Cres is a beautiful Croatian Island in the Adriatic that somehow managed to stay
a hidden gem. Undisturbed by mass tourism, adorned by oak forests, medieval hilltop villages and
beautiful quiet beaches, the island's slogan is… No Stress on Cres. Hi guys, my name is Rok and
I’m a tour guide and I can’t wait to show you things to do and the best beaches on Cres Island.
Cres is one of the biggest islands in the Adriatic.
Located in the Gulf of Kvarner it is home to about 3000 residents, most of them living in Cres Town.
With its impressive history town predates even the Romans, as it always offered a well protected bay
on a strategic location next to Istria peninsula. Cres Town developed around the old harbour with
square that remains to be the heart of the town. Here you will find inviting restaurants, cafes and
ice cream places with beautiful seafront views. Cres is part of the beautiful Croatian coast,
but for more than three centuries it was part of Venetian Republic. You can still
see the winged lion, symbol of Venice on the town gates as Venetians surrounded the
entire old town by defensive walls. With the fall of the Venetian Republic and the arrival
of the Austrian government, the defensive ring of the city was gradually torn down.
Town gates and small fragments of the city walls managed to survive.
But the most impressive remaining part is the defensive tower. There were five towers and
this is the only one that managed to survive. The tower was located at the highest point of
the city walls and is open to the public. You can climb to its roof and get a very nice view.
Venetian influence is also visible on churches, palaces and buildings like this Loggia. It served
as a covered public space on a town square, offering protection against scorching sun,
while being open on three sides. Loggia was used for trials,
City Council sessions and as a marketplace. It is nice to see that in the mornings it still serves
its purpose as here you can find locally grown fruits, vegetables, olive oil, honey and jam.
Town also has Venetian palaces and the oldest one is dating back to the 1500s.
It was constructed in the place of a former shipyard called arsenale in Italian,
hence its name Arsan palace. It houses a modest Cres City Museum that offers
a glimpse into the history of the island and an opportunity to see the interior of the palace.
Town also has several churches and two monasteries. Most central is the main church
of the island dating back to the late 1400s with a 72 feet or 22 meter high bell tower.
A renaissance portal decorated with the Virgin and Child takes you to a glassed-in foyer that
allows you to peer inside, as the church is only open during services. If you manage to get in
be sure to check a wooden pietà on one of its side altars, as it predates the church.
Like other monasteries the Franciscan monastery in Cres was also built outside the town walls. It
includes a church from the 1200s, two cloisters, dormitories, a refectory, and gardens with an
olive grove. It has a small museum and every summer, one of the two cloisters turns into an
open-air stage for music performances. Small monastery museum houses some religious
artwork, sculptures, vestments and other ceremonial objects.
But despite its size it houses a very important and rare book from the 1400s. It is written in the
old Slavic language used by the church and printed in Slavic alphabet called Glagolitic script.
But the main reason for visiting Cres are its beautiful and almost never overcrowded beaches.
From Cres town you can follow a long and beautiful paved pedestrian path
known as Lungomare that follows the coastline. The entire Lungomare also serves as a beach,
as you can find beautiful places to swim, bars and restaurants with nice shade. If you are willing to
take about a 20 minutes stroll along the Lungomare you will get to beautiful Kovačine Beach. Like
many other beaches on Cres this one is covered with pebbles and is almost never overcrowded.
Here is also a campground that offers bars,
restaurants and other facilities and in the evening beach offers beautiful sunsets.
But before I show you more beautiful places around Cres, let me show you
how to get to the island. Obviously yachts and organized boat tours are one option.
But you can also come here by car and there are two options. First one is from the island of Krk,
where you board the car ferry at the terminal at Valbiska. The car ferry takes about 25
minutes before it docks right here in Merag. Another option is a car ferry from Istria. The
ferry leaves at the terminal in Brestova and takes about 20 minutes before it docks in Porozina.
Tickets can be bought directly from the ferry terminals or online. I will put the link to the
official ferry website with timetables and tickets in the description below.
Now let's look at the island's oldest and most beautiful villages. One of them is on the northern
part of the island located on a small hill above the sea. It is called Beli and has about 40
residents, although it used to be much bigger. Its strategic position with a view of the waterways
attracted the Romans who built the settlement. You can still see Roman traces as the Old Roman
road and bridge are part of a hiking trail next to the village. Current name of the village
derives from the middle ages, when Tartar hordes from Asia were plundering the Eastern Europe.
