2 stops in walking order

City

A quiet regional capital of low pastel houses and the surprisingly good Lika Museum, which covers everything from prehistoric karst finds to Tesla and the Homeland War. Use Gospić as your base for the Velebit trails, Krasno and Smiljan — hotels are simple and cheap, portions are enormous.

~2 h at this stop

Museum

Housed in a beautifully restored Habsburg-era military barracks in the centre of Gospić, the Museum of Lika is one of the most comprehensive regional museums in inland Croatia. Its three floors take you from Neolithic finds — including a rare 5,000-year-old carved goddess figurine from the Krbava plain — through Roman legionary tombstones, medieval Frankopan-era metalwork, Ottoman frontier weaponry and the traditional folk costume of the eight Lika ethnic subgroups, each with its own strikingly different embroidery and headdress. The most-visited room is dedicated to Nikola Tesla — born a short drive away in Smiljan in 1856 — and includes his baptismal record, family photographs, and a working reproduction of his 1888 induction motor demonstrating the alternating current that changed the world. The 20th-century section is heartbreaking: Lika lost more inhabitants proportionally in both world wars and in the 1991–95 Homeland War than almost any Croatian region, and the memorial hall on the top floor lists every name. Excellent English signage throughout. Combine with a walk in the neighbouring Jasikovac forest park and a stop at the elegant Gospić cathedral three blocks away.

~1 h 45 m at this stop