Ogulin

Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic, whose Tales of Long Ago is the best known work of Croatian children's literature and who was nominated for the Nobel Prize, was born in Ogulin in 1874, and the town has built on that: the Frankopan castle at its centre houses Ivana's House of Fairytales, a visitor centre using the stories rather than displaying manuscripts, and a festival runs in June. The setting supplied the material - the Dobra river disappears underground beside the castle into the Dula chasm, a hole in the rock that local legend filled with a witch, and Klek mountain above the town has its own body of stories.

What you actually see

• The birthplace of Ivana Brlic-Mazuranic - born here in 1874.
• Ivana's House of Fairytales - in the Frankopan castle at the centre.
• A river that vanishes - the Dobra into the Dula chasm beside the castle.
• Klek above the town - the mountain with its own legends.

When to go

May to September; the fairytale festival is in June. Half a day.

Honest expectations

The visitor centre is interactive and aimed at children rather than literary pilgrims. It is a small industrial town otherwise. Klek is a serious climb, not a stroll. Services outside the centre are limited.

Nearby

Klek rises above the town; Plitvice is south-east.