11 Best Sights in Osijek, Slavonia

This majestic single-nave church is the highlight of Osijek's downtown skyline. At 292 feet tall, its red-brick neo-Gothic steeple is the second-highest structure in Croatia. Built between 1894 and 1898 on the initiative of the famous Đakovo-based bishop Josip Juraj Strossmayer, it has five altars and the walls are painted with colorful frescoes.

Now a somewhat sleepy Old Town that always seems to be under construction, this walled fortress has a history dating back to the mid-12th century, when the site was a market town in the Hungarian-Croatian kingdom. It was later occupied by the Ottomans, and finally became a fortified military garrison under the Austrians in the 17th century to try to keep out any further invasions. It has one of the best-preserved ensembles of Baroque buildings in Croatia, with old barracks, churches, and monasteries.

Facing the Drava River, the Water Gate is the only remaining gate in the original fortress wall, most of which was razed in the 1920s. Trg Svetog Trojstva (Holy Trinity Square) is the main square, flanked by the Archaeological Museum and the Museum of Slavonia. In the center is the Votive Pillar of the Holy Trinity, one of Osijek's finest Baroque monuments, erected in 1729–30 by the widow of General Maksimilijan Petraš, who died of the plague in 1728. The café-bars on the square come alive in the evenings as a favorite hangout of the city's student population.

On Tvrđa's Holy Trinity Square, you'll find the spacious Archeological Museum in the renovated City Guardhouse. It has an impressive range of artifacts from Slavonia through the ages, from the Neolithic Starčevo culture through to Celtic and Roman times. The building itself is modern and airy, with a glass dome over the arcaded courtyard, and the exhibitions are well laid out across several rooms.

Who says you need the Adriatic to have water fun in Croatia? On the north side of the Drava River, you'll find Copacabana, a complex of outdoor swimming pools, waterslides, mini-golf, and bocce courts. There is also a free sandy beach nearby where you can swim in the river, with a couple of bars for refreshments. It's a great place for the whole family to spend a sunny afternoon or watch the sun set.

A 20-minute walk across Osijek's pedestrian bridge over the Drava, and across from Trvđa, is Copacabana, a pleasant and spacious aquatic-recreation complex that includes pools, a waterslide, a restaurant, and plenty of willow trees. In August it hosts the popular five-day Pannonian Challenge, an extreme sport and music festival. Impossible to miss if you stroll along this section of the river, it operates from mid-June through mid-September, daily from 10 to 8 pm (weekends from 9 to 8)

This unusual monument, located a few blocks away from Tvrđa, commemorates an iconic act of defiance that happened in Osijek in 1991. As Yugoslav army tanks rolled into the city, one man parked his little red Fiat (fićo) in the middle of the road in front of them. The man escaped safely, his car was run over by the tank, and it was all captured on television (check out the clip online). The event became a symbol of the strength and resistance of the local people. In this monument, the little red car is rolling over the tank: the victor this time around.

Offering old-world Viennese-style elegance, the Kavana Waldinger is Osijek's finest café. Part of the Hotel Waldinger family—which also includes the trendier, more stylish Gold by Waldinger café across the street—it is a wonderful place to relax over a cocktail, coffee, or spectacularly indulgent cake.

One of the 18th-century mansions along Europska Avenija, formerly belonging to a prominent attorney, is now the home of the Museum of Fine Arts. It focuses on Croatian and Slavonian artists with a permanent collection of paintings, sculptures, and graphic arts. It is well worth a visit, particularly to check out the temporary exhibitions on the ground floor.

One of the largest museums in Croatia, the Museum of Slavonia is located in an imposing Baroque building on Tvrđa's main square. It has myriad objects on display concerning the region's folklore, culture, and natural history, with everything from stuffed animals and old coins to pottery and swords.

With 17 around town, Osijek is known as a city of parks, and this is the largest. The King Tomislav Gardens is a spacious forested oasis that was laid out in the 18th century for Austrian officers to take a breather from life in the citadel. It separates Tvrđa from Gornji Grad and is home to playgrounds and a tennis club.

Croatia's largest zoo is located on the north side of the Drava River in a peaceful location surrounded by parks. There are about 80 animal species spread across 27 acres, including kangaroos, meerkats, lions, chimpanzees, giraffes, and zebras, plus 20 species in the aquarium and terrarium. You can drive across the bridge to get there or take a free kompa boat from the city side of the river (it departs across from the zoo outside Kompa restaurant).