“Croa­tian islands and Vele­bit”

The next day brings an Istrian mix. We will visit the small vil­lage of Učka, Vela and the char­ming Draga. The lat­ter is loca­ted in the south of the Opa­tija Riviera in the Kvar­ner Bay. The for­mer fishing port of the neigh­bor­ing vil­la­ges of Mos­cenice and Brsec has now become one of the most popu­lar vaca­tion desti­na­ti­ons on the Riviera.

We take the ferry to the island of Cres where we can switch bet­ween asphalt and gra­vel again and again and get a touch of “off­road” fee­ling. Beau­tiful slo­pes lead us across the island to one of our sel­ec­ted camp­si­tes by the sea.

The next mor­ning we take the ferry to the island of Krk and slowly drive to the main­land in the moun­ta­ins. A day of dri­ving with fan­ta­stic views awaits us. Deep below us, glis­tening in the sun, lies the Kvar­ner Bay. Always along the coast on the famous Oči Vin­dola Trail our path winds and gives again and again pic­tures­que views.

At the end of the day we drive down to Senj and spend the night, idyl­li­cally situa­ted in a tiny bay on a small camp­site.

Not far from the town of Senj, the Vele­bit Natio­nal Park beg­ins and so, after a win­ding drive on paved roads, we soon reach breath­ta­king gra­vel roads through an extre­mely pho­to­ge­nic land­scape, which remains clo­sed to most Croa­tian tou­rists. This breath­ta­king nature with its kar­stic rock for­ma­ti­ons can com­pete with other Bal­kan count­ries, such as Mon­te­ne­gro. It is not so easy to describe the land­scape of the Nor­t­hern Vele­bit Natio­nal Park in a few words, it is so diverse there. A few of the hig­hest peaks of Croa­tia are loca­ted here. Partly rug­ged karst rocks but also lush vege­ta­tion make the natio­nal park a fan­ta­stic para­dise for four-wheel hikers. From the peaks there are fan­ta­stic views of the sea and the islands.

The last day of our trip, ends at a camp­site on the nor­t­hern tip of the island of Pag. At the camp­site Olea. Here you can unwind, enjoy the still warm sea or have a cool sun­dow­ner at the beach bar or treat yours­elf to a visit to the Miche­lin Guide award-win­ning restau­rant Boškinac in Novalja. Here you must defi­ni­tely book in advance! The place is known among gour­mets far bey­ond the island.

On all days we will cover an average of 110 kilo­me­ters. Due to the nature of this trip adapted to vans, four-wheel drive cam­pers or SUVs, the per­cen­tage of unpa­ved roads will be slightly lower than that of paved roads. Mostly we drive nar­row coun­try roads, some gra­vel, always have the oppor­tu­nity to buy truf­fles, cheese, oli­ves or local oil.

We always try to arrive at the camp­si­tes on time, so that there is enough time for din­ner, swim­ming in the sea or just sit­ting tog­e­ther and chil­ling. Depen­ding on the com­po­si­tion of the vehic­les, we adjust the actual rou­tes to be dri­ven, so that it will be a great, impres­sive and exci­ting week for ever­yone. Sim­ply expe­ri­ence Croa­tia from a dif­fe­rent per­spec­tive.

Tom, our Croa­tian guide, is loo­king for­ward to tel­ling you one or two sto­ries from his home­land.

Weni­ger lesen…