Travelling Croatia - The Kvarner Region
Croatia's Best Kept Secret
The Kvarner Region is located in the Northern Adriatic Sea on the coast of the Croatian mainland. The region features magnificent forests, crystalline waters and beautiful heritage buildings dating back to the early 18th century. The diversity on offer is unparalleled and best of all you can experience everything on offer by bus, car or ferry.
Getting into the region is easy as it is served by five international airports with the main one located in Rijeka located on the island of Krk. After that ferries and catamarans connect each of the islands.
Here's what we got up whilst in Kvarner, our trip revolved around seeing some landmarks and a lot of the natural beauty the region has to offer.
Instead of flying in we drove a hire car from Vienna. First, we hit Trieste and decided to go off the beaten track and headed towards Slovenia. Although not in the Kvarner region I had to include this as I love all things nature and had heard about the Postojna Cave system (apparently the best in the world!) and it's only an hours drive to Rijeka.
Day 1 in Croatia - Postojna Cave
Postojna Cave is the best-known cave in the world. It features a fantastic web of tunnels, passages, galleries and halls - simply awe-inspiring and is a must-see for anyone visiting Croatia.
After we cued for around 40 minutes (a bit too long) an electric train whisked us to the immense Great Mountain Cavern, something straight out of Lord of the Rings. From here we joined an English speaking tour that guided us through tunnels and halls all the while giving us some nice commentary on the place. We got to another cavern, Velika and passed over the “Russian Bridge” which our guide informed us was built by prisoners of war in 1916 through another set of beautiful winding tunnels framed by huge stalagmites and stalactites. The tour continued on until we got to the “Winter Hall”, where we happened upon a massive white stalagmite, called the Diamond and the neighbouring baroque pillar, which have become symbols of the cave.
I had never thought to check out a cave system before but considering it is a must-see when visiting the region we had to check it out and I must say I was astounded by the natural beauty and atmosphere. I was worried it may have ended up being a bit boring but the tour was relatively well paced and the guides were extremely hospitable.
Tip - We ate in the cafeteria and the food was expensive and of poor quality, I suggest bringing some snacks.
Day 2 - Trsat Castle & Shrine of Our Lady of Trsat
Trsat castle is situated high on a hill above the city overlooking the gorgeous Rječina River valley to the docks, the Adriatic and the island of Krk (our next location).
Receiving a facelift in 1824 by the Frankopan Dukes of Krk, an Irish count Laval Nugent had it restored in a romantic neoclassical design. The place has a long history and is a vantage point to see a lot of the beauty of the area so it was a great way to start the trip.
Receiving a facelift in 1824 by the Frankopan Dukes of Krk, an Irish count Laval Nugent had it restored in a romantic neoclassical design. The place has a long history and is a vantage point to see a lot of the beauty of the area so it was a great way to start the trip.
We spent most of the day exploring the site and having lunch, then took a cab to the Shrine of Our Lady of Trsat, one of the oldest shrines in Croatia, that in June 2003 was visited by the Pope John Paul II and is another piece of history that must be experienced if the in the region.
Day 3 - Truffle Tour
On day 3 we decided to try to do something a bit closer to our hotel so we booked in to go truffle hunting! Around 9am we got picked up by a man named David who drove us up to Drenova, north-east of Rijeka. After about a 30 minute drive we got to the village where we stopped to have a coffee and meet up with our guide, a truffle hunter called Yuri and his two trained truffle dogs. After about an hour or so of searching amongst the gorgeous truffle trees, we had filled our baskets and set back to the village to help prepare a traditional Croatian breakfast.
It was nice to try something a bit slower today considering how hectic our first two days were and chilling in the village was such a relaxing and quaint experience it really showed the beauty of the culture of the region.
Day 4 - Kayaking under the Krk Bridge
Today we met up with a friend, Jasmin who insisted we go kayaking to see the Islet of St. Marko. We took a car to a dock at Voz near the small town Omišalj, quite close to the airport we arrived at and our friend had already hired the gear we needed out from a local vendor who worked at the dock. The water was clear and still li,ke all the water around Croatia a lovely light hue of blue.
