Istria, Kvarner & Zadar

A great trip for scenery, history, food and wine with stays at pleasant hotels. We did this in October (for when we hope that Inntravel will pick up some of our suggestions about both advantages and challenges to update their guidance notes). Recommended.

Rab and Losinj (lovely bay for swimming by Hotel Manora) perhaps the highlight of our holiday, hotels were lovely. Beautiful old town of Rab, lovely gentle walks, good retaurants. The delightful Banova Vila bar is worth a mention, you can sip delicious wine, watch the sunset (and they do food) open til 8pm.

Osor and Veli Losinj also well worth a visit, both lovely Osor peaceful, and a lovely walk into Veli Losinj ( as per itinerary) a sweet bustling ( but not too much) little port.

NB we did make a brief visit to Krk but found it very crowded and touristy.

The highlights of our trip were many - our bike rides in the country and lunch in Spinovci Tikel, our many ferry journeys, fireworks and regatta in Nerezine. We would recommend a stay at the friendly family run hotel in Skradin called Bonaca which has a great restaurant. 

Very well organised and documented. Excellent, very responsive and intelligent service.

Personal highlights:

Rab town

Walking in Komrcar park down to deserted coves - useful hiking map provided by Inntravel

Water taxi to beaches in same area

Krk National Park - well worth a visit from Zadar

Walk from Mali Losinj to Rovenska beach (good place for a swim)

Bar Bora in Rovenska for delicious homemade pasta overlooking the small harbour 

Excellent small beach attached to Hotel Manora (5 min walk)

Cres and Losinj are wonderfully scenic with a great corniche style road, pretty harbours and spectacular scenery. You may see the vultures as we did driving back to Merag without needing to go up to Beli. Hotel Manora is very much a family rather than boutique hotel but very comfortable and with a lovely private beach with its own attendant, kayaks, sups etc.

This was our (I think) eighth holiday with Inntravel and again did not disappoint. The hotels chosen were all superb and in good locations with excellent rooms and included meals with friendly helpful staff. The varied locations give a good overview of Northern Croatia, each different to the other. We opted for an extra night in Zadar to allow for a visit to Plitvice lakes which are well worth a visit and are about a just under 2 hour drive away. We also added 3 nights in Trogir before returning from Split airport, although unfortunately Inntravel were unable to book this part of the holiday for us as their hotel (Trogir Palace) there was fully booked. If adding a 3 night stay in Trogir, a visit to Krka national park is definitely a must.

We loved it - especially the old town of Rab, the sea organ at Zadar and swimming with cormorants on Lošinj.

Overall a very enjoyable holiday. Motovun and Rab Island were particular highlights with good quality hotels in great locations. Bastion Hotel was also good quality but it has no balconies and small rooms. The variability of the other hotels was a bit of a disappointment, particularly the final hotel in Trogir. It is a little unclear why hotels of such variable standards were packaged together. I would suggest more information should have been provided about the standard of each hotel. Communication by Inntravel is also an area where there is opportunity for improvement. We received messages about delays three weeks before we travelled, other messages about access restrictions for the wrong date, and missing ferry tickets. Despite these comments we would still strongly recommend Inntravel and use them again but would probably research hotels included a little more thoroughly. Without the range of destinations offered by this tour we would never have seen so many locations and experienced the wide ranging beauty of Croatia, so kudos to Inntravel for compiling the itinerary. 

The heated pools in the hotels in Motovun, Nerezine and Rab had shady outdoor areas. In Nerezine there were bikes at our disposal and going the coastal track in both directions from the hotel was a short but easy ride. In Rab the hotel had bikes to hire and again going a coastal route in both directions was excellent. In Rab we had lovely meals at the Astoria restaurant. At Zadar in the heatwave we took a passenger ferry to Preko (£2,50). This ferry left from very near the hotel. It was a real find with excellent swimming and a few restaurants.  All in all it was a great trip. The dinner in Motovun was the best and the ArBriana in Rab was our favourite. We returned from Split stopping on route at Primosten which was a find.

