Rab.
The Adriatic island, located in the Kvarner Bay, is full of variety and greenery. You can burn off energy with outdoor activities: whether hiking, cycling or a sea kayak tour.
The path climbs over stones and roots. You sweat, pine trees provide shade, the sifted sunlight dabs on the ground. Red and white hiking signs are painted on tree trunks.
Then the view opens up. Through the foliage and branches, the green of the forests becomes visible, sloping down towards the coast. Lush vegetation for the Adriatic is a trademark of Rab. In the distance, the blue of the Adriatic Sea and the sky merge, and the island neighbors of Cres and Lošinj hump up.
Here, on Rab, the trail continues uphill between junipers and holm oaks to Kamenjak, the island throne, 408 meters above sea level. Up there, on a barren limestone plateau, the vegetation flattens out. It is depressed by the Bora, the wind blowing from the direction of the Croatian mainland.
Newcomers built cairns around Kamenjak, although this is not a classic peak. Instead, an antenna system breaks with the environment. That doesn’t detract from the panoramas.
The mainland is also in sight, as is the Velebit Channel, which separates it from the island world. It also includes Goli otok, once a prison island and eyesore from Yugoslav times.
Bike course with historic buildings
A few numbers: Rab is relatively small compared to its island neighbors Krk and Cres: 22 kilometers long and 11 kilometers wide. Nevertheless, active holidaymakers can enjoy varied activities on 88 kilometers of hiking trails and 348 kilometers of cycle routes.
Popular terrain for mountain bikers is the Kalifront peninsula in the northwest, starting from the island’s capital of the same name, Rab. From there, you follow the promenade parallel to the deep indentation of a bay, where rock outcrops rise and bright white yachts dot the blue of the sea. After a climb, the green takes over: in the protected area of the Dundo Forest, which once provided the material for shipbuilding, carpentry and firewood.
This is where the 22.5-kilometre-long Capo Fronte circular tour starts, which, despite an altitude difference of 363 metres, is classified as easy. Gravel, gravel and bits of asphalt alternate. It smells of pine and herbs.
Interwoven with nature is a network of historical buildings that were built in the course of the project Rab Archaeological Traces have been documented and rediscovered. The remains of the Maurus and Paul churches encourage short detours on foot into the solitude of the forest. The highlight is the ruins of the chapel in honor of Saint Mara above Mara Bay. Centuries ago, Franciscans immersed themselves in contemplation here.
Anyone looking for inner contemplation today can take a seat on the floor covered with pine needles in front of the walls. The green-blue of the water shimmers through bushes and trees. The waves play their melody.
Paddling through crystal clear water
A sea kayak tour puts Rab in a new light. The landscape protection area of Lopar in the north of the island is too stormy today, churned up by the notorious Bora. That’s why kayak guide Dominik Pahljana rescheduled at short notice and started the tour in the protected west.
Step by step you paddle through crystal-clear water, away from buildings – whereby the relevant sins on Rab are kept within limits. There are also hardly any hotel blocks. One idyllic bay follows the other. seagulls screech. A cormorant spreads its wings to dry on rocks. Guide Pahljana heads for a deserted stone beach: “Fortunately, there is no industry on the island.” Not only his guests, but he too enjoys the break.
If you like, you can throw yourself naked into the water. Nudism on Rab has been normal since England’s King Edward VIII and his sweetheart Wallis Simpson went nude in the 1930s. However, it is important to watch out for jellyfish and sea urchins. The best way to protect yourself from their spikes and the stony subsoil of the coasts is to wear aqua shoes, which can be bought everywhere.
condition while strolling through the city
The crystal-clear water continues on beaches such as the so-called paradise beach near Lopar – and the opportunity for activities in the island’s capital, Rab: A stroll through town requires physical fitness. Because from the port through a park up to the historic district with its network of alleys, facades covered with ivy and bougainvillea and the quartet of church towers, there is a good distance to be covered.
Two of the church towers, those of St. Mariae Himmelfahrt and St. Johannes, can be climbed. Then it goes over the old town walls upstairs to a viewing terrace. And again the shirt sticks to the body. It’s good that the fluid and calorie losses can be compensated for in an abundance of small, cozy restaurants.
Service information about Croatia
Getting there: By car in just over six hours to the ferry terminal in Valbiska in the south-west of Krk. The crossing by car ferry to Lopar on Rab takes 80 minutes. There is another ferry connection to Misnjak on Rab from Stinica on the mainland. From there, the translation only takes a quarter of an hour. Alternative: fly to Rijeka and continue to Rab by rental car.
Accommodation: There is a wide range of holiday accommodation on Rab, including studios, apartments, holiday homes and some campsites. Large hotels are hard to find.
Infos: www.rab-visit.com; www.kvarner.hr; www.croatia.hr (dpa)
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