Tucked into the uppermost corner of the Kvarner Gulf, Cres is Croatia’s biggest island but also one of its least well known. Famous for its unspoiled nature and slow pace of life, it is mercifully far from being a glitzy tourist-industry showpiece.

Main town Cres is a case in point – despite the big hotel and a campsite on its outskirts, it retains the laid-back feel of a fishing village. Elsewhere the island, Valun is a small fishing port with attractive shingle beach, while Lubenice is a beautifully preserved hilltop town with spectacular sea views. Some of Cres’s best beaches lie on the shingly shore below Lubenice’s walls, although they are only accessible via steep trails or by boat.

Osor

Oldest of Cres’s settlements is Osor at the southern tip, a former Roman port which grew to be a cathedral town (and a major centre of learning) in the Middle Ages. Now no more than a village, it retains stretches of its walls, a fifteenth-century church, and a Renaissance town hall holding a small but absorbing archeological museum.

Practical Info

There is a tourist office just off the harbourfront in Cres Town (this entry’s map location).

By passenger ferry: A passenger-only catamaran runs daily from Rijeka harbour to Cres town (1hr 20min).

By car ferry: Regular car ferries run from Brestova on the eastern coast of Istria to Porozina near the northern tip of Cres; and from Valbiska on the island of Krk to Merag on the eastern coast of Cres.

By bus: Regular buses run to Cres from Zagreb and Rijeka - the price of the ferry journey from Brestova or Valbiska is included in the ticket.