Kamp Vinia

With a pleasingly regular street grid, the city of Bjelovar spreads around a park centred on the Paviljon Bjelovar, a white-stone structure that hosts musical concerts and other events. In an elegant building overlooking the park, the Town Museum has ethnographic, archaeological and historic displays. Kulturni centar Mato Lovrak (half an hour’s drive) honours the 20th-century Croatian children’s writer, author of the popular novel ‘A Train in the Snow’. A locomotive recalling the one in the story is part of this centre’s collection, which also includes a series of reconstructed buildings, while a nature trail winds past a colony of beavers. Đurđevac (half an hour) is home to the Croatia Sahara zoo, with approachable camels and alpacas, plus a number of farmyard animals. On the outskirts of the town, Đurđevački Pijesci is a botanical reserve that includes a desert area known as the Sands of Đurđevac, where you might see numerous species of butterflies.