Rock climbing

Croatia is a mountainous country, it is also a rock climber’s dream. You can find everything from multi-pitch traditional routes, sports routes to deep water soloing (DWS), and bouldering on glorious limestone rock. The heart of Rock climbing in Croatia is the Croatian paradise known as one of the top European climbing areas. Paklenica National Park is a phenomenal spot making it the most famous area within Croatia, located close to Zadar. Paklenica offers everything from single pitch bolted sports routes, to multi-pitch sport and traditional routes.

“The rock climbers’ paradise“

Paklenica is situated near Starigrad-Paklenica, by the sea. It is a place of outstanding natural beauty and a part of Velebit Mountain, which is a part of the Dinaric Alps. The relatively small area was an abundance of the exceptional diversity of geomorphologic phenomena and forms, diverse flora and fauna, attractive landscapes, and intact nature.

The North West region of Croatia, called Istria includes climbing around popular holiday destinations like Pazin, Pula, and Rovinj. There are over 700 sports routes here, which are mainly single-pitch. Close by there is also an excellent crag at Osp in Slovenia, and further climbing around Trieste in Italy. This comprehensive region has a good mix of grades to suit climbers of all abilities.

Visit Croatia for some rock climbing

Kvarner, a region south of Rijeka, is the smallest climbing region in Croatia, though there are some crags offering multi-pitch routes up to 185m long. The region of Dalmatia including Split also offers rock climbing on the islands of Hvar, Brac, and Vis, offering over 800 mainly single pitch sports routes. The town Omis has some bolted multi-pitch routes up to 300m long. In the area, north and west of the capital town of Zagreb one can find a collection of crags, mainly offering over 300 single-pitch sports routes. The best time to visit Croatia for rock climbing is from April through late October, but try to avoid high season summer months, as the rocks can be boiling hot.