Croatia. Mali Lošinj.

Croazia Mali Losinj. Croazia.

As specified in the post Croatia-tour, I returned from a 5-night holiday in Mali Lošinj.

Mali Losinj is an island in Croatia that you can reach in different ways: Bus + ferry, car + ferry, hydrofoil or airplane.

Information on the means.

Car:

If you decide to leave by car, I recommend you choose weekdays both for the outward and the return.

I usually leave on Wednesdays/Thursdays and Return on Tuesdays/Wednesdays because during the weekend many more queues are formed at customs.

Way to go.

By setting the Navigator or Google Maps, you will have several possible paths.

As far as I am concerned, starting from Gorizia I chose to travel to Slovenia. This path allows you to admire expanses of fields with hay bales and secular trees.

Along with the state (and not motorway) route of Slovenia, you will not need the "vignette"; That is the payment of the Slovenian motorway.

Since 2018 the Slovenia/Croatia border has been unified to reduce queues.

Remember the identity card or passport for each passenger of the car and the documents for your animals.

You can take the ferry from Brestova (Istria) towards Porozina (Cres) or from Merag (Cres) towards Pinezíci (KRK).

Hydrofoil:

From the port of Trieste on Monday and Friday morning, you can take the hydrofoil.

Schedules may vary, but generally, the departure is scheduled for 9:00 am.

You have to reach the pier IV in the maritime station of Trieste.

The purchase of tickets is also possible on the spot the same day, but 1 hour and 15 minutes before departure.

The ticket office opens at 7.45 am. All data are available on the website LibertyLines.

From Mali Lošinj you can make your return ticket at the tourist office (located after the Apoxyomenos Museum).

Before boarding, you have to carry out the checks, as at the airport.

It is permissible to carry liquids without limitation, but it is possible to carry to head only 1 baggage with measures 60x40x20 (i.e. the classic hand baggage) plus a handbag. In Case of additional baggage, you will have to pay a surcharge.

Pets:

Animals can travel by hydrofoil for the price of €6. The medium-sized dogs must have a muzzle and a leash, while small animals must remain in the carrier.

To remember are obviously the documents and vaccinations (see the Post Animali in Viaggio).

Coach:

Also from Trieste, near the central station, you can buy bus tickets. All data is available on arriva.com.

You can also find other solutions through Google through Flixbus.

An alternative to returning to Mali Lošinj is: the scheduled bus from Monfalcone to Trieste at 5 am, reach the Flixbus outside the train station (on the right in the port direction); The Flixbus leaves at 7 a.m. and reaches River for 8.40 a.m.

From Rijeka (River) you will need to take another coach (check arriva.com.hr for the schedules), which will board the ferry and reach Mali Lozhinj (Mali Lošinj).

Or there is the Catamaran from Rijeka that reaches the port of Mali Losinj. Monday to Sunday departing at 5 pm. Heading to Rijeka at 6:00. Times on the visitlosinj.hr site.

Taxis and rental vehicles:

On Mali Lošinj there are several bike rentals, mopeds, and cars that can not leave the island.

If you want to travel by taxi for 6 km in 4 people with sea bags, it will cost you 80 kune.

At the port, you can also rent speedboats or arrange boat trips with lunch.

Beaches.

The nearest beaches to the center of Mali are:

Sv Martin: beaches surrounded by trees with stones where you can spread towels.

Free showers are available.

Dogs are forbidden to swim.

Sunzana uvala, Veli Zal, Borik:

beach with pebbles surrounded by trees. Cold water and showers. There are also hotels with restaurants. The rental of a deckchair is about 20 kuna.

Recommended packed lunch, but there are small shops that cook boiled cobs, crepes or a fried pizza topped with cheese and garlic.

Hotel restaurants have average/high prices.

It is definitely not a recommended beach for those people who suffer from allergies to pines, birch trees and cypress trees. As far as I am concerned, the biggest problem was caused by the allergy caused by dense vegetation.

Cikat (Latino beach):

there is a mix of sand and pebbles here too. Entry is also facilitated for children. As always there are many trees, dining facilities, and free showers. There are several restaurants and evening clubs such as the Latin beach.

Čikat and campsites:

To visit the beautiful bay of Čikat you have to enter from the campsite. The entrance on foot is free and parking for cars is outside. Inside there are 3 restaurants, places for motorhomes, two bakeries, a supermarket, mobile homes and a Water Park.

The water park is free for camping guests while for others, the price ranges between 70 and 100 kune (depending on the season).

The bay is also known for health tourism. In fact, it is recommended for people with lung disorders.

They suggest a stay period of about 11 days even in winter.

The minimum winter temperature is about 8.8 degrees in February.

All the info is available on the campsite website camps-cres.

