Trippin: September in Croatia

We didn’t really planned on doing this trip, but as our friends saiid that their apartment is free, and this is perfect reunion moment of course we agreed. Being the maps freak I am, I was checking the Kvarner Bay area, and noticed that I have almost zero saved places of interest in the region, except for some spots on Krk island. But this time I wasn’t even stressing about checking off places.

We landed in Zagreb with Croatia Airlines flight, and then continued by car to the Jadranovo, small village 30kms away from Rijeka and 10 kilometers from Crikvenica. There were four or five restaurants, same number of coffee shops, and nothing much to do. But that was good.
We spent the days paddling, swimming, cooking, and the nicest thing was going for a coffee by boat.

So at first line it doesn’t sounds very interesting or different, but here it s what you can do in order to have both active and leisure vacation in a Croatian village in September.

Beaches around jadranovo

Jadranovo Beach – overlooking the Krk bridge, having whitish artificial sand, a swing, bar directly at the beach and basically the main boardwalk of the village. While we were there the stance exibition was happening, so we saw some interesting cars.
Havisce Beach – almost a private beach, only the people with apartments and villas are coming here, basically a wild one, it has both concrete and sandy part.
Kacjak Beach – this one is a bit further, but by boat is the real deal. Sunbeds , bar, and more kids and families compared to the other two.
What all had in common was the crystal clear water.

There are other beaches as well, as the one in Selce and Crikvenica but I can write about the unseen.

day trips from jadranovo

Island Krk – we only went once but we made quite a route so I would not say it is enough but not bad for a single day.
First stop was the abandoned Hotel Palace Haludovo in Malinska, such a sad building. Is it a must visit? I am not sure but I see that it is quite hot around the media. I would have preferred if the hotel was up and running, to be honest.

Then we stopped in Beach Bar Paradajz in Malinska, and I can’t recommend it enough. From service to cocktails and especially the views, five stars for everything. Then the road took us via the Katunar vineyards, to Sveti Marak beach. This was the choice of the locals. I didn’t visit any other beach on Krk, so nothing I can compare to. surprisingly there were four beach bars. Incomparable to the one before, but they had the basic beach food and drinks, all of them with reviews on the lower side, but I would say, how high expectations can you have from a beach bar? I would say it was okay, but the choice was BBQ and fish sticks.

And the night ended in the capital, Krk Town. As we were quite a group of 10 people, and the decision to come here was very spontaneous, that meant the restaurant will choose us, not the other way around. The only one that could host big group of people was Galija restaurant, and everything was very okay.

Krk town was nice, but as I am a day person, I wish I could have seen it in a daylight as well. It is the place where the Glagolica Alphabet was invented, but for me more important a place where I tried one of the best cakes in my life The Duchess of Krk, on the board walk in a place called Casa de Padrone, they had amazing ice-cream as well.

Plitvice Lakes – I skipped this trip, since I went there one year ago, but this is a place that never disappoints. Even if the ticket of around 40 euros sounds a bit too much I would suggest go for it. Or wait for October when the prices go lower, but it is a great full day trip.

Skocjan Caves or Postojna Caves - same as with the Plitvice Lakes this is a classic, that can't disappoint and also a good choice for a rainy day. It is only one hour drive from Jadranovo. Make sure to book your ticket in advance and to double check the working hours.

Cities around Jadranovo

Opatija – this visit was combined in a way that, we first went to a small village Donji Kraj, in The House 1838, holiday rental with next level interior, hospitality and food. If you are looking for a place to stay on the higher end, it is a very very warm recommendation, I will not spill any tea you would need to check it. Then quick stroll along the beautiful board walk in Opatija or little Switzerland as I like to name it, and finished the night with a local burger from Archies.

Rijeka – a visit initiated by one of the locals, who showed us the town during the night, but we caught a bit from the dusk, so my “day soul” was satisfied. If we compare Rijeka to the other Croatian cities there is maybe not so much to see, as it is very industrial city, but still the main pedestrian area Korzo, lots of bars and restaurants along the harbour, and overall I got the impression it is very lively. Can’t say more about things to do and see in Rijeka, but it is a good to know that it is worth visiting.

Crikvenica – I’ve heard a lot about it and I don’t know from where, and that is why i imagined it was much bigger town, when actually it had only 10 thousand inhabitants. Small, cute, with a boardwalk, and a big ferris wheel, can be combined with the little village Selce, whre you get the same, without the Ferris wheel, but with many many more bars and restaurants.

So I would say that my days here went from zero expectations to so many new things seen, but also old ones revisited. Life by the sea is definitively better, and I am not even a beach person.

Our trip ended via Flixbus through Zagreb, we repeated Jolie Petit Pattisserie for breakfast and cakes, took cruffin “souvenirs” from Bread Club as well, bought rubber boots from Borovo, for the autumn days in the north, and had lunch at Ruzmarin in the city center. The first three were revisited, the last one will stay as tried, but willing to try something else as well.