Osijek

Osijek's spire, Tvrđa squares and a ride to Kopački Rit

Osijek fits a full day. See the stained glass, 90 m spire and Walcher organ of the Co-cathedral of St Peter and St Paul on Ante Starčević Square, walk Europe Avenue's Secession facades, have coffee at Kavana Waldinger, then follow the Drava to the baroque squares of Tvrđa and ride out to Kopački Rit.

Begin at Ante Starčević Square in the morning and step inside the Co-cathedral of St Peter and St Paul for its stained glass, its 90 m spire and its big Walcher organ from Linz. Walk Europe Avenue to see the Secession facades and look at the Croatian National Theatre on Županijska, then stop for coffee at Kavana Waldinger.

Drop down to the Drava and follow the promenade east to Tvrđa, about 20 minutes on foot. Spend the afternoon around Holy Trinity Square, visiting the Museum of Slavonia, whose collection runs back to Roman Mursa, and the Franciscan monastery of the Holy Cross, where the friars may show you the library. Stay in the fortress quarter for dinner, then for a drink in its bars.

On day two, hire a bike and ride about 10 km to Bilje, then into Kopački Rit for a boat trip or a walk on the boardwalks through the wetland. Return through Bilje in the late afternoon, or carry on into Baranja to finish with kulen and a glass of white wine in a village cellar.

Slavonian kulen, fiš paprikaš and white wine from Baranja

Slavonian cooking is built on pork and paprika, with generous portions. Order kulen, a thick cured sausage spiced with hot paprika, sliced with bread and peppers, and fiš paprikaš, a fiery river-fish stew of carp, catfish and pike cooked in a cauldron. Drink white wine from the Baranja hills north of the Drava.

Kulen, a thick cured sausage spiced with hot paprika and dried for months, is the regional pride, sliced thin with bread and fresh peppers. Čobanac, the shepherd's stew of mixed meats and paprika, is the other big pot to try, and near Kopački Rit look for šaran na rašljama, carp split and roasted on a forked stick over a fire.

The traditional restaurants are mostly in Tvrđa. For cheap eating, nearly every street has a bakery selling fresh bread and burek from early morning. El Paso in the Winter Port and Galija on the upper riverbank are pizzerias with river settings.

Drink local. Osijek has the oldest brewery in Croatia, and its beer is on tap all over town. Kavana Waldinger on Županijska is the classic café, and Vinoteka Vinita on Strossmayer street pours regional wines. The white graševina grape does well in Baranja, the wine country north of the Drava, where the villages of Zmajevac and Kneževi Vinogradi are lined with family cellars. The Tvrđa bars fill up late, especially on student nights.

Kopački Rit's spring floods and birds, best in April, May or September

Kopački Rit Nature Park is the outing from Osijek that matters. It covers the floodplain where the Drava meets the Danube, and in spring the water spreads across meadows and woods, drawing great numbers of birds; boats and boardwalks start near the visitor centre beyond Bilje. Go in April, May or September.

Go in April, May or September, when highs sit around 17 to 23°C; in July and August the plain reaches 28°C and the mosquitoes are relentless.

Baranja, the corner of Croatia between the Drava, the Danube and the Hungarian border, pairs well with the wetland on the same day. Its wine villages are at their best around the September harvest, with cellars dug into the hillsides.

Đakovo, about 35 km south-west, has a huge red-brick cathedral with twin spires and a Lipizzaner stud farm that you can visit. Vukovar, on the Danube to the east, is a sobering trip: the town was besieged in 1991, and its shell-scarred water tower is kept as a memorial. Both are reachable by bus or train from the adjoining stations.

Winter is cold, with January highs of about 3°C and nights below freezing, but rain is light all year at 35 to 80 mm a month, and the cellars and stews make sense then.