Rijeka means "river" and you might not have realised how close Croatia's third largest city is to our little Green Slovenian Lodge, but we pop down there now and then for a coffee and the more we learn about this grand old Austro Hungarian Port city, the more we are intrigued..

There are several ways to go down through Slovenia to hit the Croatian motorways that whisk the whole of Europe off to Dalmatia and the south of Istrija.. it takes just 1 hour 20 mins from the Lodge direct to Rijeka!

We have spent most of our time living in the most beautiful Green country in Europe exploring and finding hundreds of Slovenian Secret Places to Visit, which tend to be lesser known or completely unknown compared to their Croatian cousins!

But our sensational position in the sub coastal South West of Green Slovenia allows our guests to also pick & choose places in Croatian Istrija AND North Italy all the way to Venice for a cheeky and possibly completely unexpected daytrip outside Slovenia!

So when you can cherry pick from the best Croatian hill top villages & Istrijan coast or the entire Italian seaside from Trieste to Venice, then it is perfectly understandabubble how Rijeka might not get a look in..

But read on and maybe you will decide to combine your day out in Rijeka with maybe a meal up top in one of the villages in the hills above that surround this huge Rijeka Bay, then you could be in for quite an unexpected day out! 

wonder when these trees were planted..

We have visited Rijeka a few times now and it's small city charms, with seaside port and tangible Imperial good looks are starting to rub off on us, especially when you think the only other cities of any size anywhere in this part of the world are Trieste and Ljubljana and the three of them from a triangle, with the Lodge bang in the centre!

So our plan in this article is to tell you a little more about Rijeka and combine our visit with the stunning little hill top village of Kastav.. a trip we did recently between Christmas and New Year.. 

All the photos here are from that December visit..

One of the enormous Shipping buildings near Rijeka harbour..

We are so lucky living in this part of the world as we can pick & choose when we go visit places that the rest of Europe seem desperate to cram into their 6 weeks of the summer!

Our proximity to the Istrian peninsula has allowed us to explore and enjoy sunny autumn, winter & spring days all along the Croatian Istrijan Adriatic coast, when the towns seem empty.. but there are always a few cafes or restaurants open to choose from..

We could absolutely not imagine cramming into caravans or packed resorts for a whole week or two anywhere down here in the high season, bumping into your neighbour Sid, from number 24 in the supermarket and Frankie from number 35 on the crowded beach!!

Of course we get it that a beach holiday is fine for some, but Slovenia offers absolutely EVERYTHING else you could dream of for the complete Green adventure holiday, INCLUDING one day by the lovely Slovenian coast too!

And then if you box clever and carefully choose which day you go, a swimming excursion at the Croatian coast or trip exploring hill top villages is also very possible!

A grand Hapsburg centre in Rijeka old town..

Of course there is a bigger lure of an empty Novigrad, (1 hr from the Lodge), Visjnan (1hr), Pula, (1hr 40 mins), Porec (1hr 20 mins) or Opatija (1hr 10 mins) for long relaxing off season seaside walks and sunny open terraced meals.. So at first we tended to neglect the biggest town on the Istrijan coast..

But maybe like you, we come from countries with much bigger cities, so the attraction of a bit of hustle and bustle during the day led us to finally discover the attractions of Rijeka as a curve ball choice, for a different day out!

RIJEKA..

Rijeka has a grand past and we mentioned this city triangle relationship with Trieste and Ljubljana which really meant something, particularly in the Austro Hungarian empire..

We already knew that the old Slovenian town of Trieste was selected by the Austrian emperor to be the main port of the Austrian part of the empire, but we were fascinated to discover that the Croatian town of Rijeka was also made into the main port of the Hungarian part of the empire!

The Double Eagle of the Austro Hungarian Empire..

Geographically this makes total sense, but it all comes to life when you start walking around and see all the fantastic, multicolour facaded buildings.

Istrija is mostly in Croatia, but also includes the Slovenian coast and we have noticed a strong connection remaining between the ex Yugoslavian people of Slovenia and Croatia, with several Slovenian people we know having Croatian cousins and very often with a connection to Rijeka..

