the blacksmithing of master Franjo Vinković, one of the last of its kind in all of Croatia.

After all, who knows, why wouldn't you find your lucky horseshoe in Slavonia and Baranja?