Previous Days CROATIA – Islands, Istria and Plitvice Lakes and CROATIA – PART 2 KRK, CRES and LOSINJ Islands CROATIA PART 3: Istria
Good breakfast at Castello Rausch to set us up for the day and the long drive across country to Plitvice Lakes.Google suggested a 3hr 20 drive but it took us around 4 hours due to coming off the motorway too early.We had debated this stop for some time…basically because Scotland is full of waterfalls for which we don’t normally pay! I do like waterfalls but until we saw the truly awesome ones in Iceland and Victoria Falls, I could take or leave them. But Plitvice IS a World Heritage Site so it seemed terrible not to make an effort to see it.
Pula’s Roman amphitheatre had dropped off the itinerary too as we have seen so many of these and wonderful as they are, it was a stop too many this trip.
The journey wasn’t wildly scenic for most of the way and we managed to come off the motorway too early, finding ourselves on a rural , twisting road which went on forever.Torrential rain had started now that we had reached the mountains, reducing visibility substantially.Somehow , we ended up on the tiny D42 which became almost single track, snaking through deep forest.What a relief to finally arrive at Entrance 1 car park.
The ground was muddy and streaming with water as we stood donning waterproofs, including – for me – waterproof trousers. Chris looked at me, rain dripping down his face and said ‘Do you really want to do this? Pay £35 to look at more water?’
Well, there was no way I was not going to see the Lakes now that we’d made all this effort, even if entry was an eye watering 39 euros per person.
As Chris disappeared in a bit of a huff, back inside the car with a packet of crisps and his Kindle, I headed for the ticket office to explore things solo.
No queues for tickets at 1pm, despite the warnings about the place being over run – the awful weather had put most people off!
Ticket checked by park officials, in a few seconds walk, I came to the first high viewpoint over Veliki Slap and the gorge, revealing a very impressive waterfall, gushing wildly; this is the biggest of all the falls.With days of heavy rain, it was spectacular.
I then followed Route A which led down a nice woodland path to the Lower Lakes, past many smaller waterfalls and – with a minor detour- wandered beside gushing water and pretty views over the lakes, the gorge and VS. The network of built trails and duck boarding is excellent and beautifully done.
Today, the water levels were so high, it was almost coming over the walkway but it was all very safe.The trail is quite narrow so in crowds, with people coming in different directions , it might get interesting.Certainly even today, you would want to hold on tightly to the hands of young children.Route A then wound its way past many other waterfalls pouring into lovely turquoise water.All in, I spent an hour on Route A and had an absolute ball.
There was hardly a soul on the trails so there was none of the endless shuffling and queuing that does look quite off putting in photos.I had the place, if not quite to myself, then as close to it as you can probably get in one of Croatias most visited sights.
It could take twice the time it took me to do the route when very busy, I’d guess.
It’s certainly a very pretty area, park like, with waterfalls that look almost man-made but of course are natural.I could only approach Veliki Slap from a distance as the camera would have got drenched.Good fun though!
If I’d continued further beyond the end of the Lower Lake it would have taken me up to the big lake, Route B and the boat trip across it.But photos I’d looked at previously, suggested I’d explored the most scenic section.
Was it worth it? It’s a lovely area and feels unusual in a country like Croatia but as waterfalls go, it doesn’t match the Big Boys in for example, Iceland.Having explored so much if Croatia now, I felt I had to see it and it was an enjoyable hour because it was so quiet.Plus I like getting a walk in each day and it was a relief to get out of the car to do that.I couldn’t imagine staying for much longer in the whole area, as is sometimes recommended.It’s not scenic enough to warrant that unless you really do come from an ultra dry or desert country perhaps.
Got back to Mr Grumpy (albeit the parking is so huge I took an age to find out where he was) and he was happily immersed in one of Patrick O’Brien’s seafaring tales.
We now had a 2hr 20 drive to our hotel on Pag where we had accommodation for the night in Villa Mediterran, near Borovici.
The rain gradually eased as we drove away from the mountains and sunshine had returned by the time we reached the coast.
From a distance, Pag does not look appealing as it is so rocky and barren on its east coast.I read that the island’s trees were all chopped down over a thousand years ago and the harsh winter winds mean that they have never regrown.The landscape certainly looks quarry like but in fact this is not the case at all for much of the rest of the island which we soon liked very much.
The road was good and quiet as we drove over the bridge to Pag beyond Posedarje. It was still a 1hr 20 drive to Borovici, away up at the northern end of this very Long Island, a bit of a thought at the end of a long day.
We passed through Novalja, a modern , very built up area, but 15 mins later, a tiny, single track, bumpy little rural road took us down through olive groves and stone walls to Villa Mediterran.
What an absolutely delightful small hotel it was too, adjacent to a pretty, sandy little cove.It had been a tough travel day and our spirits were lifted immediately.Nice, bright room, lovely balcony overlooking the sea and the cove.It really was a beautiful wee place.
Headed out for a walk before dinner and discovered that there were in fact two small caravan sites at each end of the tiny bay.But it was all very quiet and peaceful, a bit of a dream spot with a real off the beaten track feel to it.
