When I launched the project Croatia Captured in September 2023, one of my goals was to explore parts of Croatia that were unfamiliar to me, particularly Istria, Dalmatia, and the northern regions. Since I was already familiar with the eastern part, best known as Slavonija, I put that region aside for a while. But as I started visiting more places around Croatia, the map looked a bit empty on its eastern side. I couldn’t ignore that gap, so I planned a day-and-a-half visit to Slavonia to photograph and explore as many locations as possible in that short time.
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My idea was to start from Zagreb around 6 am and head to Croatia’s easternmost town—Ilok. I had never been there before, so I was excited about the visit. A few months ago, I read that the city had completed renovations on the walls surrounding the oldest part of the town, so that became my main objective for the visit to Ilok.
The next location was Vukovar. I had visited Vukovar a few times before, even with my camera, but this was my first trip focused only on photographing it. My first stop, naturally, was the famous water tower, which has been renovated and turned into a museum. After the water tower, I strolled around the city center.
After Vukovar, I continued to Vinkovci. I had been there once, around 2010, without my camera, so this visit felt like my first time seeing the town through a photographer’s lens.
At this point in the day, I was quite tired, but I still followed my plan and headed to Đakovo. This was my first visit there. When I was younger, my family and I used to travel to Osijek regularly, and I remember seeing the towers of the Đakovo Cathedral from far away. That was my only connection to this town until now.
After a brief walk around Đakovo, I decided to catch the last rays of the setting sun on my way to Osijek, where I would spend the night. I made a stop at the Kolođvar Fortress near Čepin, which had been on my wishlist for a while. That wrapped up day one.
On the second day, I planned two stops on my way back to Zagreb. The first was Old Town Kaptol. The drive was mostly foggy, which dampened my spirits a bit. Some stretches were breathtaking with autumn forests and clear blue skies, while others were shrouded in thick fog. Then, as if by miracle, just two kilometers before reaching the town Kaptol, I emerged from the fog into clear skies.
I parked next to the old town, which, unfortunately, is permanetly closed. But I walked around it and took a few photos. My next location was another old town – Cernik. Sadly, this time the skies weren’t as clear, but the fog gave the abandoned castle a more mysterious look.
Since it’s mid-November, I think this is my last road trip for Croatia Captured in 2024. I’m happy that the map finally looks more balanced, but I can’t wait for the next adventures!
One more thing! This time, I decided to leave my Fujifilm X-T30II in my backpack and take photos only with the X100V and it’s fixed lens. It was challenging, but I enjoyed it.
As always, find out more about these locations on the Croatia Captured website, where you can also search through over 12,000 images I’ve taken around Croatia since September 2023.
Check my last road trip for the Croatia Captured project:
