Our time on Krk was very brief so I’m not really qualified to talk about what to do there, however we did have a lovely few days so it is definitely worth sharing our experience for those looking for something a bit more chilled.
We flew in to Pula airport where we picked up our hire car and set straight off for Krk which was about a 2.5 hour drive, mainly motorway and very easy.
What we did:
Day one was a pool day. The villa we stayed in was in Linardici which is a tiny village with a church and a couple of very small restaurants. After a travel day the kids really enjoyed spending time in the pool and chilling out.
We did a quick trip to nearby Krk where we did a supermarket shop and had a quick look round the old town of Krk and had our first Aroma ice cream of the trip. Krk town seems lovely, it’s a typical Croatian old town.
I had a lovely walk in the evening from our villa down towards the sea, it is such a peaceful area with very little noise and light pollution. I saw a few other hikers and it would be a great area for those that like exploring the outdoors.
Day two was my favourite activity of the whole trip.
Prisoner of Goli
We started off my taking the ferry from Krk to Lopar on the island of Rab. This was really easy, we parked at the ferry terminal, bought tickets from the ticket booth and then boarded as foot passengers. We didn’t take the car across as we didn’t have that option on our insurance, we could have easily though. There was plenty of seating onboard and a snack bar.
Once we reached Lopar we had about mile walk along the coast to where we met 4Out Experience to pick up our electric scooters and guide for the day. From there we rode our scooters down to the beach where we loaded them on to a speedboat and set off for Goli Otok.
Goli Otok is a former prison island and has a fascinating history. We toured it with our guide, rode around the island and as our guide is one of the leading historians on the history of Goli Otok, found out some really interesting facts.
The island is known as the Croatian Alcatraz and was a prison from 1948 to 1988, housing first Russian prisoners and then Stalinist prisoners under the Tito Regime. Later it became a Youth Offender prison before finally closing and then reopening after the war as a tourist attraction.
We were able to visit the buildings where the guards would have been housed as well as some of the cells as well as rising a loop around the island to get an idea of how barren it really was.
This was a really interesting and fun activity.
Useful to know:
The E-scooters are similar to mountain bikes without the seats and are controlled with both hands. The battery pack is worn in a back pack on your back and is fairly heavy, so it is quite a physical activity. They do have smaller bikes for children with slightly easier controls. Pip didn’t love the e-scooters, she really struggled to get the hang of it and didn’t like going fast, she did however say that she had enjoyed the day though.
There are toilets and a small cafe on the island where you get off the boat. Apart from that the island is pretty barren other than ruined buildings.
The speedboat ride over to Goli Otok is an adventure in itself. We got completely soaked on the way back! You are able to leave bags at the 4Out Adventure office though if you feel you might need a change of clothes.
You are able to visit the island independently and there are signs around the island and a walking route, however we thought it was much more fun to do it with a guide and on scooter.
From Lopra we got the ferry back to Krk, picked up our car and then headed to Zagreb.
We visited Krk in August 2022 when Pip was 10.
Go everywhere, Do everything 