Privlaka travel guide

About Privlaka: Privlaka is a picturesque tourist and fishing town on riviera Zadar, situated on a large, flat peninsula, from all three sides surrounded by crystal sand and divine beaches. Privlaka is the most important tie between the oldest Croatian royal town of Nin in the North East and the island Vir in the West. Privlaka is first mentioned in written documents in 1296 as a viticultural community. The name of the town kept changing through the centuries: Brevilaqua, Privilacha, Priulacha…until it reached the form by which it is known today.

To experience Privlaka is to visit the picturesque port in the centre of the town early in the morning, where fishermen, upon returning form morning fishing, collect their nets in an old and traditional way and offer fresh fish. The Privlaka fishermen are famous for ludar, a traditional way of fishing, passed down for decades form generation to generation. Next to the very port and to the west, a promenade runs around almost the entire peninsula and offers an unforgettable sunset view.

Privlaka is known for Sabunja dwellers, who have become famous for their painstaking digging of sand from the sea and building the white town of Zadar after World War II. Zadar is only 15 minutes away by car. They used to transport sand along the entire coast in their wooden ships (trabakul, bracera and leut). Sabunja dwellers left a deep mark in the Privlaka way of life, so the Privlaka football club was named after them (Sabunjar).

Privlaka is situated on a vast, flat peninsula with sandy soil (7 km long and 4 km wide) which closes the gulf of Nin form the north-eastern side and the channel of Zadar form the south-west. It is located 18 km from Zadar, 5.5 km from the historical and the oldest Croatian town of Nin, and only 8.5 km from the Zaton holiday village, rich in numerous sports and recreational facilities.

Mostly owing to its numerous sandy beaches, today Privlaka is a tourist town. The most prominent part of the rich tourist offer of Privlaka are its beautiful sandy beaches and the shallow and warm sea, which is most convenient for family tourism. Numerous restaurants and cafés, a konoba, as well as a market, an exchange office, etc., are but a small part of the overall tourist offer of Privlaka.

Clean air and black geothermal mud are what makes this location so attractive to people who suffer from health problems such as asthma, rheumatism, arthritis, etc.

The coast of Privlaka is well-indented. The continental part of the coast is 14,30 km long and the coast of the islands is 0,30 km long, which is 14,65 km in total. The coast has many peninsulas, promontories, lagoons, small coves, channels etc.

Privlaka has a mild Mediterranean climate, with 2.540 hours of sun per year. Its basic characteristic is the exposition to the favourable influence of the sea, which is particularly noticeable in the summer, when the air flows from the north-west (maestral).The dryness of the climate is particularly noticeable in smaller areas of limestone landscapes, even though the precipitation is sufficient. Since this area is covered in layers of soft earth, the retention of moist in the ground as well as water in the ground or on the surface significantly change the effects of the lack of rain.

To come to Privlaka is to see, hear, smell, inhale, to feel the previously unscented, the untouched, the unfathomable… Privlaka, beyond relaxation and beyond life.