Tartars never came to this island, but people seeking refuge did. One of them was apparently
a Hungarian king Bela the IV, who found shelter in this village that now carries his name.
Due to economic and political reasons following the second world war, most people left the
village. They moved to the nearby city of Rijeka, Italy, USA or Australia. But the pristine nature
stayed here and now the village hosts an Eco Center dedicated to Griffon vultures as Cres
is their only nesting place in Croatia. Below the village is this nice natural pebble
beach. On one end it ends with a small village harbour, while the other end ends with rocks.
Beach gets lively in summer when a small campground behind the beach fills with visitors.
Here you can find changing facilities, a bar, toilets, a diving base, a shop and even
a zip-line. There is also a tourist road train which operates between the beach and the village.
South of Cres town is a small seaside fishermen village called Valun. It is nestled under the
hill with tightly packed houses around a small harbor. The main reason to visit this
village are its two lovely pebble beaches with crystal clear sea. As there is little space, you
will need to park your car above the village and descend on foot. In the village are restaurants,
bars and a grocery shop where you can get supplies before heading to the two beaches.
They can be reached by a path following the coast. North of the village is Raca beach
lined with a thick pine forest, while south is beach Zdovica with a small campground.
Not far from Valun, spectacularly perched on a top of the cliff, is a remote village
of Lubenice. It is rising 1250 feet or 380 meters above the sea and offers stunning views of Kvarner
Gulf and the coast of Istria. On this strategic point Romans built a fort that later developed
into a settlement. Most of the current village dates back to the Middle Ages when this was one
of the most important places on the island. From that period you can see the remains of
a medieval fortress, parts of the town wall and town gates along with chapels,
houses and a 15th century church dominating the main square. Interestingly, a self standing bell
tower stands on the other side of the square. Originally the church had an adjacent bell
tower but it had to be deconstructed as it was attracting many lightning strikes.
Village has an interesting small museum of Sheep Breeding.
Shepherding is still common on Cres and wool from local sheep used to be held in great esteem.
Sheep graze freely around the island and both clean and fertilize the land
making it perfect for olive groves. That is why Cres has a long tradition of olive growing. Extra
virgin olive oil from Cres is considered to be one of the finest and carries the European
label of Protected Designation of Origin. Right under Lubenice is the most beautiful
beach on the island and one of the most beautiful secluded beaches on the entire
Croatian coast. This pebbly beach can be reached by 45-minute steep descent from the village,
but coming back up is more of a challenge. More comfortable option is to go on a boat trip from
Valun or Cres. Obviously there are no facilities of any sort at the beach as its seclusion and
beautiful pristine nature and Mediterranean scents are the very things that are making it so special.
Hard to imagine, but this small village of Osor used to be the most important town on the island.
In the times when intensive sailing took place along the coast Osor offered protected harbor and
a narrow strait separating the island of Cres and the island of Lošinj that made sailing around the
Gulf of Kvarner much shorter and faster. Before the Romans dug the canal, Cres and
neighboring Lošinj were one large island. The canal created two separate islands and made
Osor a strategic point for centuries until in the middle ages the town lost its importance.
Administration was moved to Cres town, but remnants of its golden days are town forum,
the municipal palace, Bishop’s Palace and the cathedral all dating to the 15th and
16th centuries. From mid July to mid August the cathedral serves as the main music hall for a
festival of classical music called Osor Musical Evenings. Around town are bronze sculptures
dedicated to this music festival as they are based on the theme of music,
made by important Croatian sculptors. In the former town hall and loggia
is an archeological museum showing artefacts from Osor spanning from prehistoric to medieval times.
There are also a few restaurants and shops, apartment houses and two campgrounds and one of
them is located on neighboring Lošinj Island. The two islands are connected by this swing
bridge that opens twice a day for boats to pass. You can explore the neighboring Lošinj
Island in my upcoming video in the top right corner. If you enjoyed this video, please,
leave a Super Thanks to help me create my future travel videos and let me know where I
should travel next. Thanks for your support and for watching, and see you next time.