Sports & adventure trip
This tour is designed for experienced trekkers willing to explore exciting new places. You will sleep in two national parks, hike the most well-known trails on the Velebit Mountain taking you to the heart of preserved nature, and conquer the most beautiful summits of Croatia overlooking spectacular views.
Licenced mountain guide with 40 years of experience, Velebit mountain aficionado.
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We are taking you hiking on the most interesting stages of Via Dinarica trail on Velebit. From easy and moderately difficult to somewhat more demanding stages, this trail is perfect for advanced hikers searching for new excitements. Beautiful viewing points, preserved nature, peace and vastness of the mountain will contribute to the attractiveness of this trip. Lace your hiking boots, prepare your backpack and set out on a journey to Croatia to get your real hiking experience.
Are you into creating the lifetime memories? Discover the best viewing points with phenomenal photo-ops
Heading through the forrest towards the mountain shelter Ivine vodice, great place for a break on the way to Sveto Brdo peak
Take advantage of intriguing hiking trails, moderate climate and sights of the UNESCO protected biosphere reserve
Night strolling in the mountains will provide you with a perfect opportunity to really connect with the nature
Velebit Mountain is a biosphere reserve within UNESCO’s Man and the Biosphere Programme. It is an internationally recognised area with an established balance between biodiversity and growth needs of the local community.
National Park Northern Velebit is the youngest national park in Croatia and makes part of the National Ecological Network. This national park is also a member of the European Destinations of Excellence Network (EDEN). The park includes several already protected areas with diverse karst forms and abundant flora and fauna.
The prestigious National Geographic Traveler included Via Dinarica trail into 2017 best world destinations.
Via Dinarica is not only a trail for hikers, cyclists and other sightseers visiting the Dinarides as tourists, but also a platform for growth and advancement of life and work conditions of the Dinarides’ inhabitants. Besides providing hiking activities, one of the fundamental goals of the project is to promote local economy, thus making the tourists experience domestic food, accommodation, diverse services, etc. Also, the central motif of Via Dinarica is regional connection whilst achieving joint development goals. This motif is expressed in the project motto of Via Dinarica – “Connecting naturally”.
Arrival to the airport of your choice: Zagreb, Rijeka or Zadar. Optional transfer to the mountain hut Zavižan, stopover at one of the supermarkets for food supplies and meeting with the mountain guide.
Zavižan is one of the best-known localities in the Northern Velebit National Park. Located at 1594 m above sea level, is the mountain hut Zavižan and the oldest high-altitude weather station in Croatia, established in 1953. Since Velebit forms a natural border between continental and Mediterranean regions of Croatia, two different climates clash at its uppermost parts – the maritime and the continental climates - resulting in unpredictable weather conditions. This makes the Zavižan weather station invaluable to the meteorological community. Depending on the time of arrival, your guide will take you to one of the Zavižan area peaks (Veliki Zavižan 1676 m, Balinovac 1601 m, Zavižanska Kosa 1620 m, Vučjak 1644 m). The scenic vistas provided by this group of peaks are sure to take your breath away. Have dinner and let your guide present a detailed hiking program for the following days.
After breakfast, you will embark on the first stage of hiking and join the well-known Premužić Trail, built in 1930s using the drystone technique. The 57 km trail was laid out and constructed by the forestry engineer Ante Premužić, a passionate mountaineer and lover of Velebit, along the mountain ridge from Zavižan to Baške Oštarije in central Velebit. As there are virtually no steep ascents, the route is also suitable for visitors unaccustomed to mountaineering. Branching off from the Premužić Trail are several paths that climb up to some of the most spectacular peaks of northern and central Velebit – of course our guide knows them all. The route section between Zavižan and mountain hut Alan is perhaps the most beautiful part of the Trail, and it's a total of 15 km long.
Second part of the Trail that leads from Alan mountain hut to the mountain hut Kugina kuća, that used to be a forest ranger’s house in central Velebit, is approx. 20 km long, taking you around 7 hours to complete and it is categorised as a mid-difficult stage.
The trail will take you along the maritime slope at equal elevation, interchanging forest and meadows. Needless to say, you will encounter extraordinary viewing points and views to be long remembered.
You will awaken along with fresh mountain breeze. Make sure you do your morning stretching routine as today’s stage is also mid-difficult, approx. 20 km. This stage presents a true liaison of karst and forest terrain. Here, you will witness the white limestone proudly adorning the green environment extending southeast, in parallel with the Adriatic coast. This hiking stage will couple you with the natural attractions of Velebit.
Take a deep breath of this fresh mountain air, stop for a moment and look around. Allow time for yourselves to fully feel the surrounding nature on this stage. Arrival to Baške Oštarije and overnight stay at the mountain hut Vila Velebita.
After three stages of quite a tempo, it's time to slow down and get ready for the remaining part of your trip. In the morning, a driver will take you to Karlobag for groceries shopping. Weather permitting, relax at the beach for an hour or two and then, after the shopping, you still have the fourth stage, 6 km long. Today’s stage is easier and goes through the wonderful National Park Paklenica. In this area, you will see the parts of Velika (big) and Mala (small) Paklenica.
These two ravines are the result of Velebit’s rivers piercing through stone, at some points more than 300 m high. This is how the nature created the perfect conditions for the climbing routes. Passing through here you might see sport climbing enthusiasts taking advantage of moderate climate and protected nature. After a few hours, you will reach the mountain lodge Paklenica. Spend the rest of the day relaxing and getting ready for the remainder of the trip.
Preparations for the fifth stage include a plentiful breakfast with morning body stretching as the most difficult stage of the journey is ahead of you. Start with the ascent a bit earlier so that you have enough time as the stage ends again at the mountain lodge Paklenica. The first part of this stage goes through the forests of black pine and beech wood. The trail is pleasant for walking and not strenuous. The second part however, taking you to the second highest summit of Velebit called Sveto Brdo, is steeper, goes up-down few times losing gained elevation, but the reward is well worth it.
Standing at its 1751 m of altitude, Sveto Brdo (Holy Hill) is only 6 m lower than Vaganski Vrh. Still, we find it to be the best view in Croatia. It is overlooking extensively at both the inland and the coast. Take some time for yourselves and your thoughts and let the feeling of unity with the nature overflow you. From the summit, you will head back towards the mountain lodge Paklenica for the last overnight on the mountain.
Depending on your flight schedule, you will bid farewell to the mountain and head towards Starigrad. Starigrad is a place where the sea touches the mountains and if needed here your transfer to the airport of your choice will be waiting for you. We are convinced that you will joyfully remember this mountain trip that will make you want to discover the rest of Via Dinarica.
We will double-check availability and make reservations for your rooms, restaurants, guides etc.
With reservations confirmed, we will prepare the best offer possible in regard to your arrival date & party size
You will get the offer via e-mail, along with the payment options. Feel free to request further customisations!
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4 DAYS
8 DAYS