This is a connection us foreigners cannot know, but Rijeka was always a strong city for employment opportunities and families often ended up with a relation or too located there..

Rijeka River sunset.. this is also where the main harbour side car park is..

When you look at a map this connection is obvious, but not so apparent if you did not know. Nowadays the border has gone back to being paper between Slovenia and Croatia, which makes daytrips that little bit easier, but we also find it fascinating that there is still this connection between the two peoples.. not brotherly like the Welsh, Scots and English, maybe more like cousins, but blood nonetheless..

Rijeka is still a busy port and has a fantastic thriving fish market, so if you are looking for a wierd, special and wonderful fish for your dinner, then an early morning start to visit the Rijeka fish market should be on your list!

The port city of Trieste is wedged between the high Adriatic cliffs and the sea and Rijeka is similarly crammed in between the hills & coast and there is a handy big car park near the harbour by the old town where you could park to walk to the city and the fish market..

The start of another Istrijan Sunset..

The city centre is refreshingly large with a wide, central open high street and those kinda shops some might well need for just one day of your holiday..

For us the attraction is finding the little side streets and the cafes to suck in the culture of it all and imagine the Austro Hungarian hey days when these grand buildings were going up.

Chritmas lights go on at Kastav with Cres island down below in the bay..

Just along the coast from Rijeka is the equally grand old town of Opatija, a bit like the seaside resort for Rijeka, where the emperor built a coastal promenade (the Lungomare) to stroll along the long, winding coast, but for this particular trip we decided to go check out the hill top village of Kastav on the way home to the Lodge..

There are lots of cute little villages to head for in the hills that overlook Rijeka and the long bay which stretches around the hugely popular holiday islands of Cres and Krk.

Just off central square in Kastav..

KASTAV..

Kastav is almost attached to the end of Rijeka and as you ascend the hills the main town is actually quite large, but we headed up to the littler old village on the hill.

In the summer you will almost certainly need to book your restaurant ahead and park lower down the hill to walk up, but we drove right up into the village like VIP's and easily found a space in the tiny village car park with what can only be described as a sensational vista across the bay of Rijeka!

In the summer you will have to zero chance of parking here in the Kastav village car park.. you will be further down the hill..

The view from up here is amazing at any time of day, but we hit the start of the early orange glow of sunset, silhouetting the huge islands of Cres and Krka out in the bay and the onshore shimmering lights of the numerous settlements along the coast, including Rijeka, Opatija and our fave little Icici!

So you can go from being in a small city to a small village in minutes here and we effortlessly transformed into "cafe & explore mode"!

Walking up to the church viewpoint in Kastav..

Kastav is not packed with restaurants, shops and cafes, which makes it a refreshing choice and a bit more like the quieter Slovenian Hill Top Villages.

Of course, it has crumbled castle towers and a pristine church tower dominant on top of it all. The views from the crumbled castle walls of the flickering Istrijan lights are amazing and we just love how understated Croatian Christmas lights are..

Stunning vista of the Istrijan Rijeka Riviera from Kastav Church walls..

There is a bit of a light show at the old church and that is about it, but top of the light show bill was the natural glowing sunset on the disappering horizon and we also spotted some lucky person sat cross legged high up on top of one of the old castle towers with a spectacular view of it all!

You need to walk up to the walls in front of the church tower for the best views and we also strolled around the quiet dimly lit old town streets..

Little cafe in the village centre of Kastav..

There is a small village square and lots of tight little narrow streets and that is about it.. which is just perfect!

We really enjoyed our time and the contrast in Kastav and also very much liked the look of the restaurant at the start of the village.

We know of other hill top villages around here and one especially with a restaurant attached to a fishmongers, where the seafood dishes are out of this world!

We spotted this lucky sunset seeker sitting on the top of the tower in Kastav..

Lodge guests easily daytrip to Ljubljana and Trieste for completely unique & different city days out and grand old Rijeka may not have even registered on your holiday radar, but we hope to have at least alerted you to it's joys and possibilities.. And we love it!

It really is so lovely to have the pick of Green Slovenia, the Venetian coast and Istrija at the click of your fingertips, but sometimes we just have to cross our fingers too and remember how lucky we are to be so close to it all and that it really is not just a dream!