Nice outside terrace for dinner where I had a very tasty veal fillet rolled in bacon with stuffed potatoes and veg.Chris had a good mixed grill(hardly see that dish at home these days..I used to love it) with smashed jacket potato.Very tasty!
Good music playing too…60s- 80s stuff, we’ll suited to the clientele!
Another stroll then a seat out on the balcony watching the sun go down over Cres and Losinj.
We both felt we would have enjoyed another night here.
Good breakfast on the terrace next morning, granola, fresh fruit including pineapple, yoghurt, bacon and eggs, toast.
Sorry to say goodbye, nice people running the place too.I had an interesting conversation with the lady owner who quizzed me about English Breakfast Tea.She couldn’t understand the right way to serve it…cold? Without milk? Warm milk? With lemon? Or just sugar? No to all that I said…hot water, let the bag brew and always offer cold milk, sometimes sugar.It still sounded a mystery to her!
We were invited to stay on beyond the normal check out time and in fact, to use the shaded sun-loungers below the hotels garden, all day if we wanted! That lovely lovely gesture that gave us time for a swim in the deserted cove.There was no shade on the beach but it was only a hop and a skip from Villa Mediterran to the water.In June, off peak, it was an idyllic spot, charming.
After getting a shower back in the room, it was time to make our way back to the mainland.I was beginning to appreciate Pag’s countryside a bit more too.It was much greener than the east coast and the lack of pines meant there were far more olive groves than on previous islands so the landscape looked more attractive.
There were sheep pastures too, albeit quite rocky and the Velebit Mountains made a fine backdrop.The island is famed for its own cheese though we didn’t get a chance to try it.
Stopped off in Pag town itself which turned out to be an attractive , quiet little place.
We were now back to that almost white stone which the buildings are composed of, dazzling in the sunshine.Got Lattes in a quiet quayside café, then strolled round the harbour area and back through some narrow streets to a beautiful main square.Overlooked by St Mary’s Church, this was a very handsome public space with impressive civic buildings too and the remains of a defensive wall.The building of the town was begun in the 15th century so it has a long history.
Just before we crossed the bridge, there was an interesting looking fort on a promontory…
Bye bye Pag island, as we made our way back over the bridge and onto the mainland where Sibenik was on the agenda.The draw was the 15th century St James Cathedral, a World Heritage Site.The church is built entirely of stone, even the interior and has a façade of 71 sculptured faces of the Great and the Good at the time. It is said that some were made particularly ugly because the architect thought they should have coughed up more money to support the building of the cathedral!
Got parked easily, a short walk from St James, then walked by the sea along a very pleasant promenade.
The cathedral was a beauty though it’s probably best seen from above. We didn’t get up to the top of town which must give a wonderful view.
The Baptistry was very impressive, as were the carved heads on the exterior.
The surroundings streets and little squares were very lovely and this looked like a city well worth more exploration.
That said I still think that Dubrovnik is the most impressive city in the country although I imagine it’s much busier than when we visited ten years ago or so, given the Game of Thrones connection.
It was a 40 min journey to Murter, where we were booked into the Colentum Hotel. Murter itself wasn’t the draw but the plan was to do the day trip out to the Kornati Islands which had always fascinated me…I loved the images of their barren, saucer like shape and always felt that there was something very mysterious about them.Murter was best placed for this, giving us more time on the Kornati, compared to trips from Sibenik.
It is actually an island but is connected to the mainland via a little bridge at Tisno. I must say I found this coastal area lovelier than Istria.
The road climbed to a high point on Murter and at the top was a supermarket where we stocked up on goodies and cold stuff for later, just in case we didn’t fancy any of the restaurants.
Then down to Hotel Colentum which sat about a mile away from the centre of the small town itself.
Neither of us had high expectations of Murter and it’s probably fair to say that it was as well we had reined these in.There had been a lot of development however, since our guide book had unappealingly described the small town as essentially a concrete car park with some nice nearby beaches.It was now better than that but not where we’d necessarily choose to stay.
The hotel was a 3 star place, a mid size resort hotel built above what must once have been a lovely bay (Slanica Bay) but which was now spoiled by poor quality beach shops, loud music, children’s play equipment to the extent that it looked like an outdoor amusement park – great for kids certainly, no complaints about that but not appealing to older adults sans grandchildren.We did manage a swim off the rocky shore which was nice in terms of cooling down at the end of the day and the sandy bottom and clear water was lovely.
None of the restaurants appealed so we were glad we’d stocked up.
The room was fine, on the third floor with a small balcony overlooking the pool and the bay.It whole place wasn’t hugely busy so it was quite quiet in the evening.On the horizon, lay the Kornati Islands.
Enjoyed a glass of pop sitting outside, then our prosciutto, cheese, tomatoes and bread.We never seem to tire of that meal!
Walked into Murter itself later on, a 20 min stroll, just to check the boat operator and get instructions for the sail next day.Good job we did this as we were shown where the boat itself was moored (the harbour was really long with lots of boats) and advised to arrive VERY early…by 8.30am latest for a 9am departure in order to get a decent seat.
Problem was , breakfast wasn’t served at the hotel until 8am and with a 20 min walk to the harbour, it was all a bit tight! I really didn’t want to miss the buffet breakfast so we had a (very minor) issue to work out.
Final day: Kornati Islands , Betina and Zadar
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