Exploring Istria’s Magical Brijuni National Park
The beautiful Brijuni islands and can be found off the northern coast of Croatia. They can be reached via the port of Paula and a short boat ride across the three-kilometre Fazana channel. Several of the islands are quite small with little on them, but two, Mali and particularly Veliki Brijun, are bigger and attract the most visitors.
Since 1983, the Brijuni Islands have become a protected area and were awarded the status of a national park. In all, Croatia now has eight different national parks.
Until recently it was possible to visit the main Brijuni islands for free, but now you can only go on organised excursions, which generally means guided tours and a ride on a tourist train around the main islands’ popular features.
What can you do and see?
The main Island, Veliki Brijun, is extremely green, with both open areas and coppiced trees. The island is regularly maintained, so there does not tend to be any overgrown and impenetrable areas.
There is a safari park, which contains zebra, llamas, Somali sheep, Holy East Indian humped ox, dromedaries, and even an elephant or two, which were originally given by President Tito, who often stayed there. The island also features an ethno park, in which you can actually see some 200 genuine dinosaur footprints.
There are some remains of a Roman villa dating from the 1st century, and the Church of St. Germania, that houses copies of frescoes and Glagolitic writings.
In July and August Veliki Brijun hosts cultural events, including the Histria Festival, which features ballet, opera and various forms of music. There are also seasons of plays performed by the Ulysses Theatre, which is run by a famous Croatian actor.
Croatia has developed into a great place to go on holiday, and generally offers every conceivable facility you could want. Visiting Veliki Brijun should be considered an extremely interesting day out to add to your itinerary.