Epic Rides
Cres / Kvarner

The largest Croatian island and one of those that is almost impossible to get to know in a single visit. By that very fact, it was quite difficult to encompass everything Cres offers in just one Epic Rides. Reason enough not to plan just Epic Rides for the first weekend in September, but an entire weekend on this unique island.

Because Cres has a lot to offer.

Even more to explore.

And most of all to experience.

For some, it will be the coves and beaches hidden between the rocks, places reached sometimes by road, sometimes by gravel, and sometimes only by boat or your own persistence.

For some, it will be the villages that seem to have dropped out of another time. Lubenice is the most famous example, but not the only one. Just step off the main paths and you'll find places where it seems time slowed down centuries ago.

For some, it will be history. Cres has been inhabited since the Neolithic, more than seven thousand years. Greeks, Romans, Venetians, Habsburgs and many others left their traces, but the island somehow always remained itself.

For some, it will be the food.

Cres lamb has had an almost cult status among food lovers for decades. Olive oil, home-grown vegetables, fresh fish and seafood only confirm what islanders have long known — here, eating is simple, but exceptionally good.

And for many, the greatest reason will be nature.

Vransko Lake, one of the greatest natural treasures of Croatian islands. The centuries-old forests of Tramuntana. Hundreds of kilometres of dry-stone walls. Sheep roaming freely across the island. Griffon vultures circling above the cliffs, maintaining the natural balance of the entire Kvarner.

On Cres, one never feels that humans have completely taken control.

And perhaps that is its greatest value.

Here, nature still dictates the rhythm of life.

And people have learned to live with it.