Lokve Village & Frog Legend

The pretty mountain village of Lokve, spread around its own small karst lake at 720 m elevation, is famous throughout Croatia for one very unusual local speciality: fried frog legs. For over three centuries the villagers have harvested the abundant lake frogs and cooked them in a distinctive local style — floured, fried in lard with garlic and parsley, and eaten as a starter with mountain white wine. The annual Frog Festival ('Žabarska Fešta') every August draws thousands of visitors and includes frog-jumping competitions, live music and huge communal outdoor cauldrons of the local dish. Beyond the culinary curiosity, Lokve is a lovely village with a well-preserved centre of pastel-plaster houses, an elegant parish church of St. Katarina, and direct access to the astonishing Lokvarka Cave (Croatia's third-longest show cave) and Golubinjak Forest Park immediately adjacent. Lokve lake itself is a beautiful small karst reservoir with a flat 2-km walking loop, kayak hire in summer, and superb bass fishing. In winter the lake often freezes solid enough for skating. Excellent food at Konoba Volta — try the local variant of the frog leg starter even if you think you won't.