Road Cycling in Croatia – Cres

Cycling tour of Cres Island, Croatia

We booked an air bnb in Cres for two nights, a bargain in off season, found somewhere to safely leave the van and the following morning were enjoying a coffee in Brestova port, ready for the short journey over to tackle Cres.

Now, if out and backs aren’t your thing, perhaps a trip to the island of Brac is more for you. But, if the empty roads can tempt you, as well as breathtaking views, sightings of Griffon Vultures and some of the best coffee I’ve found on a Croatian Island, then Cres is for you.

Day 1

Day one starts with a short trip from our van to the port, where we enjoy the 20minute ferry journey in the warm morning sun to Cres’s northerly point, Porozina. Now this ride is not a gentle jaunt along a seaside coastal route, oh no, the first 8 miles from the port are uphill, so we let the cars go ahead and enjoy traffic free roads to pootle up whilst marveling at the views. After 45mins of climbing and approximately 400metres of ascent we reach the top and are greeted with breathtaking panoramic scenery of this part of the island, looking back at mainland coastal Croatia.

We decide the descent straight into Cres town from here makes for too short of a ride, so peel off left and descend to visit Beli, one of the oldest villages on Cres, complete with giant cobbles stone paving and quaint shuttered buildings. Wild wondering sheep greet us for the first time on the roads, so we ease back on our way down, we want to climb back out again in one piece! We rest in Beli’s tiny square, which appeared to have hosted some sort of Halloween party the previous night. With a short packed lunch stop and wonder around the cozy streets we are soon back in the saddles to climb to our peel off spot, which surprisingly doesn’t take as long as initially thought, a rarity in cycling. Back at the panoramic top we have our first view of the Griffin Vultures, native to Cres. These birds are spectacular and given the height of the climb we get to see them circling just a few hundred feet away, this however is just a taster of what we experience on day 3.

After two climbs and our pre-ferry ride we now welcome the long descent to Cres town. The gradual profile allows us ample time to take in the enormous views looking south along the coast, over the water to Krk and beyond to the mainland mountain ridgeline, a truly unique view that must be experienced.

Arriving a little earlier that expected we treat ourselves to some gelato in this beautiful port town as we reflect on what a good decision it was to cycle Cres and how traveling by bike, you often see so much more that in a vehicle.

We have rented a small Airbnb apartment, uniquely decorated sitting just off the main marina, which enables us to pop back into town for a well-earned pizza in the evening.

Day 2

Day two is an out and back down the length of Cres, 120kms with 2600m in elevation. Another beautiful sunny day which for early November is very welcome, we notice the sun sitting lower in the sky now, yet it still holds much warmth and allows us to be out in just bibs and jersey… with a gillet for the longer descents. The main road, at this time of year is very quite, only really filled with traffic when ferries offload at either end of the island. The surface is good quality and after a long gentle assent out of Cres town the route can predominantly be described as ‘rolling’ and very much enjoyable due to the smooth sweeping corners, together with consistent good views.

We decide our turning point will be Veli Losinj, such a picturesque marina toward the south of the island, with crystal clear waters.

Plenty of café’s greet us and the smell of food is inviting after 65km on the bike, however we choose to turn around and head back towards the slightly larger town of Mali Losinj, to get a few more Km under our belt, to stop at that all important ‘over halfway’ mark. Spotting a few other bikes parked outside we take coffee in Café Bar Bueno, to date the first specialist coffee place we’ve pedalled across in Croatia (we do find more in Split and other larger towns). The coffee tastes delicious, with latte art to boot. Most café’s/ bars in Croatia allow you to have pastries from the bakery with your coffee, so top up on these first before sitting down (we found it good measure to check with the bar first).

As we rested and filled up on Croatian delights we notice quite a number of other cyclists passing in the marina, both road and MTB which was good to see. I guess island riding has it pros and cons, quieter roads, better surface but less route options.

The inevitable sinks in and we start thinking of our return journey, thankfully we are well fuelled and raring to go.

An out and back on unfamiliar roads has the feeling of a loop ride and we’re knocking off the Kms, although are faced with a headwind, we now know what the renowned Bura is like. The ride comes to a crescendo when we reach the final long descent into Cres, the lower sun in the sky provides for a breathtaking display of colours and we whoop and hola whizzing down the sweeping descent, knowing what lies ahead, left over pizza from the previous night… and you guessed it, more fresh pizza later that evening.

Day 3

Our time on Cres has come to an end and we have just the ascent up to the panoramic view from day one and the descent to the ferry, around 1-1.5h of cycling. We have lovely warm weather once again and halfway up are surprised by a display of vultures around 12 of them, circling beside the climb, we spend  a moment here staring, taking photos and when we begin smelling hints of something dead nearby to attract them, it’s swiftly back to the cycling! We leave and make our way to the port and after a 20minute journey and a few km of climbing on the other side, we make it back to home (the van).

If you are considering a similar trip, we would suggest leaving your vehicle in the port parking, making things easier and safer for you, we see another couple do this a week later when we travel to Rab Island for the day.

We loved our cycling adventure… whilst on an adventure… or a holiday on holiday and it inspires up to plan more cycle trips on Croatian islands, as we travel south throughout the Autumn.