Best time to visit Croatia

Museum Night (usually late January)

Usually falling on the last weekend in January, Museum Night sees hundreds of museums and galleries across Croatia opening their doors free of charge, allowing thousands of history buffs and culture vultures to feast on the contents. Donations are welcomed though, naturally. If you’re taking advantage of low season prices for some Croatia city sightseeing in January, you can also catch lectures, music and dance performances.

Feast of Saint Blaise (3 February)

Sore throat? Come to Dubrovnik on 3 February as the city celebrates its patron saint. Saint Blaise, who is said to have saved a choking boy’s life by pulling a fish bone from his throat, is also the patron saint of throat disease. White doves are released the evening before, and many Catholics will attend morning mass before processions of believers in colourful traditional dress pay their respects. Watch out for fritule – delicious deep-fried doughnuts that are guzzled all day long.

Festival of Oysters (mid-March)

Never ones to be shellfish about the bounteous harvest they pull from the sea, residents of Ston on the Pelješac peninsula in southern Croatia welcome travellers to celebrate the feast of Saint Joseph with a range of oyster, mussel and clam dishes. The seafood of Ston is world-renowned, and is best paired with local wines which will also be in good supply.

Dubrovnik Summer Festival (July & August)

The Dubrovnik Summer Festival is a major event running through July and August. Think Edinburgh in the sun with a piñata of theatre, dance and classical music from around the world. The arts movement has always been a backbone of Croatian culture, and played a major role in battling for independence during the Tito years. With a history of artists who pushed for change through their work, no wonder the festival is now such a prestigious event.

Harvest festivals (September & October)

Autumn is a sublime time to be on Croatia’s Istria Peninsula, with a number of harvest festivals taking place to delight foodies. Among the most notable is Marunada, held in and around the town of Lovran and dedicated to sweet chestnuts. Expect to find them in pancakes, liqueurs, ice cream, soups and sauces, with many events centred on the town square. Truffle Day, meanwhile, is actually a succession of weekend events from September onwards. Learn how to hunt truffles in the forest around the village of Livade. Culinary workshops show you how to select, value, store and eat these valuable fungi.

Feast of Saint Martin (11 November)

Martinje is when the must (crushed fruit juice) traditionally becomes wine after the September grape harvest. After being blessed by priests, the new wine is poured in vineyards, bars and restaurants to be enjoyed alongside roast goose. This is the last feast day before Advent, and the wine-fuelled revelry gets pretty joyful.

Theatre Night

A cultural counterpart to Museum Night at the other end of the year, Theatre Night involves theatres and other venues in more than 30 towns and cities putting on free or heavily discounted performances, as well as workshops, discussions and other interactive activities. This annual event has been so successful that it now takes places in several European countries, predominantly in the Balkans.