RV Roadtrip Croatia – Krk Island

The route to Krk.

The route to Krk Island.

After the lovely camping at Porto Sole we decided to move south and investigate some of the other camping options.  Our first destination was Krk island which took us off of the Istrian peninsula and onto the mainland of Croatia for just a short bit. Again, the toll roads were really good and we even had a few tunnels through the mountains, all in excellent shape.

The first of many.

The first of many.

We then had a toll bridge crossing to get over to the island and then a bit of country driving until we reached the village of Krk and Camping Bor. Some of the campsite reviews mention that the hill is a bit of challenge after walking into the village. The camping is up a hill but not really as bad as some people make it out to be.

The bridge to Krk.

The bridge to Krk.

The island of Krk is the largest in all of Croatia though certainly not the most picturesque. However, the village of Krk dates to ancient times and still has city walls intact that were originally constructed in the 1st century BC and their last major reconstruction was in the 15th century.

Sebastian and I hide in the ancient walls.

Sebastian and I hide in the ancient walls.

Krk village also sports a lovely port/marina and the old city center is quaint and features narrow cobbled streets that are perfect for wandering around and discovering the fortified castle and cathedral. There are several sites that date from medieval times in various states of repair or reconstruction and there are a few places where you can enter the old city walls or get a great view of the sea.

Lovely Krk marina.

Lovely Krk marina.

According to Wikipedia – “The city is ancient, being among the oldest in the Adriatic. It has been continuously inhabited since Roman times and was once part of the Byzantine Theme Dalmatia after the Western Roman Empire had fallen to the barbarians. Roman ruins can be seen today in some parts of the town, for example mosaics in the houses. The city had also preserved many medieval fortifications, including Frankopan Castle close to the Kamplin park, and part of the city walls built during the five centuries when the Republic of Venice ruled the city. The main square of the old city is called Kamplin: which is derived from the Latin word “campus”, meaning field. During Roman times, a training area was located here close to the thermal Roman spas. The remnants of the temple columns at the square gives witness to a large building from Roman times.”

Maintenance on the fortress.

Maintenance on the fortress.

We quite enjoyed our meandering through the old town discovering all of the sites. At several spots there are some helpful signs and a few maps to help with orientation. We did end up at a dead end or two and had to double back but I can think of worse ways to idle away an afternoon. Most of the old town shops were closed for the season but there were some bars and restaurants open, particularly in the village square and along the marina.

Wandering in the old town area.

Wandering in the old town area.

There are also two small shopping centers, each with a proper market and there is a green market, several fish mongers and butcher shops that were all open as well. The only issue is carrying your booty up the hill! Oh and there are several bakeries that had some really delicious looking pizzas.

Sunset at the marina.

Sunset at the marina.

As I mentioned, Camping Bor is just up from the ancient village and Old Town. The campsite also happens to be a working olive farm and wine and olive oil producer so all of the pitches are among the olive trees.  As it sits above town, if you choose the right location the views from your campsite can be stunning! We were lucky to have our pick and were quite pleased to dine al fresco looking out to the sea and ancient village.

View from Camping Bor.

View from Camping Bor.

Around the village of Krk and up in the hills that surround the city are several trails that wind through various olive groves and the one we took would eventually take you up the coast to a small inlet with a few boats moored just off shore. 

One of the views from the trail.

One of the views from the trail.

At least that’s what it looked like to us, we didn’t quite make it. As we ascended and descended on the trail, it looked like a very long decent on a pretty cobbled path to get to the lagoon. The prospect of a few kilometers back up the hill dissuaded us and we had to make do with admiring from afar. That being said, the hike was absolutely lovely and peaceful meandering along in the trees with the occasional heard of goats clanging around as they foraged.

Apparently the old town of Krk is absolutely packed with tourists in the prime season but when we were there it was very quiet and we made the trip in on several occasions. As Krk was still alive and has a large enough local population for the villagers to keep some shops open for the whole year we had no issues keeping the camping car full.  However, just after you cross the toll bridge onto Krk island there is a small mall with a proper full sized supermarket that we stopped at both coming and going. As we never know how big or if there will be a market we’ve still applied the adage ‘catch as catch can’ and we stock up when there is a good option.

Krk from above.

Krk town from above.

Sadly, the mini market at Camping Bor was closed for the season so we were unable to get any of their olive oil or wine though we probably could have if we would have pressed the staff but communication was a bit of a challenge some of the time. The younger guys that spoke English were occupied with the olive business and running the farm and so generally the older generation was manning reception in the low season, thus the language challenge. They were also in the process of expanding and filling in the land for more pitches and olive trees and we didn’t want to be bothersome but we would have loved a tour of the olive pressing facility. Maybe next time.

Olives from the camping ripe for pressing in to oil.

Olives from the camping ripe for pressing in to oil.

Stay tuned as we visit Krka National Park, head to Pag island and Šimuni Camping Village.

6 comments on “RV Roadtrip Croatia – Krk Island”

  1. Dad says:

    Beautiful views. A tour of the olive pressing facility would be interesting. Love you guys.

    1. Todd says:

      It would have been interesting. A lot of the local guys were dropping off the harvest from their trees to get pressed as well.

  2. Raylee says:

    Looks a little chilly but I guess that it was perfect for walking. Are you practicing your language skills as you roll along?

    1. Todd says:

      We had a mix of warm and cool days. We are embarrassed to say we learned to say only one word in Croatian. Google Translate is a great help figuring out menu items and product ingredients but most of the time English and pantomime got everything communicated. If we go back we have vowed to learn a little bit more!

  3. Scott says:

    Quite a sunset. That hike looks fantastic!

    1. Todd says:

      It was. We learned that not only were there the trails around Krk old town but there is a network across the whole island. Had we stayed longer we would have definitely explored some of those as well.

Leave a Reply to Dad Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *