Croatia's annual Best Cities awards have delivered a verdict that doubles as a shortlist for anyone dreaming of an Adriatic base: the coastal trio of Biograd na Moru, Rovinj and Dubrovnik took the top quality-of-life honours for 2026, winning the small, medium and large town categories respectively. The awards, now in their ninth year, are run by the newspaper Jutarnji list and the Gradonačelnik.hr portal, and were handed out on 21 October at the Days of Regional Development and EU Funds conference in Šibenik.
Biograd na Moru, a compact sailing town on the Dalmatian coast near Zadar, beat Novalja and Cres in the small-town category. Rovinj, the photogenic Venetian-era fishing town on the Istrian peninsula, finished ahead of Poreč and Solin among medium-sized towns. Dubrovnik topped the large-city ranking, with inland contenders Varaždin and Samobor rounding out the podium — a reminder that Croatia's most famous walled city is also, by these measures, a genuinely liveable one.
There was an also-ran-turned-winner story too: Otočac, in the inland Lika region, took a separate award for the greatest improvement in quality of life, finishing ahead of Korčula and Ozalj.
The competition went well beyond lifestyle. Novalja — better known to summer visitors as Pag island's party capital — was named the top small town for economic performance, ahead of Bakar and Zabok, while Sveta Nedelja won the medium category and Varaždin the large-city one. Education and social policy awards went to Crikvenica, Poreč and Pazin. On the green front, the island town of Krk won the Eco City/Town award, and Zadar picked up the Smart City prize for technology in its municipal services and transport. Velika Gorica was named the country's most attractive city based on net migration, Osijek won for academic excellence, and Bjelovar led the way in spending EU funds.
For the first time, municipalities were included alongside cities. Đelekovec in Koprivnica-Križevci County won the education and youth category, Rogoznica on the Šibenik coast took the economic prize, and Gornja Stubica in Krapina-Zagorje County led on EU funding.
Why should travellers care? Awards like these track the things that quietly shape a holiday: clean environments, functioning public services, good transport and towns that people actively want to move to. Rovinj and Dubrovnik need little introduction, but Biograd na Moru, Novalja's quieter side, Rogoznica and Cres are the kind of places that reward visitors looking beyond the headline resorts — and now there's independent evidence they're doing things right.
