If you are in Istria, a visit to the Brijuni National Park in Croatia is really worthwhile. But read this blog beforehand so that you don't plan things that you should have skipped. The Brijuni Islands consist of 14 smaller and larger islands on the coast of Istria, Croatia. From our stay at camping Bijela Uvala near Poreč Fazana -where you can make the crossing to the Brijuni islands- is about 1 hour away.
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At the end of our week holiday in Croatia we visit Brijuni on the advice of the hostess of Vacansoleil. At the beginning of the week we have already seen brochures of this island and it looks fantastic. Just make sure you book a visit to this island. At least your spot on the boat that goes to Brijuni National Park, because everything is fully booked before you know it.
We had to book two days in advance (during the May holiday) to be able to go to this island at a good time.
The boat to the Brijuni Islands leaves from Fazana and takes about 20 minutes. If you arrive in Fazana by car, you can park your car near the boulevard. For a whole day of parking you pay between € 8.00-10.00. From the parking lot you will come across the necessary proppers who are happy to sell you a boat trip. The majority of those boat trips make a boat trip around the Brijuni islands and do not come ashore. Keep that in mind!
If you walk a little further along the boulevard, you will automatically come to a large yellow building where you must have the second door immediately around the corner if you want to take the 'normal' ferry to the Brijuni National Park. We booked this trip for 540 Kn (about € 80.00) for 2 adults and 2 children. In this case you not only book the trip to the National Park, but also a guided tour in a specific language on the Brijuni islands. If we had known afterwards how this guided tour would go, we would not have done this.
It is better to make the crossing alone and then discover the Brijuni National Park yourself. For example, it is a great idea to rent a golf cart or a bicycle on that island. But you can also easily explore the island on foot.
Our guided tour was not that special. The group was much too big and from the moment we start the train journey on the island I was completely done with it. We were split into four in the little train, because it was too busy to sit together. During the pit stop in the safari park - where you will be dropped off for a 10-minute break at the souvenir shop - we decided to explore the rest on foot. And that went very well with our children.
Because from that moment on we were free to go where we wanted, we have seen much more of the Brijuni National Park than we thought.
Do you want to know what else you can see and do near Brijuni National Park? Then read my blog about Porec Croatia.
There are several museums that we did not visit. The reason for this is that our kids (and we ourselves) don't like museums full of photo reports. We'd rather go for a walk 😉 . But the park is otherwise beautiful. It is excellently maintained, beautifully green and beautifully cultivated. No one lives on this island anymore. The 'workers' take the last ferry back home and at night the Brijuni National Park is deserted. After the hotel.
The safari park is more like a glorified petting zoo, but it is very nicely set up. You will find goats, llamas, zebras, ostriches and an elephant. We were lucky that a zebra had escaped, so we had a very special experience here. I had never petted a zebra, let alone one that just ran loose. The animals have plenty of space in the safari park and it all looks beautiful green. Very nice.
If you join the guided tour, you won't see this at all. Because we were already on the road at that time, we were able to take a look here. Fantastic! It is not very big, there is exactly one dinosaur, but it has left a considerable impression on me. The piece of forest is beautiful and the footprints that you find on the coast are therefore of real dinosaurs. There are said to be 200 along the coast. And I (and not only I) thought that was very special.
We skipped the golf course ourselves, but we did see quite a bit during our walking tour. A beautiful golf course with sand greens. For a small € 40.00 you can walk around here if you want.
One of the churches that you can visit in the Brijuni National Park is the church of St. Germania that you will encounter in the beginning. Several murals can be found in this small church.
If you walk a little further inland you will come to the Basilik. Or at least with the remains of the Basilik that has been here since 600 AD. With the excursion you will miss this beautiful Basilik!
The castrum are the remains of a small settlement here. Beautifully situated on the water, you can still see how small the different houses used to be. There are still some remnants of (what we think) ovens to be found and the wall that surrounds the whole is still fun to climb.
In the May holidays it is not yet warm enough for that, but you can swim here. The water is beautifully clear and there are many small bays where you can splash around in secluded areas.
Definitely nice to walk by, the Olive Tree that is now about 1600 years old. A handsome! And oh well… see it as a kind of big mistletoe 😉 .
Take the tips below to heart for a fantastic visit to this National Park:
More information about this National Park can be found here.