We rowed along the coastline along the beautiful high cliffs until we got to the Krk bridge, which matches the natural beauty with architectural wonder. The whole journey was extremely relaxing and it was nice to see the landscape from the water as oppose to a car window.
We had packed our bags into Jasmin's car and she dropped us to our hostel in Krk and we spent sometime checking out the area.
We had packed our bags into Jasmin's car and she dropped us to our hostel in Krk and we spent sometime checking out the area.
Day 5 - Vrbnik
Today we drove to the eastern coast of the island, driving up to the mountain-top town of Vrbnik. Nestled on a limestone jut 50m above the Adriatic, Vrbnik is a beautiful old village town with quaint cafes and stores, we mainly visited for the wine.
Vrbnik is one of the major wine towns in all of Croatia. Being September the locals were collecting the grapes so there was a bit of traffic. Once in town we tried some vinos and had a picnic over looking one of the picturesque little beaches.
Day 6 - Paradise Beach
After a night consisting of tasting Kvarner's "bottled" history we took a ferry from Valbiska to Rab see Croatia's best beach, Paradise. It's the golden sand hems Lopar's southern flank and is one of the biggest attraction in these parts due to its natural beauty and picturesque water.
There's all sorts of activities to partake in from minigolf to ice-cream parlours whilst the sun keeps the sand hot and the water warm. You could spend most of the day here just exploring the little reef's nooks and crannies. We spent it wading in the beautiful water and checking out the underwater fauna and flora!
Tip - Bring a snorkel mask!
After our day at the beach, we took the ferry back to Krk to our hostel.
Day 7 - Rijeka again
For our last day, we crossed the Krk bridge back into Rijeka and hung around the city to soak up the ambience of the place. Lining the streets were these some very elegant Habsburg-era buildings.
We spent most of the day tasting some amazing traditional food. The locals were very friendly and recommended the best places to eat.
Heres a list of all the spots we ate at:
Zona, a traditional Croatian grill that sells seafood and barbeque. The food was reasonably priced and absolutely delicious, our seats had a great view the bay.
Girica, great quality fish and reasonably priced. The mussels were amazing.
Vukovarska 65a, Rijeka 51000, Croatia
Pirunada, this quaint little place is a great spot for breakfast/brunch. Right in the center of town, would recommend for something quick and cheap without resorting to fast food.
Pod Kashtelom 6, Rijeka 51000, Croatia.
We couldn't have had a better time experiencing what the Kvarner Region had to offer. It truly is a must-see, I've never seen anything like it!
Promoting this Trip
Social media is a great way to promote travel as most users enjoy the mediums as a way of escaping their normal lives. Content generation is a huge buzzword right now but a lot of bloggers capture things that travel journalists do not, things that connect with a wider audience giving brands a bigger reach than traditional advertising. With these bloggers posting about their travels in it can encourage their audience to visit these places.
Instagram
Instagram lends itself well to advertising the Kvarner region. By being an image-centric platform we can post high-resolution pictures of the region, which happens to be very photogenic to our audience. There is also a lot less post-fatigue involved with Instagram as its very easy to just scroll past someone's posts, which allows us to post more times a day than say Facebook.
A good guide for the style of Instagram I will be using is that of the prominent travel blogger, Greg Arndt.
Instagram lends itself well to advertising the Kvarner region. By being an image-centric platform we can post high-resolution pictures of the region, which happens to be very photogenic to our audience. There is also a lot less post-fatigue involved with Instagram as its very easy to just scroll past someone's posts, which allows us to post more times a day than say Facebook.
A good guide for the style of Instagram I will be using is that of the prominent travel blogger, Greg Arndt.
Greg is a photographer and uses a lot of wide angle, panoramic shots of the landscapes he visits. This will be good for this trip as we'll be visiting a lot of scenic places where the natural beauty is a key component of what draws visitors in. I'll be posting several photos of each day of every place we visit we showcasing the beauty of the region, using Greg's photographic style.
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