Mošćenička Draga

The most laid-back of the Opatija Riviera resorts, Mošćenička Draga sits at the base of a green amphitheatre where the Učka massif drops steeply into the sea. Its long crescent of white pebbles — Sipar beach — has been a favourite family destination since Habsburg times, and the shallow, warm water is often calmer than anywhere else on the Kvarner. Above the beach, the ancient hilltop village of Mošćenice keeps watch from 173 metres up: an easy 45-minute stone footpath climbs through olive groves and past the little chapel of St. Sebastian to a walled medieval core with mind-clearing views over the entire gulf. Down at sea level, the small harbour is still home to a fleet of traditional wooden pasare fishing boats, and the ethnographic Mlin (mill) museum in a restored 17th-century watermill just outside the village explains centuries of subsistence farming on these terraces. Rent a kayak and paddle south along the wild coast towards Brseč for empty coves you cannot reach by road. Restaurants along the seafront are among the best-value fresh-fish spots in the Kvarner; try the local speciality maneštra od bobići, a bean-and-corn soup that has warmed generations of fishermen. Ideal for two full days — one for the beach, one for the hilltop.