The great thing about staying on the islands in the Croatian Adriatic Sea is that it is pretty easy to do “island-hopping“. Although staying on one island most of the time, you can easily explore some of the other islands and the main land for attractions like Plitvice Lakes by boat.

In the summer season the boat trips in-between the islands, the Croatian main land and even to Italy are offered on a daily basis. However, most of them discontinue in the fall as the sea tends to be less predictable and the wind gets very strong. Luckily, some of the touristic mini-cruises for one day were still available until early October this year so I got the chance to see the gorgeous island of Rab.

Rab is the greenest of all the large Croatian islands and home to the few rare sand beaches in Croatia. The little cruise from Krk to Rab included a bus transfer from Lopar to the island’s capital and namesake Rab so I could gain an idea of its highlights…

The little city Lopar has the most beautiful beach in a bay where the water level is pretty low so that it takes quite a while for it to cool down in the fall… Meaning: Swimming in October without having your legs freeze off! Amazing!

The gorgeous sand beach bay of Lopar

with a mini-island located in the middle of the bay

After this wonderful beach experience we were taken into the city of Rab, which I immediately fell in love with: The city center is completely medieval with narrow cobblestone streets and several old churches. Rab’s history dates back to the Roman times and you can really sense that walking through these old streets…

Streets in the historic old town of Rab

And oh, I love medieval church ruins! Combined with that clear blue Croatian sky – they were a feast for my eyes!

The ruins of the church of St. John the Evangelist

Since Rab is a very small city one could easily see the main parts of the old town in a relatively short time, but I had a feeling that both the island and the city of Rab would become a lot more beautiful when sticking around for a longer time.

Rab totally blew me off my feet. And although I loved all of what I saw of Croatia, Rab will definitely be one of my everlasting favorite spots: Medieval streets and church ruins, gorgeous sand beaches – oh, and the best gelato I had in Croatia!