Vojak Peak, Učka

The 1,401-metre summit of Vojak, highest point of the Učka mountain, is one of the great panoramas of the northern Adriatic: on a clear day you can see the peaks of the Julian Alps to the north, the Bay of Trieste to the northwest, Venice's lagoon on the far horizon, and the full sweep of the Kvarner islands — Cres, Krk, Rab, even the distant humps of Pag — laid out below like a relief map. A squat stone lookout tower built by the Austrians in 1911, unusually elegant for military work, marks the summit; climb its narrow spiral for the extra ten metres of view. The peak sits inside Učka Nature Park and is easily reachable in an hour's steady walk from the Poklon pass (924 m) along a well-marked forest path that emerges above the tree line into meadows of gentian and mountain sage. Fitter walkers can start from Lovran on the coast and climb the full 1,400 vertical metres in about four and a half hours through beech and chestnut woodland — one of the finest ascents in Croatia. In summer the mountain draws paragliders who launch from the shoulder below the summit and soar to the coast; in winter the peak often carries snow while the sea below stays swimmable. Bring layers even in July — the temperature drops sharply.