We have been big fans of Croatia for some time after two lovely holidays there during the past 10 years or so which saw us exploring Dubrovnik, Korcula, Cavtat, Trogir, the Peljesac Peninsula and a day trip into Montenegro to see Kotor.
This time we planned 10 days to explore the northern end of the country, including the Kvaerner Gulf islands, Istria and then a day trip out to the Kornati Islands.
Map of islands route…first 6 days:
https://goo.gl/maps/EUS4qHxxBY8rgxyM6
Map of mainland route…last 4 days:
https://goo.gl/maps/9mMM7L2eXi8XSuzv7
Prices of everything had certainly increased a lot since our last trip! But Croatia remains largely unspoiled with low key developments and endless coves for swimming in clean, clear water.
DAYS 1, 2 and 3: RAB AND KRK ISLANDS
Arrived Zadar from Edinburgh late morning, picked up the car from Avia(via broker Discover Cars) and had a 90 min very winding but quiet drive along the coast to Stinica to catch the ferry to Rab around 1pm. Stopped off at a small local supermarket and picked up some food and wine for later. The Velebit range loomed above, karst mountains which form a near solid wall (rising to 6000 feet or so) all along the coast.
After joining an enormous queue, we just squeezed onto the ferry (not bookable).I thought we had no chance but thankfully the ship was a Tardis and took far more cars than I thought.Not getting on would have meant an hour’s wait for the next one.Hardly disastrous but it was a relief to be sailing off to our first destination. Cars continued to stream down to the harbour as the ferry pulled away, so things were busy on a Sunday afternoon.
It was around an hour’s not particularly scenic drive to Rab Town but our spirits rose as we arrived at the lovely Arbiana Heritage Hotel in the old quarter. Beautiful place! We were on the 1st floor with a view over pretty gardens and the sea from a quite superb and very grand double balcony.This was actually a better view than from the rooms at the front which overlooked the road and the newer part of town across the bay. It’s so nice to be staying in a great place after travelling…nothing quashes the spirit more than arriving at poor accommodation! ( what a terrible 1st World comment.)
Paid 20 euros to park in the hotel’s own private car park accessed by driving through an alarmingly narrow stone archway.This price seemed steep but it was exactly the same as the cost of public on —street parking outside the Arbiana which we initially tried to negotiate but gave up as it was so complicated.A couple of other tourists seemed to be having the same issue with the machines too.
Sat in the hotel’s pretty gardens having a much-needed tea and a latte for Chris, drew a breath and just relaxed.The sweet scent of jasmine was everywhere.Gorgeous!
Set off to explore the old town which was a very lovely place with several churches (St Mary, St Anthony and St John.) Each was built of that beautiful, almost white stone that is so characteristic of Croatia. The ruins of the Church and Convent of St John were our favourite.
The Old Town is very small so exploring didn’t take long.The streets, as we found everywhere this trip, were very clean (in contrast to things back home!) A little walkway meandered through the pine scented Komrcar gardens and down to a beautifully built concrete path beside the sea.This promenade had many small bathing areas, as well as tiny pebbly beaches for swimming.
It was now late afternoon and the heat was such that swimming in the crystal clear sea was just irresistible so after a quick change, in we plunged. Bliss! Though initially, it was much colder than we thought! Hence Chris entered the water ‘gingerly’ I would say. None of the heart stopping chill of Scotland’s seas however and beautifully cooling.
There aren’t many sandy beaches in Croatia, the shores being mostly pebbly or rocky. All fine, as long as you have those inexpensive bathing shoes for comfort and which are an essential barrier against poisonous black sea urchins which result in very nasty pain and nausea if stepped on.I’m always on the look out for these but thankfully, there were very few this trip.
Popped open a bottle of fizz once back and toasted to being here! Quick shower, then we headed out to decide on somewhere to eat though quite lot of places seemed to be shut.Settled on Konoba Riva in a small backstreet which had a decent menu.Shared an Octopus salad (I do sometimes wonder if it is tinned octopus.)Then a vegetable pasta for me and breaded veal (or pork?) and good chips for Chris.Tasty!
We’d got chatting to the waiter who also brought us a local sweet liqueur to try at the end of the meal – on the house.Nice stuff!
Had an evening walk through the old quarter again, the temperature quite balmy.
Day 2/3: To Krk and Baska
Excellent buffet breakfast next morning, included in our hotel rate.We got very used to big breakfasts this trip when we usually eat none at ho.They also meant we rarely felt hungry at lunchtime.Fruit and the necessary lattes sufficed.Very nice staff at the hotel too, friendly and helpful – we’ve always found people in Croatia particularly welcoming so this hadn’t changed either.
Our next island was Krk which was described in the Lonely Planet Guidebook as more developed and busier than Rab. Despite this, I thought Krk was much more attractive and interesting than Rab.
We had to be at the ferry at Lopar by 9.45am – I’d booked our tickets from home.I HAD worried this would be too short a time on Rab but we felt we’d seen what we wanted to. Lopar was only a 30 min drive away so with an early start we had some time to explore the beach area which got a good write up, being one of the few sandy ones.
However, we really didn’t like the Lopar area at all.It was a bit scruffy, modern and built up quite haphazardly.The beach seemed more like mud flats than nice sand. Sat with coffees at a bar on the beach and whiled away some time until the ferry.
The 1hr 25 min sail to Krk began well with sightings of a couple of dolphins but it was not a particularly interesting sail and felt very long.
I usually love a ferry journey but the landscapes were quite monotonous and , dare I say it, slightly dull.The ferry was deserted but the balmy temperature on board, sitting out on deck, was beautiful – a major change from being on a Caledonian MacBrayne ferry back home where even in summer you normally have to wrap up!
