Kopački rit in autumn: bird migration, boat trips and prices 2026

Kopački rit is the inner delta of the Drava, a floodplain of some 230 square kilometres between Osijek and the Hungarian border that fills and empties with the two rivers. It has been protected since 1967 and is a Ramsar wetland; the park's own count is 295 bird species, 144 of them breeding. The largest white-tailed eagle population in the whole Danube basin nests here, as do the biggest cormorant and grey-heron colonies in Croatia. In winter tens of thousands of geese and ducks from western Siberia sit on the water. The place is entered from the village of Kopačevo, about 4 km east of Bilje. The reception centre at Mali Sakadaš sells the tickets, and the boats leave from the pier on Veliki Sakadaš.

Autumn: the bird migration

In autumn the birds move through. The park names August to October as one of the two best periods for birdwatching, and the number of species is highest during the spring and autumn migration. According to the park, between 35 and 63 bird species can be seen on any one day. A guided birdwatching outing for a group of up to ten costs 40 euros per person and hour, a photo safari 35; the park asks you to announce your visit in advance. The red deer rut in Kopački rit lasts from early to mid-September. In 2026 the park does not offer its guided programme for listening to the rut.

Tickets and boats, 2026

Children under four with a parent enter free, people with a disability over 50 percent and one companion pay half, and holders of the e-children's card get 10 to 30 percent off the boats. The reception centre in Kopačevo is open from 9 to 17 from April to October and from 8 to 16 from November to March; the boat leaves from the pier on Veliki Sakadaš at 10, 12, 14 and 16 and takes about 45 minutes through the special zoological reserve. A seat must be booked by phone on 031 445 445 (+385 31 445 445 from abroad), and tickets are collected at the reception centre at least 30 minutes before departure. The small-boat trip also needs a booking on 031 445 445. Other programmes are booked by phone or by e-mail to prijemni.centar@pp-kopacki-rit.hr. Park entry and the small-boat trip are also sold online at parkovihrvatske.hr. Plan two to three hours for the standard visit: the wooden trail through the reeds, the boat trip, and the castle complex of Tikveš if you add the exhibition there.

Getting there and combining it

Kopačevo lies in Baranja, across the Drava from Osijek; Osijek itself is about 280 km from Zagreb on the A3 and A5 motorways, or four hours by train. A day in Baranja writes itself: the park in the morning, lunch in one of the čarda inns in Kopačevo or Bilje with fiš paprikaš, the river-fish stew of the region, and the afternoon in the wine cellars cut into the loess at Zmajevac or Suza. Vukovar and Vinkovci are an hour to the south, and in November the region turns to remembrance; our guide to 18 November explains what that means.