Best of Slavonia, Croatia

The complete guide to Slavonia: 36 hand-picked beaches, towns, viewpoints and hidden spots, mapped and honestly described.

Croatia’s fertile east. Osijek’s Tvrđa fortress, the Baranja wetlands and warm, generous hospitality. This is your complete guide to the 36 places we have mapped in Slavonia.

What’s here

City & Town (15), Cultural Landmark (4), Spomenik (4), Abandoned Place (2), Cave (2).

Browse every spot

Bedemgrad. map
Beli Manastir, the largest town of baranja, the easternmost corner of croatia between the drava and the danube, named after a 14th century monastery that once stood here. map
Belišće, an industrial town on the drava that grew around a large timber and wood processing company, the basis of the town since the late 19th century. map
Brod Fortress, one of the largest 18th-century habsburg border fortresses, built to defend the military frontier against the ottoman empire on the sava river at slavonski brod. map
Donji Miholjac, a slavonian town on the drava border with two castles built by the mailáth family, now a quiet river crossing into hungary. map
Iliman. map
Ilok, croatia’s easternmost town, on the danube border with serbia, famed for its traminac white wine cellars and its medieval fortress rebuilt after the 1991 war. map
Jasenovac Memorial, a memorial at the site of the wwii jasenovac concentration camp, run by the ustaše regime, where tens of thousands of serbs, jews, roma and anti-fascists were killed. map
Kopacki Rit Nature Park, wetland. map
Kutjevo, a slavonian town famous for its cistercian abbey founded in 1232 and the wine cellars beneath it, among the oldest continuously used wine estates in croatia. map
Maksimova špilja. map
Najveći HRast. map
Našice, a slavonian town that was the seat of the counts pejačević, whose castle still stands. map
Nova Gradiška, a town founded in the 18th century as a habsburg military settlement on the slavonian frontier, originally settled in part by german and italian colonists. map
Orahovica, a slavonian town beneath the ruined ružica grad, one of the largest medieval fortresses in croatia, and the surrounding orchards that give the town its name (orah means walnut). map
Osijek, tvrđa. map
Otok, a town in the vukovar syrmia plain whose name simply means island, after the old river meanders that once cut it off at flood time. map
Papuk Nature Park, geopark. map
Papuk Peak, geopark. map
Partizansko groblje Kovačica. map
Plaža Zeleni Otok. map
Pleternica, a požega region town at the meeting of the londža and orljava rivers, a long standing market and craft centre. map
Spomenik NOB. map
Srednjovjekovna utvrda Šarengrad. map
Una Canyon, border bih.
Valpovo, a slavonian town whose baroque prandau normann castle and park were built on the site of an older ottoman and medieval stronghold. map
Vidikovac. map
Vila Greger. map
Virovitica, a former medieval county seat of slavonia, dominated by the rococo pejačević castle, one of the best preserved noble residences in the region. map
Vodena vrata. map
Vranjevina. map
Vukovar, a danube city that became the symbol of the croatian war of independence after an 87 day siege in 1991 destroyed much of the town and cost over 1,600 lives. map
Čaklovac grad. map
Češljakovački vis. map
Špilja Bukovac. map
Županja, a sava river border town with bosnia, a former habsburg military frontier post whose old guardhouse is now a museum of the border soldier tradition. map

When to visit

June and September are the sweet spot across Slavonia: warm, bright and thinner on crowds than high July and August. Winter is quiet and cheap inland, though coastal ferries run less often.

Part of the open Croatia library by Photograph by John, real places, real maps, no paywall.