Osijek
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Osijek is a city in Eastern Croatia. It is an important transport hub, and principal city of Slavonia.
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[edit] Understand
Due to its important geographical location near the junction of the Drava and Danube rivers, this large and propserous town (the fourth largest city in Croatia with a population around 100,000) bore much of the brunt of the recent conflict in the 1990s. Many fine buildings have been restored to their former glory, though do not be surprised to see some scars still remaining. Some buildings still have bullet holes or shrapnel markings in them, though like the local economy, it is mostly back on its feet as the pre-war days. Osijek is the largest city and the economic and cultural centre of the eastern Croatian region of Slavonia, as well as the administrative center of Osijek-Baranja county.
[edit] Get in
Osijek is the major rail and road hub for all forms of transport in eastern Croatia.
[edit] By Rail
Rail services to Osijek terminate at the grand 1880s railway building at the bottom edge of the central town. In addition to the numerous train services operate each day to Zagreb (including the new, high-speed tilt train which completes the journey in around 3 hours), there are services to Sarajevo, Budapest, Koprivnica and Rijeka as well as other local services within Croatia to places like Slavonski Brod and Đakovo. The Croatian Railways [1] has information on train times and tickets.
[edit] By Bus
The bus station adjoins the train station and offers international as well as domestic services. Some of the many destinations on offer include Vukovar, Đakovo, Novi Sad, Belgrade, Pecs and Tuzla. Timetables, tickets and information are easily accessible. Panturist [2] is the major bus operator out of Osijek and has listings of domestic and international bus travel - click on the vozni red icon.
[edit] By Plane
In summer months, there are flights with Croatia Airlines [3] from the Adriatic coast (Split or Dubrovnik) to Osijek Airport [4] (located some distance from the city). This can be very useful to save back-tracking through to Zagreb once again, or the very mountainous and windy journey through Bosnia.
[edit] By Road
Main highways pass nearby to Osijek from Zagreb through to Belgrade (Beograd), and the pan-European corridor Vc from Budapest through to Sarajevo will see a new motorway added to the Croatian network, construction to be completed by 2010.
Driving to Osijek is easy with good signposting from all directions, and there is on-street as well as lot parking in the town.
[edit] Get around
Osijek is divided into two main regions - the upper town (focusing on the city square, Trg Ante Starcevic), and Tvrđa, the preserved fortress town to the east of the town centre along the Drava River.
Osijek has a tram system dating back to 1884, and the two main lines connect the railway station, town square and Tvrđa (tickets bought from the driver). The network is currently being completely overhauled and more than doubled in length, and the city's old trams are being modernized. Local buses fill the gaps where the trams do not run and are quite frequent. A map of the local transport system can be found on the Tourist Board's website. [5]
Otherwise, it is fairly straightforward and well-designed town to traverse by foot with few hills.
[edit] See
- Tvrđa is the self-contained 18th-century Hapsburg defensive fortress just east of the city centre. This immaculately-preserved baroque military compound, designed by Maximillian de Gosseau in 1721, contains many fine buildings to view by day, and at night becomes the hotspot with bars and clubs. Luckily there was no damage during the recent conflict to the site, ensuring great viewing and photos. Tvrđa is based around the main square, Trg Svetog Trojstva, and the Museum of Slavonia is located here with artefacts throughout history as early as Roman times.
- St Peter's Church This is the largest parish church in Croatia and has a spire of 90m (it is often referred to as 'the cathedral' - though the Cathedral is located in nearby Dakovo). The internal stonework is by renouned Austrian sculptor Hauser, and the church contains many stunning stained glass windows and a large, fine-sounding pipe organ constructed by the Walcher firm of Linz, Austria.
- Croatian National Theatre A beautiful building in Zupanijska Ul., it was designed in 1886 and severely damaged in the recent conflict. A painstaking restoration has restored it to its former glory, though shortly afterwards a McDonalds restaurant opened up on the ground floor!! Shows and concerts are on regularly.
- Promenada is located along the banks of the Drava River and is a pleasant walk past the marina, cafes, and parklands.
[edit] Do
[edit] Buy
[edit] Eat
The specialty of Slavonia is undoubtably food.
With culinary influences from all directions, and a love of spicy food, Osijek has many great restaurants serving traditional Croatian cuisine. Two specialties of the area include riblji paprikas (fish stew with hand-made noodles) or kulen (spicy sausages). Going out to eat in restaurants in Osijek is often far better value than in other large Croatian cities, though for those who insist on self-catering there is a supermarket and an open-air market between the town square and and railway station.
[edit] Drink
[edit] Sleep
There are some hotels in Osijek, but backpacking accomodation (hostels, camping) is hard to find.
[edit] Get out
- There are natural thermal spas just to the west of Osijek in the town of Bizovac. They provide much better value than spas closer to Zagreb or Varazdin, and see fewer tourists. The spa is easily accessible by train or bus.
- The town of Vukovar is less than an hour away and buses leave very regularly (almost every hour, 7 days a week). This town was completely blown up in the recent conflict due to being on the border of Croatia and Serbia and having a mixed-ethnic population, and provides the visitor with a fascinating (if not sobering) view on the war.
- Đakovo and its enormous Cathedral are a half-hour to the south of Osijek. Besides the beautiful Cathedral which completely dominates the town, there are Lipizzaner horses being trained just on the edge of the city (a great morning's viewing), and every year in July is the annual folk and embroidery festival which attracts visitors from far and wide.
- The Kopački Rit [6] is the biggest natural wetlands in Europe and the birdlife is spectacular. This enormous nature park, located around 15km north of Osijek where the Danube and Drava rivers flow into one another, is a great day out in the countryside - though bring some insect repellent as the mosquitos do bite!! There is no public transport to the park, so take the local bus to Bilje and its a 2-3km walk.
Osijek city portal : news & events
Radio Plus - local radio station