Pag - Rab - Krk (Croatia 1.2)

For those wondering what these words in the title are describing: they are islands that Lucas and I continued to use to avoid the coastal highway of the Croatian mainland.

After our private celebration on the beach in Nin, we continued the next morning to the island of Pag. I complained a bit about the very consistent landscape since we entered Croatia, and just then we saw the island of Pag, which transported us to a completely different natural area. Nothing had really prepared us for it, but as soon as we crossed the bridge to the island, we found ourselves in what seemed like a rocky desert. Only a few small plants were growing along the ground, some of them blooming with colorful flowers, bushes and trees were nowhere to be seen. Fascinated by the landscape, we drove a few kilometers until the aforementioned weakness attack. We stopped at the next campground after a total of 39 km and 340 meters of elevation, where we spent the afternoon until the next morning on the beach for just 30€.

The next day, the ferries that were not running or running very infrequently in the low season forced us to drive to the north of the island and hope for a ferry to the island of Rab in Novalja. The landscape can probably be best shown with the accompanying photos. I was definitely very impressed by the rocky, brown-gray landscapes in combination with the dark blue sea.

Novalja was the opposite of this rather untouched landscape: a party place for 3000. Since there was no ferry available for us, Lucas and I drove 8 km over the mountains to the opposite coast, where we waited for over an hour to take a 10-minute car ferry ride to the mainland. It was a steep mountain stage, but the view made up for it, and we reached the next ferry to cross to Rab. A small island, more developed than Pag, as we quickly realized through a fully occupied campground. So, after almost 80 km and 920 meters of elevation that day, Lucas and I had our first camping resort experience on a site for 2500 people with futuristic sanitary buildings, sports fields, restaurants, and everything else you need if you don't want to stay in an all-inclusive hotel.

Since the ferry didn't leave until 5 pm the next day, we slept in and strolled through the really beautiful, small town of Rab. Narrow streets with blooming gardens and beautiful old buildings rise on the mountainside overlooking the sea. We waited in the hot sun in the afternoon for the ferry, which then took us to Krk. Here, too, the small campsites were already full, so we spent the night for 45€ on the gravel ground of the next resort. At least we were able to cover about 35 km and 430 meters of elevation.

Accompanied by trucks and countless cars, we quickly made our way down from the island of Krk, which honestly didn't impress me the most in terms of its landscapes. After the long bridge to the mainland, which we had to push our bikes across, we then waited for a few kilometers on a quite busy road through the industrial suburbs of Rijeka. Croatia's third-largest city surprised us after hours of cloudy mood with its atmosphere and its buildings. It doesn't seem to be particularly touristy here (price of coffee: 1€ instead of the frequent 2€-2.80€ on the coast)

and the sea seems to be used more for economic-industrial purposes. The houses and streets of the city center reminded me a lot of Vienna.

Lucas and I had a coffee in the first city on our journey that we really liked. After that, we had a steep climb to our spontaneously booked Airbnb, where, after 740 meters of elevation in 40 km, we just slumped down for the afternoon, hoping to finally leave Croatia and reach Slovenia tomorrow.

PS: To address the title "Between the Highway and Gravel Road", which didn't play such an explicit role, a few brief words. Croatia is not really a country to cycle through. Most of the time, you are led along heavily trafficked highways where speeds of 90-130 km/h are allowed. And when there is an alternative, it quickly ends after a few meters on gravel, which is often mixed with quite large stones or becomes very fine, deep gravel. Overall, it is rather poorly or not at all passable. And yet I am very happy to have seen Croatia. There are many beautiful spots on the coast and on the islands... to end with a few positive words :)