Queen's Beach (Kraljičina Plaža)

Queen's Beach in the ancient town of Nin is one of Croatia's best-kept sandy secrets — a long, shallow stretch of fine sand with warm water and therapeutic mud that has been used for healing since Roman times. The beach earns its royal name from a legend that Croatian Queen Jelena Madijevka once bathed here. The medicinal peloid mud found in the shallows is rich in sulfur and minerals, and visitors can give themselves free 'mud treatments' right on the beach — smearing the dark therapeutic clay on their skin before rinsing in the warm sea.

The water is extraordinarily shallow — you can wade out 100 meters and it barely reaches your waist — making it the ultimate family beach. Behind the beach, the tiny medieval town of Nin, connected to the mainland by two stone bridges, is one of Croatia's most historically significant places — home to the smallest cathedral in the world (Holy Cross Church) and the starting point of Croatian statehood. The Velebit mountains provide a dramatic backdrop across the water.