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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
Travel
Guardian readers

‘Lapped by the turquoise, crystal seas’: readers’ favourite unsung European islands

Pine branches frame a rocky Cres island shoreline overlooking a clear turquoise sea
Cres is the least populated of the four main islands of the Kvarner Gulf in Croatia. Photograph: ah_fotobox/Getty Images/iStockphoto

Winning tip: a bird’s-eye view of wild Croatia

Giant griffon vultures glided parallel with my bus as it reached the highest point of Cres, the least populated of the four main islands in the Kvarner Gulf at the very north of the Croatian Adriatic. Covered in scrubby heath, olive groves and lavender, with small towns and villages on its coastline, its wildness is its appeal. Some, like Cres town, are unobtrusively set up for holidaymakers; in others local people just quietly get on with the life they’ve lived since the Venetians ruled here. All are lapped by the turquoise, crystal seas Croatia is known for.
Rhiannon

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