Tag Archive: Opatija


Road Trip Through Austria, Slovenia, Italy & Croatia

Filed under: Europe, Travel, travels — Leave a comment
August 18, 2019

We’ve long wanted to visit Slovenia so we drove from Vienna to Ljubljana with a Graz pit stop. Clean and green, plus it’s such a small country offering so much. Lake Bled comes to mind, but Piran stole our hearts. On a Food Trip, we included Trieste, Italy in our itinerary. Yes, that small strip of land off the Adriatic and the Italian border to Slovenia. As home to Illy Coffee, plus the prospect of seafood harvested off the Adriatic and cooked the Italian way, we couldn’t go wrong. Next, the van took us on a road trip visiting the small towns of the Istrian Peninsula. All of these destinations couldn’t have been better. By the time we left Istria and reached Zagreb, we were almost unfamiliar with big city vibes. And Plitvice? That was the highlight of my trip.

Just click on the following titles to the blog links .

From Vienna to Graz, Austria

Clean and Green Ljubljana

A Rainy Day in Lake Bled

Going Italian in Trieste

Driving Back to Slovenia’s Piran

Groznjan’s Art and Culture

More Truffles in Motovun

How Do You Say Rovinj?

Rijeka Off the Adriatic

Opatija’s Classy Vibe

Summery Day in Pula

Finally, Zagreb!

A Near-Miss in Plitvice

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Trip Length: 12 Days

Hotels:

Hotel Galeria

Hotel Coppe

Hotel Jadran

Hotel Dubrovnik

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Opatija, Pearl of the Adriatic

Filed under: Europe, Travel, travels — Leave a comment
August 16, 2019

Have not even heard of this resort town and would not even have included it in our itinerary but for that unsolicited advice from our local driver. Spent only a good hour and a half here. Enough to have coffee, beer or a gelato and to check out the lovely Promenade called Lungomare, a tiny Museum, an elegant park and the small-sized St. Jacob Church with lovely stained glass windows. This must be the Croatian Riviera. And it’s only 13 kilometres from our hotel in Rijeka!

Summer here is mild considering that parts of France, Spain, Italy are burning. Even at noon, it didn’t go beyond 30C. Hot yes, but not so unpleasant to want to stay indoors the whole day. Towards the early evenings, it gets more pleasant at 26C. So we timed our arrival here mid morning. With gelato bars and those beer pubs everywhere in this posh town, we are good. The Promenade snakes along the coast with options to visit a tiny church and a museum while retail therapy presents itself at every turn. High-end retail stores beckon and private lounging areas of posh seaside hotels invite attention. I am truly surprised that I haven’t heard of nor read of this place way before coming here. Perhaps because it’s been the private enclave of wealthy Austro-Hungarian families who built their pre-war villas here. Such a blessing to be under the tourist radar but I think that will soon change as I met some selfie stick-wielding tourists get off a private van and crowd out the Lungomare. Oh dear. 🙄

The town oozes with class and studied elegance. Opulence and luxury are spelled all over the place. There were bronze sculptures and fountains along the seaside footpath dotted with mansions and high-end hotels as well as a small but well-manicured park where many locals idle away their time with babies on strollers. The Empress Sisi would have been pleased. The museums (there were 2, for the price of 1 ticket, but the bigger Museum of Croatian Tourism opens at 5pm!) are perfect “breaks” along the 12 km Promenade. No, we didn’t walk the entire Lungomare but we wasted no time taking photos of the iconic Maiden and the Seagull. Not sure how pricey the seaside hotels here are, but if you have a beach holiday and pure recreation in mind, this is a good place to chill.

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