We loved the tranquility of the islands and spectacular sea scapes. We took a boat trip from Zadar to the islands and explored osljak which had no roads and chatted to some of the inhabitants with the guide about their simple way of life. 

Watching the sunset at Zadar with a big crowd who clapped as it disappeared into the sea , all accompanied by the haunting sounds of the sea organ.

A kayak trip from Dubrovnik [a tailored add-on to the holiday] round the island Lokrum visiting a sea cave for a swim and to snorkel , great fun to do with a group with great views of the city . We also enjoyed exploring the island using the walk notes although it was very hot.

Our personal highlights were the coastal walk from Mali Losinj to Veli Losinj and the picturesque harbour of Veli Losinj itself. Rab has a good mix of beaches, walks, restaurants and history. The hotel was perfectly located with lovely views from the harbour-facing rooms. The Zadar hotel arranged a really nice morning boat trip to a couple of islands as an alternative to the full fay required to visit to the Kornati national park. We found the instructions clear and accurate regarding the hotels and ferries. If you want to visit the vulture sanctuary on Cres, do it straight after getting off the ferry. The one problem we had was the car hire. The service from Budget/Avis was terrible. There was a lot of pressure to take out additional insurance which we declined because we had purchased the Excess insurance recommended by Inntravel. The Dacia Sandero provided was very basic with no spare tyre and a fuel gauge didn't work among other shortcomings. When we handed the car back a small scratch had appeared which we are pretty certain hadn’t been there the night before. We were charged €400. Without going into the details, in hindsight we feel we might have avoided the problems if we'd taken out the additional insurance locally. It costs €25 a day

We struck lucky with the weather, our overall feeling about the structure of the trip was that 3 nights at the Hotel Manora in Nerezine was too much, another night in Rab would have been better. There are herb gardens etc. in Losinj which we only found out about on our return and would have added to our enjoyment.

Try to extend the holiday by a day at as many destinations as possible.

On route from Zadar to Trogir [add-on] a visit to the Krka National Park is very worthwhile and saves a day in Trogir.  The falls in the Park are spectacular.    

A good paced holiday, visiting some beautiful old towns with good quality accommodation. 

Promenade walk from Veli Losinj to Mali Losinj was good with many lunch choices in Mali Losinj; to park, follow road to the end at Veli Losinj. In Osor on Cres, the Konoba Bonifacic served excellent food in delightful gardens which contained free range tortoises. Loved the Hotel Arbiana in Rab and boat trip from Rab to Jablanac. Free Spirit walking tour in Zadar was good.

What a lovely place Istria is! We could have done with an extra day to do more exploring. The wine tasting was great fun and well organised. One problem we encountered was, because it was October, a number of the recommended restaurants were closed for the season. This was really only a problem in Nerezine, being a tiny place, but the two hotels did us proud. Also the ferry from Krk to Rab was on winter schedule and we had to drive the long way round along the coast. We were sorry to miss that experience.  Food highlights were Konoba Rab in Rab, along with the meal on our first night at Hotel Arbiana, which was the best of the week. The walking up onto the high limestone peninsular above Veli Losinj was wonderful, if rocky! And we could have done with some route notes. The overall highlight was the amazing scents from the herbs everywhere.

Our highlights? The sheer beauty of the scenery and arriving in Nerezine for the end of their Traditional Boat Festival

We loved the variety of the Croatian holiday. Ranging from hilltop town and winery tour in Motovun to the barren islands of Cres and Losinj and the fascinating towns of Osor and Veli Losinj, then on to gorgeous Rab (where we would happily have spent all ten days) ending in Zadar, full of Roman ruins and weird sea organs. Great trip.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: these customers first did our Lakes & Julian Alps walking holiday in Slovenia, followed by our 10 night SlowMotion journey - Istria, Kvarner & Zadar - in Croatia.

Enjoyable first visit to Croatia and our first touring trip with Inntravel. With four hotels in 10 days it was a lot of travel for us.  We expected more detailed walks to be included as in previous walking holidays. Other customer reviews were helpful in good places to walk but finding a place to park not always easy. Ferries were easy to manage after the first one, not done this before. Really do just join the queue. Walk to the start of the queue and find the red tiled booth to buy ticket. Road tolls were inexpensive, 42 kuna for the longest one about £5. The notes warned about mozzies. Even in day got many bites, usual jungle spray not very effective here.