As far as I'm concerned this is the best beach I've visited.

The price of the deckchairs is 30 Kune (if you want to rent the beach lounger) and taking a tour around the campsite, I was amazed at the facilities even for dogs, including showers just for them.

Mobile homes are a sight and the photos I found on the internet don't do it justice.

Facilities for campers, including showers and health services, are extremely clean, like a hotel.

I have always rejected the idea of camping but, after visiting this, I have changed my mind.

EXCHANGE

If you decide to take the ferry from Brestova, I advise you to change your money there, or at the tourist center of the city of Mali Loini (i.e. where you can buy tickets for the hydrofoil).

These are the most affordable I've found in town.

Misadventures in Mali Lošinj and road rescue.

I said: I have worked in insurance for several years and our car is checked every year before leaving for a holiday.

We left by car on July 12 from Monfalcone, around 10 a.m. We crossed Slovenia and reached Croatia. We stopped to have a coffee in Opatija, a beautiful city, which is very reminiscent of Sanremo. We continued the journey along the Riviera until we reached Brestova to catch the ferry.

The ferry runs for 20 minutes and reaching Cres takes another hour and a half to get to Mali Lozhinj. Landing in Cres, the hilly landscape that is very reminiscent of Sardinia, surrounded by olive groves and goats grazing.

When we arrived at our destination, we had to reach the house we rented through Tripadvisor, in the heart of the old village, so we reached the sea at Sv Martin.

So far all ok, if we exclude that the house was not reachable by car because the village of Mali Lozhinj is composed of very narrow streets with stone stairs.

Of the series, in case of physical problems or age, do not take a house in the old village: in fact, we had to bring suitcases for 90 stone steps, crumbling seeds, and downhill, up to the apartment.

Imagine what all those old houses, attached to each other and immersed in nature, mean? Humidity cellar style, spiders everywhere and mosquitoes!

But that was the least, I'd say.

The misadventure started when we got back to the car to go shopping: may it be the heat, may it be the climbs in the hills of Cres, may it be the car that was not really new, but after a few meters the stop light was lit and smoke came out of the engine head.

Eh already, the dear car decided to take holidays right on an island, three days from the final of the 2018 World Cup Croatia - France!

Do you know how many mechanics there are on this island? Three!

One in Cres, one in Mali Lošinj (who couldn't look at the car until Tuesday and in case we needed the tow truck he would have to call his cousin, his friend's you don't know who), and one in Lussingrande who also serves as roadside assistance. Why did I tell you that I worked so many years in insurance? Because I know how roadside assistance works.

When you are abroad, the number of roadside assistance in Italy responds, but the operations center passes the call to foreign companies that have the trucks in the area.

So who's the tow truck that's reaching you? Always one of the three famous mechanics.

But there's more.

How much does it cost to have a car towed privately? If you’re lucky, it’s between 100 and 200 dollars for a couple of miles. How much does roadside assistance cost you in addition to the insurance policy? 50& plus that includes towing up to the mechanic, the replacement car and, in case of night service, also the hotel.

If they can't fix the car quickly or for other reasons (each assistance has several possibilities that vary), they bring the vehicle back to Italy.

Briefly explained this, I found that the assistance present on the car (the car is not mine!) did not cover the outside until August 3, the date on which the policy is renewed.

So leaving the car in front of Mali Lošinj is mechanic, in a paid parking lot for 50 Kune a day, we walked to the apartment.

Luckly a local man asked us if we wanted help, because he saw us looking at the Google map, so he called Lussingrande's mechanic to pick up the car.

Diagnosis of failure? Engine headboard gone. Obviously, it is an island and the spare parts are not there, so the piece left for Zagreb after a week!

Of course, because not only we were on an island, but also because there was the World Cup and the Croats celebrated their second place.

So without a car, we walked a bit and traveled a bit by taxi.

We returned to Italy by taxi on Tuesday 17th, at a cost of 300 euros in four people, including luggage, while the car is still on holiday in Lussingrande and waiting for me to pick it up.

SEPTEMBER 2018 UPDATE.
In mid-August we returned to Turin with a rental car from the Avis company.

With the fear that Strillo (my cat) would create problems in a car that wasn't ours ... (whoever has a cat can understand the problem) we made the return journey in 4 and a half hours instead of the usual 6.

We returned to pick up the car from Mali Lošinj to Gorizia in early August 2018.

We abandoned it by the mechanic in Gorizia until the end of September.

We had the car's engine changed, but the Italian mechanic informed us that the Croatian mechanical workshop had replaced engine parts with pieces of cardboard.

You got it right: pieces of cardboard!

Therefore, if you stop your car in Croatia, call your insurance company and have your car brought home.

In the end, the damage, the bogus repair, the engine change, and the tow cost us 2000 €.