Talk to someone from Osijek, and they’ll tell you that you have to see the city’s Tvrđa, the Austro-Hungarian fort that is slowly being renovated into a combination museum, university campus and pub district. But it seems that the special pride of Osijek is the natural beauty of the surrounding countryside, especially the Baranja region north of the Drava River.
The economic collapse in the region after the Croatia’s war of independence had a silver lining – minimal development to spoil the beauty of the flat agricultural lands, forests and swamps of surrounding the city.
As a result, the area is a haven for hunting, animal-watching, fishing, camping, biking, hiking and off-road adventures. Monstrous catfish of more than 100 kg have been caught in the waters of the Danube, which, along with carp, perch and pike-perch are also prevalent in the Drava and Kopački rit Nature Park. Deer, wild boar and small game abound in the fields and forests.

The climate and terrain are suitable for wine production, especially for white wines, which you can enjoy at some of the Baranja wineries, or at your table at one of Osijek’s fine restaurants. Some of that game and the products of Slavonia’s farms also find their way onto your plate. The community takes special pride in its cuisine, spicier and more complex than you might find elsewhere in Croatia, and based upon fresh local produce, meats and fish.

Nature is entwined with life within the city, too. The Drava, flanked on either side by pedestrian walkways and crossed by a graceful suspension bridge, stitches together Osijek’s patchwork of districts and 17 green parks. And the Winter Harbor, where cafes and restaurants look out onto rows of moored pleasure craft, is a center of weekend social life in Osijek.

The city’s parks and athletic centers include a skate park that is the principal site of the annual Pannonian Challenge, four August days of skateboarding, in-line skating, BMX and mountain biking, and of course, concerts and parties. The event attracts 2,000 visitors per day from across Europe. 
Throughout the summer, the city promotes several other music festivals to attract young people.
In the Tvrđa, the city is trying to make something young out of something old. The fortress, rebuilt by the Austrians when they took the city from the Ottomans in the 17th Century, lost its military significance in the 19th Century. With a beautiful renovation of one of its buildings into an archaeology museum, the continual addition of bars and restaurants in the fortress, and the expansion of the Osijek University in the Tvrđa and the former Yugoslav National Army barracks nearby, the city is promoting itself as an destination for young people.