Post It from Camping Krk, Krk, Otok Krk, Croatia. Wednesday 20th May, 2015.

The decision to follow the scenic road 106 south from Ljubljana was a good one. It gave us the opportunity to see what Slovenia was really like in the countryside and it was a mass of lush meadows and densely forested hill sides, quaint villages and views of distant mountains. I had read somewhere that it was Europe’s most densely forested country by percentage of size and this was clearly true. The road was quite good as well and not a problem for us. At the border with Croatia, Petrina/Brod na Kup, I was surprised to see two manned border crossings and we had to produce our passports to both sides. I expect that Croatia is not a part of the Schengen agreement as we did not encounter the same when we entered Slovenia from Austria.

The road in Croatia was not of as good a quality and we dropped down the side of the mountains on tight bends to join the motorway where we only went two junctions until we turned off again and went down a steep but good road to the Island of Krk. By doing so missed out a much longer journey there by the motorway. From this road as we slowly went down to the coast we could see the Adriatic Sea and the toll bridge that crossed to Otok Krk where we would drive to the southern coast of the island  to our intended destination.

We had heard so much praise for Croatia as a whole and I am pretty sure I recall Krk itself being Cath’s, from the forum, favourite place to swim in the sea. We visited the site they use which is across the bay from us and can see why she would like it. The island had a natural beauty about it, very rocky and so different to Slovenia. Its beauty was in the natural landscape, and we later discovered the people too, who we found to be extremely friendly everywhere we met them. A point we realised with time was that there was hardly any dust here so the van kept relatively clean.

This campsite had formerly been a naturist one, for which Croatia is the leading place in Europe in that regard, but in 2013 it closed and had a full refurbishment reopening as what they call a textile camp site. It was not too large but very nicely laid out on a terraced format with quite a good drop down to the sea. There had been new mobile homes placed all around the top of the site and then a whole lot of hard standing comfort pitches had been created, mostly giving views of the sea and the islands of Cres, Rab and the very tiny one called Plavnik. There was a nudist beach close by within walking distance for those who may have wanted to use it.

We chose a comfort pitch right at the top and placed our Bessie on an angle so we got the best views of the entire bay. Not another pitched blocked our views and we were pleased as the site was quite full as it was the German school holidays. In fact we could only stay on this particular pitch until the 23^rd May should we have wanted to because the site then became almost full, although they did say they would have found somewhere for us to stay had we wished to do so.

The refurbished facilities which looked like new builds were top notch and spotlessly clean. The restaurant had an infinity pool adjacent and there were man made bathing terraces along the rocky shoreline. The sea was crystal clear and we enjoyed the water even though we would have liked it a degree or two warmer. The last time we had swam in the Adriatic Sea had been more than 35 years ago on the other side in Italy, Sharon cut her foot on a broken bottle in the water but here all the beaches were spotlessly clean and the sea was crystal clear. One of the staff had seen a dolphin as she was swimming from our beach a few days ago.

We rode by bike into the small and very charming town of Krk, 1.7 miles away by road, but because of the steep hills first climbing up before dropping down to sea level again I am sorry to say they were too much for Sharon and we only did it the once. On a positive note it made us decide to treat ourselves to new, much lighter bikes, with many more gears than our current five! The hills won’t defeat us the next time we visit. After that we ventured along the coastal path which itself had some minor difficulties for the first seven minutes as it passed through lightly wooded terrain but there were some tricky points where rocks made it difficult footing. After that it was a paved path all the way into Krk and the total journey was around 30 minutes at a leisurely pace.

Old town Krk was made up of very narrow cobbled streets, steep in places, all running down to the harbour. We found two supermarkets although there was a very good one on the site. There was lots of eating places and many small shops to browse. The quality of the cafes and restaurants looked high and the ones we used during our stay could not be faulted for quality and service. The prices were good too and I enjoyed a fresh seafood platter for lunch one day in one close to the Cathedral. I watched it being cooked and the taste of the Sea Bass and squid was some of the best I have ever had. Sharon, contrary to her normal eating habits, tried and enjoyed some of the small fried melts that accompanied the mussels that completed the dish.

The weather was good during our 8 night stay with mainly continuous sun. There was some cloudy times and strong breezes for a couple of days but that made the 29ºC mid-day temperatures more pleasant. The occasional drop of light rain was not a problem to us.

Smokee seemed to enjoy the sunny weather and being in one place for a bit longer. You can definitely tell he is getting old now as he spends most of his life zonked out on the seat backs either in the sun or the shade. He has even fallen off once as he listed over the edge of the seat back. It is so good to still have him with us though and long may he do so. He has taken once more to waking up for our 4 o’clock afternoon tea and cake when he is ravenous for the bits of cake we give him.

We would certainly stay at this camp site again; everything about it was excellent except for the Wi-Fi capability which although being there the speed meant I could not send anything but basic text and sometimes could not even browse the net or send messages/emails. It was free however and there was plenty of free internet access in the town to be able to send photos. I shall try and upload this story before we leave but doubt that I shall be able to do so. I could not! so posting from Fanzana.

The camp sites customer base is around 90% Germans with some Dutch, Austrian, Italian and Slovenians. There are almost no British here by comparison and we only ever saw two others whilst we were here until the last day when a couple from Chesterfield came and pitched next to us. They preferred the sea views at the top like we did as opposed to the more shaded section in a small basin from the former campsite. Like us they had not met many other British campers whilst away so the chance to have a chat was welcomed by all. I suppose you would need more shade if you had no clothes on! All the campers were very friendly and we had many a good conversation with our Dutch and German neighbours.

We have decided to move on to a large camp site (1000 pitches) outside Fazana before the week of forecasted showers starts. We shall hopefully be able to get into Pula by bus and do some sightseeing where the rain won’t matter so much. We shall take the scenic route once again and I am told by our Dutch friends that some of the views along the Istrian coast are magnificent. We were looking forward to our final night’s meal in the site restaurant as we have been told it is very good and well-priced as a bonus. We thoroughly enjoyed the meal and local Krk wine and the service from our waiter, Drazen, was probably the best we have ever experienced during our time camping. The food was really excellent too and the price was very good indeed. What a lovely time we had at Krk, no wonder Chas & Cath like it so much.

Regards, Roy