Opatija

Opatija is the oldest and grandest resort on the Croatian coast, developed in the late 19th century by Austria-Hungary as a winter and summer spa for the empire’s well-off, and its seafront still shows it: a strip of belle-époque villas, grand hotels, manicured gardens and the famous 12-kilometre Lungomare promenade that runs along the coast above the water.

The resort was built around the mild microclimate of the Kvarner Gulf, sheltered by the Učka mountain and warmed by the sea, and it drew the imperial aristocracy and the European middle classes for decades. Villa Angiolina, the original 1844 villa around which the resort grew, is now a museum, and the church of St James and the Maiden with the Seagull statue are the landmarks on the waterfront.

Opatija reads differently from the rest of the coast, formal, green and Austro-Hungarian rather than Venetian, and it makes a contrast stop if you have been working south through Istria. It is busy year-round, including in winter, which is unusual for the Croatian coast.

For photographers, the belle-époque villas and the Lungomare at the golden hour are the shots. Walk the promenade to nearby Volosko, a fishing village that has kept its stone character, for the contrast.

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