Arrived Valbiska on Krk and had a 40 min drive to our accommodation( 2 nights) in the little seaside town of Baska .
Fairly run of the mill scenery until we reached an enormous retail complex above Krk Town and then things became more mountainous above an attractive, sweeping bay. Stocked up on wine and food, the shops (including a Lidl)absolutely mobbed.It was a nice journey down the valley to Baska which has a lovely mountain backdrop – in fact, we liked the whole area immediately.
Our apartment (called Authentic Apartments Baska) was a delightful, characterful little en suite sitting one street back from the sea.In the town photo, our flat was above the green tree on the left.
I was slightly worried about being on a street but it was pedestrianised and not that busy…
A big shrub of jasmine gave off a lovely scent every time we walked through the door from the side street to the garden and climbed the steps to our flat.Great view from our small balcony to the rocky mountains all around.
However – we soon discovered that, sadly, the location though great, was noisy!
An adjacent café/bar belted out awful modern pop music from early morning until well after midnight.It was just a mindless, thumping beat. I vaguely wondered whether there was an electricity supply I could cut surreptitiously to stop the racket! There never seemed to be anyone in the place either – perhaps no wonder.
Chris was happy to rest with a glass of wine on the balcony (despite the racket) after the travel but I took a short stroll along the seafront.I actually went the wrong way, to the more modern, jam packed end where the buildings were newer with far less charm.
After a balcony lunch, we headed out to the older end of Baska.Our apartment was pretty much at the very edge of old and new.This area was absolutely lovely, all I’d hoped for and more.We took some time to suss out the boat operators who were running trips out to Vela Luka(which means large harbour).I’d read about this remote beach and how lovely it was – the photos of it looked fantastic.
However, next morning, the wind had whipped up and rain was due to come in so the boat trip was off.That meant doing it on the day we were leaving – tomorrow morning which the boat guys reckoned would be a much nicer day.Fingers crossed!
Decided to drive to Vrbnik, a little wine town about half an hour away which got a good write up as ‘a gem.’
Some torrential rain came in but we were quite lucky during the couple of hours we spent exploring the town as it stayed dry.The parking was a nightmare but we got lucky with that too as someone was just leaving and kindly gave us their parking ticket which had a few hours left on it.
Vrbnik was pleasant though nothing special – it was certainly going like a fair and full of wine bars and cafes, all rammed.I think we’ve seen too many beautiful European villages in our travels so the bar is set quite high in terms of what impresses.
One interesting street claimed to be the world’s narrowest….
It was still a nice visit though Chris never thinks you get the best wines in these various upmarket shops.They were beautiful to go into, almost cave like.Hands up I’m not a fan of Croatian wine and find it too thin.The only stuff I do like is Prosek, a sweet dessert wine. California and South Africa have given us the most consistently good wines anywhere.
By the time we returned to Baska, the sun had come out and we headed out to our favourite cafe.I was keen to see St John’s Church above the bay, a beautiful place with a wonderful view.It was a lovely road up there too amidst the pines.
Dinner that evening at Mareta which had a very inviting line of tables along the quayside. I can never resist a setting like that!
An unusual beef salad for me and steak and chips for Chris – both dishes tasty.
A stroll around the quay and the hope was hoping that the boat trip would go ahead next morning.It would be our last day here before heading for Cres island.
I was worried that the trip would be really busy next morning but we were the only people on the RIB at 9am! I suppose sensible people were still at breakfast but we needed to make the most of the short time we had. The RIB took off at speed once clear of the harbour, sped round a headland then swept into the bay of Vela Luka.The cost was 25 euros return each for the 20 min journey.
There wasn’t another person on the beach when we were dropped off.Apart from a yacht moored offshore, the place was deserted.
The single taverna wasn’t open yet so we began the short walk over to Mela Luka(small harbour), just to explore what was in fact a truly beautiful area with meadows and wildflowers.
The path to Mela Luka…
Had a look at the picturesque remains of an old church – Svete Nikola.Then a quick swim at Mela Luka, before climbing the little 112m hill called Corinthia.
There was a faint path and it got quite rough but was perfectly easy – apart from a bit of huff and puff! 20 mins or so later, we had reached the top.
What a vantage spot! Sat there admiring the views and what I’d read were the remains of a monastery.
Apart from our arrival day, the Velebit mountains had been wrapped in cloud and stayed like this for most of the trip.They looked impressive nonetheless as the cloud cleared a bit.
It’s also possible to hike to Vela Luka from Baska, starting near St John’s church and using a rough path.A good option when it’s not so hot as in June (we were in the high 20s now.)
Back down to the water’s edge and we spent a couple of hours on the main beach, swimming, relaxing and getting some shade in a rock overhang.It was nearly noon and the heat was building.
The Konoba had opened but was only offering filter coffee and cold drinks.Bang went the idea of lunch here!
The RIB appeared about noon, dropping a few more people off so we hopped on board and were whisked back to town.What a great half day to a place that , to me, exceeded expectations.Lovely to be in an area that felt quite remote and off the beaten track.
Coffees were very welcome at our favourite cafe along the seafront of the old town.We always got the same waiter, a friendly, chatty guy who said he was sorry to see us go – so were we!
We’d arranged with the apartment owner to pick up our luggage after the excursion.Very kind of him as we were also allowed to leave our car in the private space we had been given on arrival, a few minutes walk away.
Bye bye pretty Baska – I was already waxing lyrical about the idea of returning here for a short break sometime.It really was so lovely and we were sorry to leave.
Cres and Losinj report: CROATIA – PART 2 KRK, CRES and LOSINJ Islands
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