Itinerary advice for island hopping between Rijeka and Zadar
Replies: 5 - Last Post: Mar 24, 2013 12:26 PM Last Post By: Slippy76
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Itinerary advice for island hopping between Rijeka and Zadar
Hi there!I would really appreciate when somebody could tell us (couple travelling by public transport) if the following itinerary in July would be reasonable (we love some action, but not too crowded places. Also nice swimming/nature location tips are welcome. We fly via Rijeka):
2 nights in Krk
2 nights in Rab
2 nights in Pag
1 night in Zadar
1 night in Silba
1 night in Premuda
1-2? nights in Mali Lošinj
1 night in Cres
1 night in Motovun (back to mainland)
1 night in Opatija
Does it all make sense? Would you rather skip some island and stay longer on some other? Would you stay 1 or 2 nights in Mali Lošinj? (seems to have possibilities to hop to nearby islands for a day trip)
Would you stay in Rijeka for 1 night? Or is Opatija enough? Have you been to Motovun, does it make sense to go there in July? Is it worth it? :)
We visited southern islands last year (between Split and Dubrovnik) and our favourite was Hvar (had enough action for us) and the little nice quiet and amazingly beautiful islands around it for swimming trips (just to give you an idea what we like), but we also like to move around to see/experience as much as possible and we love good food/wine. :) We didn`t like Korcula as it was too crowded for us... Dubrovnik was nice to see but as also too crowded then one night was more than enough for us.
I hope based on the description somebody will be able to recommend what would be the best choice of islands for us.
Thank you in advance! :)
1
Are you planning to travel exclusively by public transport?Because there is no point in reaching so many islands and getting stuck in the largest town IMO. Public transport on the islands is scarce. The best places for swimming will be out of your reach.
I am not an expert on some of these islands, but you will probably find the best nightlife (action?) in Zrce (Pag), Poreč and Mali Lošinj. But since you are coming in July, I am sure you will find action in most, if not all places. If you are reaching Zadar in the first part of July, you have Garden Festival in Tisno.
You don't have to spend the night in Opatija, it's fairly small. If it appeals to you from the pics, Motovun is worth a trip. Maybe you should visit it at the beginning of your trip?
Korcula was too crowded, but Hvar wasn't? Really? You are coming in July-almost everywhere will be crowded, at least to some extent. But if you could stand Hvar, you will find it tolerable elsewhere.
Btw, southern islands like Vis, Mljet, Korcula, Hvar and Brac are far more attractive in terms of nature, nightlife and culture than the ones you mentioned IMO. It's more of a rugged beauty that you will find on Cres and Pag for example.
2
It's tough to get much feedback on the northern islands, but that does not mean they are necessarily any less crowded than the south. In July I venture to guess they will be full of Germans. Just like in the south, in high season you need to plan on venturing out of the main towns.I would advise you to read up on Krk and Rab more and see if there are smaller places you would like to check out while you are there. I travel with public transport also, and I don't think 2 nights in one place gives you enough time to explore.
For example, I had bookmarked this map of places around Krk and hiking trails:
http://www.tz-krk.hr/images/Download/hiking_map.jpg
I visited Pag about 10 years ago, and if you are not going to party, you may also find it a huge disappointment.
Have you checked the bus and ferry schedules for this itinerary yet?
3
Thank you both for your reply,I think I have to clarify few things :)
1. We will be using public transport, but if needed we can rent a car locally which we prefer not to do too often.
2. We don`t plan to explore thoroughly every island, we would just like to get the "taste" as to know where to come back and to explore more :)
3. We didn`t really find Hvar too crowded as we were able to go with this little boats at the harbor for daily trips to other island/beaches. The city itself wasn`t built so that it would give me as crowded feeling as Korcula city. What we also liked about this place was that it had nice restaurants (don`t mean fancy) and we were able to get a seat without the queue (unlike in Korcula). We are not really party animals but we like the vibe of happy people passing by.
But we also loved Mljet (not the national park, which was unfortunately a nightmare!) where we kayaked and later had a restaurant for us and for another couple and it was the best meal ever.
I can`t hike due to the health situation :(
NB!
Do you know is there an island in the north that has possibilities to escape to near by little islands or to the beaches near by? We loved it in Hvar that we could just walk to the port and to decide every day spontaneously which place we will go.. :) another option was in Korcula where we took a water taxi to escape the city.
4
I don't think there will be enough time to rent a car, with no more than 2 nights in each place--that was the point I was trying to get across.Not sure about the small islands question, but I guess even when there are not small islands there might be boat trips along the coast. I always find the website of each individual island/town helpful for finding stuff like that.
good luck, and please post a trip report--as you have seen, it is tough to get a sense of this region.
And I have to ask--what was nightmarish about Mljet?
5
I will have a look at the homepages and will dig around on internet abit more (have done so already, but will do more). I was just hoping that somebody with first hand experience might want to share their experience ;) When we are back I will write about our experience :)Mjlet - itself it`s a beautiful island and I would go back there, but the national park during the high season is probably for people with strong nerves only.
To get to the park you have to go to the meeting point where you will buy the tickets and it includes the transport which are mini buses. There is NO order in who gets on and when. The guy there simply looks that nobody gets on the way of the bus, but no queue whatsoever. People are like animals and are fighting for their place on the bus (doesn`t matter that they arrived last etc.) It took us 40min to get on to one!
Then you get to the park and to take the little boat to the little islands there is another fight. If you are from the country where people usually don`t behave so wildly, then it`s quite shocking when the captain has to ask people not to climb in from the windows, not to go to the roof and to let others out first.
So, shortly - it`s a chaos!
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