Imagine mountains on islands and an aqua sea kissing the part-sandy, part-stony shores. Imagine tiled, red-roofed houses with a stunning backdrop of the cobalt sky. Imagine swaying trees and cawing birds on a cool sunny day. That is Croatia for you, a country of great weather almost all year, with leisure holiday prospects by the beach, on quaint south-European islands or old, charming cities. The best time to visit Croatia? Undoubtedly summer! But there are other less crowded, cheaper options as well, as you will discover when you read the article.

Since Croatia is good to go almost all year round, we divided its seasonal guide into low, high and shoulder seasons. The ‘winter’ months from October to April in Croatia make for the low season, when the temperatures drop, although they never go below 5°C. This makes Croatia keep its doors open for tourism even through its winter. January is the coldest month. Others are bearable and many new opportunities open up for this season. You can go for a skiing holiday to Mount Sljeme, enjoy the frozen Plitvice lakes and waterfalls, shop in Christmas markets of Zagreb and bliss-out at spa sessions. The coasts and Adriatic sea are redundant during this season and beaches are closed, so it is advisable to plan your holidays in the interiors. This time is cheaper and without much crowd.

The summer proper in Croatia makes for the high season, starting June and going on until August. This is the warmest, sunniest, happiest time in the country, rewarded by the stunning dramatic landscape and popping colours of nature everywhere you see. It really is a Mediterranean bliss with July seeing hottest days and highs of 27°C and 13 hours of sunshine. The best places to visit in this season are definitely on the coast. The islands are brilliant too. You would love Hvar Island, Korčula Island, Dubrovnik and Split. Water is the right temperature to swim and beaches great for relaxation, while many music festivals come to town as well. The only drawback of the ‘high’ season is too much crowd and inflated rates.

The months of May and September make for seasonal transitions from winter to summer and summer to winter respectively in Croatia. For the lack of better words, they can be called spring and autumn transient months. This means, they are a great time to be here as the weather is still close to what summer warmth would be but without the peak season’s crowds. The temperatures are not too hot either and you can hike, swim, sail without worrying about melting in the heat all the time.