A new reason to detour through inland Croatia: Bjelovar, a city of around 27,000 that rarely makes traveller itineraries, now runs the largest thermal bath complex in the country. Wellovar officially opened on 29 September 2026 to coincide with Bjelovar's 270th birthday — and City Day gave the project its grand debut, with Prime Minister Andrej Plenković and Parliament Speaker Gordan Jandroković among roughly 600 guests expected.
The baths took 23 months to build and are billed as the most technically demanding pool complex in Croatia, thanks to the geothermal energy, heating, cooling and air-conditioning systems running underneath. In practical terms, that means warm water even when the Slavonian plains are grey and cold. The complex packs in five indoor and five outdoor pools — including an Olympic-sized one — plus four saunas, a gym, sports facilities and a restaurant. One catch: the outdoor pools only switch on in May 2027, so winter visitors get the indoor side exclusively.
There's a short wait for the general public, too. Mayor Dario Hrebak confirmed the baths open to everyone around ten days after the ceremony, once final preparations wrap up. Occupancy permits are already secured. Behind the scenes, director Zvonimir Žarec has staffed the complex with 47 employees, with lifeguards still to come — and he notes many of the new hires moved back to Bjelovar from elsewhere for the jobs, a nice subplot for a city celebrating a milestone.
The pricing is the genuinely surprising part. Three hours of swimming costs just seven euros on a weekday, with full-day entry at 16 euros weekdays and 21 euros weekends and holidays. Discounted morning sessions run at five euros for three hours for pensioners, people with disabilities, war veterans, students and secondary-school pupils. Families do fine as well: two adults and two kids pay 44 euros for a full weekday, or 56 euros at weekends and on public holidays. That undercuts most Western European spa resorts by a wide margin.
For travellers, Wellovar puts a proper wellness day within reach of anyone road-tripping between Zagreb and Slavonia. Bjelovar sits about an hour northeast of Zagreb, and the city makes a low-key base for exploring a region that most visitors blast straight through on the way to the coast. Bring your swimsuit, skip the summer coastal crowds, and you can swim Olympic lengths in geothermally heated water for the price of a coffee and cake back home. Just time it right: indoor facilities only until May, when the outdoor pools finally open for the warm season.
