2 stops in walking order

Old Town

Krk is one of the two largest Adriatic islands and connected to the mainland by a bridge — but the old town of Krk itself feels utterly islanded. Its Frankopan castle and Romanesque cathedral date to when Krk's noble family, the Frankopans, ruled much of the Croatian coast. Combine it with Baška's 2-km white-pebble beach at the southern tip and the Baška Tablet (an early Croatian Glagolitic inscription) in tiny Jurandvor.

~20 min at this stop

Cathedral

In the very corner of Krk's old town, where the walls meet the sea, an extraordinary two-building complex stacks 1,900 years of history on top of itself. The Cathedral of the Assumption stands directly on the foundations of a 5th-century Christian basilica, which in turn was built inside a 1st-century Roman thermal bath — you can descend into the cellar to see the original hypocaust heating pillars and fragments of Roman mosaic still in situ. Above ground, the three-aisled Romanesque nave of 1186 is supported by mismatched columns pillaged from earlier Roman buildings, each with a different capital. Immediately beside it stands the earlier basilica of St. Quirinus (5th century), and rising above both, the massive quadrangular keep of the Frankopan family — the medieval princes of Krk who ruled most of Kvarner from the 12th to the 15th century. Climb the keep for a superb view across the town's terracotta roofs to the Velebit coast. The complex hosts occasional summer choral concerts of exceptional acoustics thanks to the Romanesque proportions. Small joint-ticket admission covers the cathedral, the crypt with Roman remains, the St. Quirinus basilica and the castle keep — comfortably ninety minutes. Come early morning before the day-trippers from Baška and Malinska arrive.

~1 h 30 m at this stop