This was an excellent introduction to Croatia, moving from hill-top village to busy town. We were very glad we had booked an extra night on both the islands. The ferries became addictive, the roads were mainly very quiet and easy and the distances not too great. As mentioned above, we found The Rough Guide invaluable. Town walls at Motovun free before 10am. Another great Inntravel holiday (our first was in 1986!)

Old town Croatia was splendid and we particularly loved Zadar. Kastel at Motovun a stunning location and site. The crystal clear blue water of the Adriatic was wonderful.

A truly enjoyable journey, at a good pace, very photogenic throughout. Had a feeling we were given the best rooms in each hotel due to travelling with Inntravel - but being low season may have made this more possible. Hotel Manora and Arbiana staff were all delightful. Hotel Arbiana staff organised a day's fishing trip for just the two of us on a boat with a local fisherwoman, great fun.

Great mix of sightseeing, beaches, walking with wonderful seafood. Lovely people and welcoming country which felt safe and clean.

The small beach closest to the Hotel Manora is just a short walk away, but as it's east-facing it loses the sun quickly in the afternoon behind large trees.

We had an outstanding walk around the coast of Losinj. Plenty of parking near the big Aurora and Vespera hotel complexes outside Mali Losinj, then a wonderful and very quiet path along the west coast past peaceful coves through fragrant forest. At Krivica a track then heads directly uphill through old terraces to reach the spine of the island at Chiesetta Sv. Ivan with panoramic views across the islands. The track then continues down to Veli Losinj through the woodland of Park Podjavori. After refreshments on the harbourside, we followed the east coast path back to Mali Losinj where we were able to catch a hotel shuttle bus back to the car from outside the main post office. About 15km in all.

We loved every minute of our Croatian holiday. The people were friendly, the accommodation generally excellent and the ferries great fun. We loved the history of the towns and villages, combined with the beauty and the laid back and relaxed feeling we had on the islands. We were sorry not to stay at Motovun, especially after visiting the hilltop village, but Villa Vera (Lovran) was an excellent substiute. Our favourite place was Rab, despite the bad weather we had. We would highly recommend this trip.

The medieval festival at Rab was great, very much for local people and bustling with life! Fabulous firework display all viewed from our private balcony too. Beware overpriced restaurant in Rab, recommend read trip adviser comments before eating. Enjoyed wine tasting in Istria but shame one of us had to drive - see above comments. Loved the fabulous sunsets visible in Zadar and also enjoyed listening to the enchanting sea organ! Worth paying for room upgrades at Motovun and Rab.

Trogir old city worth a visit but definitely recommend visiting Krka National park en route rather than when staying at the hotel. Worked well for us. Definitely worth visiting the monastery, boat trip definitely a highlight for us!

Allow plenty of time at airports for collecting & returning car - Split airport currently a large building site!

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers did our Istria, Kvarner & Zadar - A Self-Guided Journey, followed by an optional two night stay in Trogir at the Hotel Trogir Palace.

Enjoyed terrace and food at Kastel so much, we ate there again next night. Lovely indoor pool. Wine tasting at Benevenuti was excellent, both for the wines and hosting. 

After a delicious breakfast at the Arbiana hotel in Rab, take a taxi boat to Kandarola beach. It is small, not crowded, has plenty of umbrellas and loungers and a good restaurant and bar. However do not bring your swimming costume - it is a nudist beach but quiet and unpretentious!

We loved the combination of beautiful verdant scenery, interesting history and architecture, clear waters, great food, good wine, friendly people. By linking two trips together we travelled the length, if not the breadth, of Croatia. Any one destination merits a longer visit and we felt the three nights, two days at some destinations did not allow us enough time to do all that we might want to. However, we were suprised at how much we could fit in to a day!

