Whether lucky enough to spend your summer season hopping from destination to destination, enjoying the local society calendar as you travel, or whether you’re the type to spend the summer in one carefully selected vacation spot, it’s time to add Croatia to your list.
Sitting along the coastline of the Adriatic Sea, Croatia has long been in the shadow of neighbouring Italy when it came to top vacation destinations. However, with so much to do in the country, we certainly think that it’s about time this changed.
The country has long been considered something of a party spot, having carved out a reputation based on raucous city breaks and its wealth of bars and restaurants. It seems to have doubled down on such places within the country in recent years, with an ever expanding calendar of vibrant, must-go events.
The isles along the Croatian coast have taken on new life as full-on party islands. This is one destination that was once something of a hidden gem, with so many expressing a desire to visit and never getting around to it – now it’s a mecca for those who wish to spend their summer enjoying the sun, attending a calendar of incredible parties and making some particularly vivacious new friends.
It’s no surprise that Croatia is so recognisable for its nightlife scene these days – it’s clear that time, work and careful planning have gone into rebranding the country so purposefully and masterfully by those looking to revolutionise the country’s party culture. The island itself is the perfect location for such developments, with so much natural beauty, culture and history to speak of that drawing in the young, rich and ready to party is the logical next step to raising the profile of Croatia around the world.
So, where are the country’s biggest parties found?
Pag Island alone, a spot known for its vibrant island culture and the beautiful coastline, boasts a packed out party calendar and some fantastic nightlife spots. One of the island’s most famous is Noa Beach Club, situated right on the beach itself. Noa, like many beach clubs across the continent, is there to ensure that no visitor enjoying the coastline is left without a drink in their hands to sip on as they take in the area’s most breathtaking views – but when the sun goes down, the Noa Beach Club takes on a whole new lease of life.
Spread across eleven floors, with each offering guests the chance to take to its vast dancefloor and celebrate the summer into the early hours, Noa Beach Club is a consistent hit with visitors to Pag Island. With so many society figures and socialites heading out to the island each year, this venue makes for an ideal meeting place.
It’s clubs like Noa that have earned Pag Island the moniker ‘Croatia’s Ibiza’, with nightspots across the island seeing thousands through their doors each and every evening. As far as Croatia’s nightlife goes, Pag Island houses the biggest clubs with the biggest DJs and draws in many of the biggest crowds. It makes perfect sense, then, that Pag Island has become a hotspot for Croatian music festivals, too. Pag Island’s Zrce Beach has become the prime location for several weekenders – Hideout, Fresh Island, Electrobeach, Croatia Rocks and Sonus all take place on the beach between June and August.
Of course, in the land of 1000 islands, there are far more than just one preferred nightlife spot. Connected to the Croatia mainland by bridge, Murter Island is also famous for its vibrant social scene, with The Guardian having rated one Murter Island nightspot – Barbarella’s Discotheque – as one of their 25 best in the world. It’s easy to see why – the venue is fairly unique. Barbarella’s Discotheque sits on a small island peninsula and is an open-air after-hours club, offering an atmosphere that can scarcely be replicated elsewhere.
Even Croatia’s oldest settlement, Stari Grad on Hvar Island, is shifting its focus to becoming a more popular spot for island nightlife. Perhaps the best known bar in the area is another famous Croatian beach club, Hula Hula, which offers non-stop chill out music and breathtaking coastal views from its oceanside location, along with Carpe Diem, the area’s top nightclub.
The modernisation of areas such as Stari Grad are clear pointers to Croatia’s status as an up and coming party hotspot, with hundreds of clubs opening up in the country each year, ready and waiting for visitors to make their way to the dancefloor. Though its reputation is quickly developing to reflect this, Croatia has been a hidden gem along the European coast thus far, enjoyed only by those who know what sorts of things await in its cities and towns – perhaps it’s time you joined the in-the-know camp for yourself?
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