Zrmanja River Canyon

The Zrmanja is Croatia's most spectacular canyon river — a 69-km-long emerald ribbon of water carving through the southern Velebit karst in a series of ever-deepening gorges up to 200 metres deep, and offering some of the finest freshwater kayaking and canyoning in Europe. In the mid-1960s the canyon was used as the filming location for many scenes in Karl May's cult 'Winnetou' films — the entire canyon was considered the perfect Adriatic stand-in for the American West, and the Winnetou tourism heritage remains a big local draw. Today the classic experience is a full-day guided kayak descent from the small village of Kaštel Žegarski down to the sea at Obrovac — 21 km of paddling through a stunning karst landscape of vertical limestone cliffs, small waterfalls, hidden coves, and clear green water. Water temperature is a fresh 12 °C year-round and full wetsuits are provided. The classic guided tour includes a lunch stop at a traditional water-mill konoba at Berberov Buk waterfall — try the local river-trout speciality. For non-kayakers, a spectacular new zipline over the canyon (opened 2019) offers 800 metres of dizzying flight; and the entire canyon can be observed from the elegant 'Church of St. Mary of Loreto' viewpoint above Obrovac.