Mountains and the Sea (Hotel Tour) II

We meet at a hotel in the town of Senj. Senj is the windiest town in Croatia, where winds can playfully topple trucks and buses, as they often reach 200 km/h (124 mph) or more. Due to the frequent and strong winds, no wine is cultivated here, unlike in most parts of the Adriatic coast, as grapevines cannot withstand the hurricane-force winds. Instead, plums are grown here, which is why schnapps is more popular than wine.

Departure at 9:00 AM. A short briefing with information about the upcoming day takes place daily before departure. From Senj, we drive onto the Vratnik mountain pass and over the ridge of the Velebit mountains. We visit the village of Kuterevo, where there is a sanctuary for orphaned bears and other bears that can no longer survive in the wild. After visiting the bear sanctuary, we drive through dense forest to the Veliki Alan mountain pass and descend to the coast, where a ferry takes us to the island of Rab. Dinner and accommodation await us there.

Departure on this day is planned a bit earlier, as we need to reach the ferry to the mainland (this may change and depends on the current ferry schedule). Our travel group ascends the Velebit again, where we experience a change in landscape from dense forest to a predominantly rocky area as we reach the 10 km (6.2 miles) long mountain ridge with the impressive name Dabarski Kukovi. Upon arrival in Baške Oštarije, we descend to the coast again, where our day ends.

From Karlobag, we ascend the Velebit once more, to the Panos mountain peak, where a military radar station once monitored almost half of the airspace of the former Yugoslavia. In the town of Gospić, we will restock our supplies of food and other necessities, and then drive on an asphalt road to Sveti Rok, where the “Majstorska cesta” (Master's Road) awaits us. The road gets its name from the German word for "masterpiece," as it was built in a very short time at the beginning of the 19th century and its gradient is nowhere more than 5%, which is still above the standards of modern road construction. Important for Germans: this is the filming location of the first Winnetou film based on Karl May's book, which is why many Germans also call the road the "Winnetoustraße." Here there will also be an opportunity to switch on the four-wheel drives in the cars. After that, our journey continues to the Adriatic coast, where we will spend the night.

Departure at 9:00 AM. We ascend the Velebit from the sea side via the Majstorska Cesta, passing by Tulove Grede. The first Winnetou film was shot at Tulove Grede. After the ascent via the Majstorska Cesta, we drive on paths through meadows along the ridge of the southern Velebit, from where we will descend to the Zrmanja River. Following the Zrmanja River, we drive to Obrovac, a town on the river where the water is already brackish. Overnight stay in Obrovac.

A slightly longer journey on an asphalt road awaits us to the town of Otrić, from where we will drive along the service road of the Zagreb-Knin railway line and pass under the most photogenic viaduct in Croatia. Near the royal town of Knin, we drive onto Mount Dinara. We pass a military training ground and drive to a place where there are wrecks of tanks from the Homeland War of the nineties, which are also used for shooting practice. After that, we drive back the same way into the town to our accommodation.

From Knin, we drive toward Krka National Park, which we will visit and hike to some of the beautiful viewpoints. After a loop around Krka National Park, our journey takes us along Vrana Lake, the largest lake in Croatia. It is 13.5 km (8.4 miles) long, about 2.2 km (1.4 miles) wide on average, and about 4 m (13 ft) deep. It is used for fishing, and the northern part of the lake is one of Europe's most important ornithological reserves, as it serves as a resting place for migratory birds on their journey to Africa. The last overnight stay takes place in Zadar or its vicinity.

End of the trip