Recommendations: take a good mask and snorkel; the restaurant at Hotel Televrin, Nezerine on Losinj; walking the less frequented coastal footpaths south of Mali Losinj ending with an evening drink at the bar at the view point overlooking Mali and Cres; Konoba Dalmacija in Zadar (about 3 minutes walk from Hotel Bastion) for lovely secret garden, the best fish and friendly service. For an alternative outing from Zadar, the small town of Nin is very attractive with interesting history and architecture and the island of Pag is suprisingly beautiful despite its barren apearance.

INNTRAVEL NOTE: These customers combined Istria, Kvarner & Zadar with Dalmatian Islands & Dubrovnik

Arrangements were all excellent, the ease of driving across Croatia was a surprise, very little traffic and easy parking. All of the locations offered different aspects of Croatia, wish we had more time. The drive in the Hotel Kastel car from the car park to the reception is certainly memorable. And there is more to explore in Istria and on the islands so we will be back!

Inn Travel was recommended by friends and we would certaily recommend to others. The itinerary that you put together proved to be excellent providing interesting places and small but lovely hotels. The whole trip was a delightful experience and particularly being "off the beaten track".

The whole trip was a wonderful itinerary of varied landscapes, towns and hotels. Crossing to the islands using the ferries worked well and was delightful. The quality of hotels was excellent and we really enjoyed ourselves. The travelling distances were very manageable and we enjoyed picking up on the suggested highlights and activities. Hotel Arbiana on Rab has an outstanding location and our two balcony corner room was a real treat. At every location we found the staff to be very welcoming and affable. In addition we found ourselves in the company of another couple following the same trip. We enjoyed their company and had many drinks, chats and some meals together.

We enjoyed every part of this holiday.  Each place was very different, and one of the strengths of an Inntravel holiday is that the hotels are well chosen, sometimes a bit quirky, perhaps family run, but almost always great places to stay.  The arrangements all worked for us and the ferry trips between the islands were great.  It was worth giving ourselves extra time to get to the ferries, as even in June, they were busy.

We hired bikes in Mali Losinj and enjoyed a lovely cycle along the paved route around the coast.  We can also recommend the half day guided bike tour around Zadar.  http://www.zzuum.com/activities/bike-tours/zadar-explore/

Tips for future customers: 

Motovun. The wine tasting was enjoyable, but the walk would have been beyond us and we didn't want to drive, especially given the zero alcohol tolerance. The hotel agreed to take us and collect us, for a round trip fee of (I think) HK 120 (£15), which worked out perfectly, so may be worth adding into the notes as a possible option.

Rab. The hotel had a list of possible cruises, and arranged for us to take one. It was a nine hour cruise around the island, visiting a couple of others, and with several opportunities to swim from the boat. Total cost of HK 200 (£25) per person, including a lunch of freshly grilled mackerel - an absolute bargain. A good option if staying more than a couple of days.

We took 2 nights out of your itinerary to go to Plitvice Lakes and 1 night to stay at Skradin. This worked very well and gave us the opportunity to do some very enjoyable walking in the National Parks.

We flew to Pula on a flight which arrived at 9.25pm and stayed the night in Pula looking round the arena etc in the morning before collecting the car from the airport at 2.30pm. This enabled us to see Pula and still do the wine tasting walk at Motovun. We very much enjoyed the wine tasting.

Our personal highlights were:

The friendliness we experienced everywhere from everyone, without exception.

Our first taste of truffles at Konobo Mundo in Motovun

The exceptional welcome and amazing food at Konobo Bonaparte in Nerezine. None of us had ever seen or tasted calamari like it, nor had we ever tried Mistletoe liquer before.

Rab was our favourite island, much to explore both in the town and beyond. The 'lamb under a lid' at Konobo Rab was a real experience, and we were lucky enough to be there while the local male voice choir performed for another group of tourists!

The boat trip from Zadar to the Kornati archipelago was also amazing, the landscape is unlike anything we had experienced before and the food included in the trip, not to mention the slivovitch at breakfast time, was so much more than anticipated.

The meal at Hotel Bastion was exceptional as was our final meal in Bruchetta.