The Sibenik Region is great for a more traditional holiday, with lovely beaches, interesting sights, exciting nightlife and good cuisine. Highlights include the turquoise waters of Krka National Park, the Šibenik Archipelago and the UNESCO World Heritage cathedral in Šibenik.
Šibenik City, Vodice, Šibenik Archipelago, Skradin, Krka National Park, Primošten and Rogoznica.
Vodice is a popular tourist destination, historic and bustling with restaurants, bars and local life.
With the Krka River running through both, these areas of Sibenik contain natural beauty, they must be visited.
These fairly small towns are historical with plenty of things to see and do as well as great traditional dishes to try.
Almost untouched by tourism, these beautiful islands are best explored by boat.
Sibenik Cathedral
View over the Sibenik Region
Krka National Park
The Šibenik region is a fantastic place to go sailing, whether it’s on a charter boat with a skipper, or self-captained. Sail around and stop at the Kornati Islands and the Šibenik Archipelago. Moor for a meal at one of the numerous mainland towns with great marinas. Sail up Krka River past Šibenik to Skradin and explore the Krka National Park. But you can still see many of the main attractions without a boat, as there are regular ferries between some of the bigger islands. Šibenik and Vodice each have ferry terminals with regular crossings to the nearby islands. Krka National Park is easy to get to from Šibenik, Vodice and Skradin. The park is worth a visit for its stunning waterfalls, lakes and rivers. For great nightlife head to Primošten with its Aurora Club, or Slanica Bay on Murter Island, with its beachside.
The best beach in the region is Raduča beach in Primošten, which is also Blue Flag certified. Vodice also has a good beach with a mixture of pebbles, rocks and paved areas. For beautiful, more secluded beaches, head out to nearby islands in the Šibenik Archipelago or the Kornati Islands.
Raduca beach
Sibenik beach
Vodice beach
Sibenik City
St James Cathedral
Unlike other areas on the Croatian coast, many of the towns in the Šibenik Region were founded by Croats, rather than Greeks, Illyrians or Romans. However there are a lot of Roman archeological sites and ruins from medieval times to see. Both Krka National Park and the islands in the Šibenik Archipelago have some really interesting old stone structures. From about the 11th century, the region was ruled over by Venice, Byzantium, Hungary and Bosnia. You can see the Venetian influence in the UNESCO World Heritage Site St James Cathedral in Šibenik City, designed by Venetian-trained architects in the 15th century. Like most of Croatia, the Šibenik region fell into the hands of Italy after World War I, and was then part of Yugoslavia until 1991 and the Croatian War of Independence.
Šibenik and Vodice both have a great selection of restaurants, often with a sea view. The cuisine is Italian or Mediterranean, with an emphasis on fresh seafood. Primošten is famous for its Red wine grape Babić and you can go on tasting tours at some of the large vineyards. If you’re in Skradin, try the Skradin risotto. It’s made with a secret recipe which needs to be prepared at least four days in advance. Also taste the local sweet wine marasćina, made in Vodice.
Skradin risotto
Fresh local seafood
Babić Vinery
In Šibenik January and February are the coldest months, July and August hottest. In July the average high is 31°C, with an average low of 21°C. In January the average high is 11°C, with an average low of 14°C. Šibenik has quite a dry climate, with only about 100 days of rain per year.
The closest airport to Šibenik is Split airport, about 45 minutes drive away, which you can fly to directly from the UK in summer months. There are regular direct flights all year round from the UK to Dubrovnic, a 3-hour drive from Šibenik. In summer months you can also fly directly into Zadar airport which is a 1-hour drive away.
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