I had long wanted to visit Croatia after hearing stories of how beautiful and varied the country is, all I can say is the stories I'd heard really underated Croatia - the phrase stuning springs to mind. I set off with two friends for our annual get-a-way on the cheap, you know the type, bufget flights to an airport in the middle of nowhere and a long hike to the final destination. This year wasn't much different.

The next day was better, we spent several hours driving through beautiful Slovenian countryside and finally arrived in Croatia just north of Rijeka. As a first view of Croatia Rijeka isn't the most inspiring place , perhaps the most industrialised town in the country withrusty cranes dominating the skyline and the bay dotted with old tankers, but don't let this put you off.

The main town on the island is also called Krk, and although over recent years it has expanded up nearby hills the heart of the old town is very marked, with much of the old town walls still in existance and a maze of narrow cobbled streets. Originally the town was occupied by the Romans, before coming under the power of the Venetians and later the Frankopans in 1118. This vaied history is evident as you walk arounbd. I would recommend a visit to the cathedral of the assumption which dates back to the early 1100's and was built on the site of Roman baths, some of the Roman columns being re-used in its building.

The prices were good, and although we hadn't prebooked any accommodation the tourist office sorted us out with a great room in one of the islands oldest hotels for only about £7 each a night.The town has a good selection of restaurants with fresh seafood being a speciality, if your vegetarian it's a little harder though most places offer one or two options.

To make the journey we headed to the southern tip of Krk to the fishing village of Baska, which is at the top end of an inlet and is ringed by imposing mountains. Fortunatly foe us we were early for the next car ferry as Baska has a long beach which was ideal for a quick swim whilst taking in the mountain scenery and views of the tiny island of Prvic.

Rab town splits into two parts, the medieval peninsula of Kaldanac which runs alongside of the harbour now home to multi million pound yachts, and the area of Varos dating back to the 15th century. As you walk down the peninsula with the old town walls on your right hand side it's easy to imagine the Roman fleets docking here on the way to Venice. After these times it seems the town fell into decline following inclusion in the Venetian state and two outbreaks of the plague in the 1400's. Rab now again bustles with life as a result of tourism, but still manages to remain unspoilt.

We spent a great couple of days in Rab and had time to take a trip north to the inlet of Kampo to get a futher feel for the island. Kampor is a small village with a nice sandy beach, we had a great afternoon and headed off back towards Rab. Don't drive too quickly back or you'll miss the graveyard, we stopped just outside Kampor to look at the place largely unaware of it's significance. On consulting our trusty guidebook we found this was the graveyard of the victims of fascism. This site commemorates the concentration camp that was built on the island by Italian occupiers in 1942. 5000 people died in one winter mostly slovenes starved by camp officials. It's hard to put this place into perspective after seeing the splendour of Rab town.

The few days we'd had weren't nearly long enough, if the two islands we'd visited were typical of other Kvarner gulf islands I wanted to spend another few weeks in the area. I highly recommend this part of Croatia, though don;'t tell too many people I'd hate it to be over-run by tourists ;-)