Things To Do in Krk Island

Krk Town

Krk Town, located halfway down Krk’s west coast, is the island’s chief settlement. It has an enchanting car-free historic center, which is still partly fortified, and a busy little waterfront promenade lined by restaurants, cafés, shops, and bars. It is a popular weekend resort because it is so accessible to the mainland. If you’re there just to see the important and interesting sites, you don’t need to stay more than a couple of hours.

The town’s main attraction is the impressive Katedrala Uznesenja (Cathedral of the Assumption) on the main square, Trg Vela Placa. Built on the site of Roman baths, which later became a 5th-century basilica and a 9th-century monastery, the cathedral as seen today dates largely from the 13th century. Through the years, Roman columns, ancient mosaics, and medieval stone carvings have been integrated into the cathedral; the bell tower was added much later, in the 18th century.

Next to the Cathedral, the 11th-century Romanesque church of Sveti Kivrin (St. Quirinus), dedicated to Krk’s patron saint. It has a small treasury displaying sacral art.

BAŠKA

Baška lies 19km (12 miles) southeast of Krk Town. The main attraction here is Baška beach, a 2km (1.25 mile) stretch of fine pebble, which gently curves around a southeast-facing bay, making this former fishing village a sun worshipper's paradise. Today Baška retains some of its former charm, but it is undeniably aimed at tourists, with lots of modern hotels, and restaurants offering fixed menus in countless languages.

For Croatians, Baška is also synonymous with the 900-year-old Baška Tablet, which was discovered in 1851 in the tiny Romanesque Church of St. Lucy in the hamlet of Jurandvor, less than a mile north of Baška. One of the nation's most important archaeological discoveries, this large, flat stone slab was set in the church floor. It’s engraved in Glagolitic script, the oldest Slavic alphabet, which dates back to the 9th century. Besides its value as a cultural artifact, the Baška Tablet is also the first record of a Croatian king—it commemorates a gift from the first Croat King, Zvonimir, to the church. What you see here in Jurandvor today is a copy; the original was moved to Zagreb’s Academy of Arts and Sciences in 1934.