Opatija Travel Forum

Hi all,
My fiancée & I are staying in the Hotel kristal in Opatija from the 7th to the 12th Sept this year.
Can any one offer us advice on things to see & do in the area ?

What about good places to eat ?

Also, does anyone know what excursions are organised from the hotel or recomend any locally ?

And one final question, as we are unable to get the croatian currency in the UK what is the best place or way to change it when we get there or will we be ok taking travellers cheques ?

Sorry for all the questions, advise or answers to any of the above much appreciated

Thanks

All Opatijas attractions are along promenade Lungomare. If you take walk along it you shouldn't miss anything. Opatija mostly has ti offer it's architecture, old austro-hungarian style. And park Angiolina with plants from all over the world (brought home by local sailors).
Lungomare promande streches over some 10 km and conects few places. Once you can take a walk to Volosko (old fishing town). One day go to Lovran (old town, with some nice villas).

Just above Opatija is a nice, smallish medieval town of Kastav.

A great trip would be to mount Ucka. Thats the mount above Opatija. From there you have some magnificant views on Kvarner bay, whole Istra peninsula. And they say, on a very clear day you can see all the way to the Venice.

I forgott the restaurants. In Opatija Zelen Gaj used to be good. Don't know the situation now.
In Lovran you can go to Knez Grad (on square Trg Slobode) and also at Restaurant Kvarner we ate well couple of times.

Opatija is a pretty little town, once the premier sea resort of the Austro-Hungarian Empire. Yes, you can walk along the attractive coast to Lovran, and go for a day trip to Porec and Rovinj. You'll eat decently and inexpensively almost anywhere, but memorably nowhere in Opatija that I remember(!) As for money, use ATMs.

Enjoy!

PS - I'd seriously consider hiring a car, to explore inland Istria (eg Motovun).

You must visit in Kastav (near Rijeka and Opatija) the restaurant Kukuriku. I like it a lot. If you like tartuffi, oysters, prosciutto, Istra is the right place to visit. I strongly suggest you to visit inland of Istria (Motovun, Hum, Grožnjan, Pazin, Oprtalj,etc), but also Pula, Rovinj, island of Brioni.
You won`t have problems to get kunas (there are plenty of exchange offices) although I suggest you that you take some euros. It won`t be bother for you, but just in case for your needs, first aid :-)

I just got back from Opatija 2 weeks ago and we only spent the weekend there. Don't worry about kunas with you- i just pulled them out of the ATM machines- they are very easy to find and lots of them. As for excursions, all you have to do is just walk along the main street and there are lots of excursions leaving daily. There are half day tours on boats and whole day tours- they usually take you to a secluded beach where everyone enjoys a fish picnic , swim around and then come back to opatija. didn't really find excellent food there. I was extremely dissapointed by the seafood. the scampi was really not great and quite expensive. i would stick to the dish cevapcici which seems to be pretty good all over croatia.
hope this helps. cheers!
Pat

Hi there.
You mentioned that you cannot get the Croatian currency in the UK - you can thru TRAVELEX. You order and pay online and enter your airport of collection. Very easy and straightforward process. I've used them and collected my cash at Bristol Airport before and it is painless!
I was told that if you use Kuna you won't pay as much for anything than if you use Euros. Good Luck!
Heather