Although renowned for its sunny beaches, Croatia does not make haste establishing long distance hiking trails. European long distance trails E6 and E7 are planned to run through Croatia, but hiking enthousiasts will find little more than a dotted line on the map to show where the trail is supposed to come.

So skip Croatia? No, certainly not. The country offers some outstanding mountain landscapes, with towering karst formations, white rocks in polished formations and deep crags. They are part of the Dinaric Alps and typical for Croatia. In between the limestone ranges are forests, and green slopes covered in snow until spring, when the crocuses start to bloom. This makes for some lovely walking, also because temperatures are still agreeable at this time of year. The mountains are not very high. Mount Croatia Dinara is the highest at 1831m, a large dry outcrop surrounded by wilderness.

Walking the mountains is a popular local pastime. The Croatians will tell you where to go and how to find the best mountain huts. There are numerous great 2- or 3-day hikes. Many trails are well kept and marked profusely in red and white. Most popular are the Velebit range, and Paklenica with its bizarre limestone rocks and peaks up to 1750m high.

Don't forget the Adriatic Sea coast with its many islands. These are easy to reach, often interconnected and differ considerably one from the other. Hiking Rab, Pag and Vis is fun, but beware: one hiker stepped on a landmine not long ago, so keep away from any military grounds. Spring and autumn are the best seasons, particularly in these low parts, because summer can get very hot. If you want to go in summer anyway, start out early and carry lots of drinking water.