From Wikitravel

Osijek[1] is a city in Eastern Croatia. It is an important transport hub and the principal city of Slavonia.

[edit] Understand

Due to its important location near the junction of the Drava and Danube rivers, this large and prosperous 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, the town is mostly back to where it was in pre-war days. Osijek is the largest city and the economic and the 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 [2] 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 [3] 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 [4] from the Adriatic coast from Split and Dubrovnik to Osijek Airport [5] (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.

There is now an international service by Germanwings to Cologne. Possibly Germanwings will also start flying to other German cities. There is also the rumour that Ryanair is starting a service to the United_Kingdom.

[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. [6]

Otherwise, it is fairly straightforward and well-designed town to traverse by foot with few hills.

[edit][add listing] 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.

• Co-Cathedral of St Peter and St Paul This is the tallest church in Croatia and has a spire of 90m. 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, Zupanijska Ul. A beautiful building designed in 1886 and severely damaged in the recent conflict. A painstaking restoration has restored it to its former glory, though shortly afterwards a McDonald's 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][add listing] Do

[edit][add listing] Buy

There is a small Internet cafe near the eastern end of Hrvatske Republike Street. It's the cafe on the northern side of the road with a small porch area in front. There are three computers available. The computers are somewhat awkward to use, and internet access is restricted (For example, it blocks uploading photos to Facebook). 1 kuna for 4 minutes. The computers only accept coins, although the bartender will exchange your paper kuna for coins.

[edit][add listing] 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][add listing] Drink

• S.Co.Bar formerly known as famous Voodoo bar

• Old Bridge Pub

[edit][add listing] Sleep

There are some hotels in Osijek, but backpacking accommodation (hostels, camping) is hard to find.

• Hotel Osijek, Šamačka 4, Tel: +385 31 230 333 (Fax: +385 31 230 444, E-mail: info@hotelosijek.hr) [7]. Hotel Osijek has got 140 rooms, and 7 apartments. The hotel is located on the river bank of the Drava river in the center of the city.

• Hotel Waldinger, Županijska ul. 8, Tel: ++385 (31) 250 450 (Fax: ++385 (31) 250 453, E-mail: info@waldinger.hr) [8].

• Hotel Central, Trg A. Starčevića 6, Tel: +385 31 283 399 (Fax: +385 31 283 891, E-mail: info@hotel-central-os.hr) [9]. Hotel Central is located at the central square of the city.

• Zoo Hotel, Tvrđavica, Tel: +385 (0) 31 22 99 22 (Fax: +385 (0) 31 22 99 11, E-mail: zoo-hotel@zoo-hotel.com) [10]. As stated by the name the Zoo Hotel is located at the Osijek Zoo.

• Hotel Ariston, Kačićeva 6, Tel: +385 31 251-351 (Fax: +385 31 251-350, E-mail: ariston.d.o.o@os.t-com.hr) [11]. Hotel Ariston is located close to the bus- and railwaystation.

• Hotel Villa Sveti Rok, Sv. Roka 13, Tel: +385 31 310 490 (Fax: +385 31 310 499) [12].

• Hotel Mursa, B. Kačića 2/a, +385 31 207 640.

[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 [13] 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.

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