Croatia, 2018/19

We visited Croatia for the first time in the summer of 2018. Looking back, it’s inexplicable why we only set off for the Croatian Adriatic coast after many trips to Italy, despite the many positive stories from acquaintances and friends.

The destination of our first trip was the islands of Cres and Lošinj, to get as far as possible by car into the Kvarner Bay archipelago, surrounded by as much sea as possible. Rijeka was reached quickly and, fortunately, without traffic jams via the Tauern motorway and Karawanken Tunnel. Along the southern coast of Istria, we passed well-known seaside resorts like Opatija to Brestova, where the ferry took us to Cres after a short journey. The adjacent island of Lošinj, with its beautiful towns, scenic hikes, and stunning rocky coasts, also impressed us.

So much so that we returned in the summer of 2019 to travel south along the Croatian Adriatic coast, visiting as many islands as possible. In addition to Krk, Cres, and Lošinj, we drove through the Zadar archipelago, passed Split, then Brac and Hvar, reaching Korčula and finally the southernmost point of the trip, the Pelješac peninsula. The return journey then took us along the coastal road Jadranska Magistrala, past the Biokovo Mountains, the Makarska Riviera, and the Velebit Mountains.