Experience the best of Osijek

Osijek lies on the southern bank of the Drava River, on the Slavonian plain of eastern Croatia, a short distance upriver from where the Drava meets the Danube. The Roman settlement of Mursa stood here, and Ottoman rule gave way to the Habsburgs in 1687. Tvrđa, a Baroque citadel built in the early 1700s, preserves its square and barracks, many now cafés and university buildings.

The neo-Gothic Co-cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul, with a tower 90 metres high, rises over the lower town. Parks and a riverside promenade give Osijek a reputation as the greenest city in Croatia, and trams have run since 1884, the only system in Croatia outside Zagreb. Kopački Rit, a vast floodplain wetland north-east of the city, has boat tours and birdlife.

Slavonian cooking is rich in paprika, with kulen, a spicy sausage, fiš paprikaš, a river-fish stew, and čobanac, a spicy meat stew, often washed down with the region's white wines. Winters on the plain can be sharply cold, and the summers are warm.