These days, it’s not hard to find a contented Croat. While many popular Mediterranean destinations grapple with a downturn, last summer was a bonanza in the Balkans, with UK visitors up by 40% on 2003. This year’s prospects look perky, too: 15 tour operators are featuring Croatia for the first time, and those that dipped their toe in the Med’s clearest water in 2004 are now diving headlong into other parts of the country — and splashing cash about wherever they go.

Since much of Croatia is a long narrow strip of coast, it’s an obvious candidate for the classic sunny summer holiday. Having emerged from the bust-up of old Yugoslavia with the lion’s share of the shore, it offers almost 1,000 miles of seaside, reaching all the way from the Slovenian border to the Montenegrin one. And should you run out of mainland, there are still 1,185 islands to play on — many of them as easy to reach as the Isle of Wight from Hants.

There’s more. Far from being packaged just for indolent pleas- ures, the self-styled “New Riviera” comes with a storehouse of Unesco- protected cities, founded by the Venetians in the Middle Ages to show off their maritime supremacy. Some of our leading purveyors of cultural holidays — history buffs Martin Randall, archeologists Andante, wine-loving Arblaster & Clarke — are now featuring Croatia; while sporty outfits such as Saddle Skedaddle and Seafarer Cruises will this year add to its activity-holiday options. There’s even a cosmetic-surgery package (see www.visit-croatia.co.uk), so you can guarantee to go home looking younger than when you went away.

Speaking of nips and tucks, Croatia has been chalking up an impressive list of celebrity patrons. Roll those credits for 2004: Tom Cruise, Steven Spielberg, John Malkovich, Sting, Gwyneth Paltrow, José Carreras, to name just a few.

• Unless stated, prices are per person for a week in August, based on two sharing. All packages include flights from London; contact the operator for regional or Irish departures.

  Croatia for families
  
  THE SEA’S the thing. True, most of the beaches are narrow, pebbly and hard on the tootsies, but they are lapped by the cleanest waters in the Med. More than 80 fly Blue Flags,and many are shaded by factor-30 pines: an important factor for tinies. Meanwhile, families with older children will find a bumper range of watersports at all the main resorts.

  BEACHES

  Toddlers might get a little frustrated when they find their spades blunted by all those pebbles; and if sand is essential to your family’s pleasure, you need to be choosy. Bol, on the island of Brac, is where you’ll find Zlatni Rat (“Golden Cape”), the beach that looks like a shark’s fin and stars in all those “Come to Croatia” posters (though, actually, the sand is more gritty than grainy). Lopud island, just across the water from Dubrovnik, has Sunj, arguably the best beach in southern Dalmatia. Other soft options include Baska on the island of Krk; Crikvenica, just north of Zadar; Donje Celo on the southeast coast of the islet of Kolocep; and several nameless beaches at the southern end of Mljet.

  Go independent: the Istrian Peninsula is one of the best bets for independent families. It has nonstop flights to both Pula and Rijeka, including some regional departures, and short transfers both to mainland beaches and islands. The peninsula also scores for its wealth of self- catering places, which can be booked either online or through tour operators, without the need to commit to flights or transfers.

  Croatia Holiday and Home (01202 259155, www.croatia-holidayandhome.co.uk) targets independent travellers, and has about 30 self- catering places, mostly on, or within walking distance from, a beach. Another useful starting point is Croatian Villas (020 8888 6655, www.croatianvillas.com). In general, expect holiday houses to be simpler here than in Spain, France or Italy: few have dishwashers or air conditioning, but they do sometimes come with a motorboat.

  The island of Krk is strong on sand. Villa Marija, available through Cottages to Castles (01622 775217, www.cottagestocastles.com), is on the western side, close to the town of Malinska. It sleeps six in two double rooms and in a separate apartment with its own entrance — ideal for grandparents or teens in the party. It costs £2,290, villa-only.

  All summer long, the approach roads to the main coastal towns are lined with locals holding up handwritten “rooms to let/chambres libres/zimmer frei” signs to passing motorists. Prices are extremely low: about £25 per night for a double or £30-£35 for a family room, B&B.

  Go packaged: Bol likes families. Hidden Croatia (020 7736 6066, www.hiddencroatia.com) offers the three-star, all-inclusive Bonaca hotel, 150 yards from the best beach and with a large pool, for £590 (£520 per child under 12 sharing).

  The Bretanide Sports and Wellness Resort, a short walk from Zlatni Rat, on the same island, is not a name that suggests happy families, but it has a decent children’s club and a huge tennis centre. Parents, can escape to the excellent spa. The resort is all-inclusive and costs £2,454 for two plus two (£729 per adult, £498 per child aged 2-11) with Holiday Options (0870 420 8372, www.holidayoptions.co.uk).

  Page 1 of 2

   Next Page