The easiest way to reach Croatian islands

by Welcome Center Croatia | Last updated Mar 1, 2022 | Published on Mar 1, 2022

Dreaming of a perfect holiday in Croatia? You can easily imagine yourself lying on the beautiful sandy beaches while eating fresh, Mediterranean food? Well, look no more – Croatia and its islands have it all.

We know that finding out the easiest (and maybe the fastest) way to each Croatian islands can help you choose where you will spend your summer. That’s why we’ll cover the most popular Croatian islands, the gems you do not want to miss out on – and all the ways you can reach them. 

How to reach Croatian islands

Most Croatian islands are serviced by a major car ferry operator – Jadrolinija.
Jadrolinija operates all car ferries connections to islands such as Hvar, Brač, Lošinj or Korčula.

We will start from the south – where the main port and connection point is the city of Rijeka. From Rijeka, you can take a ferry or catamaran to almost all Kvarner (southern) Croatian islands. 

Lošinj

To reach the island of vitality, Lošinj, there are several options, all depending on your start route/city:

From Rijeka, there is a catamaran line called Kapetan Luka that operates every day and travels from Rijeka to Mali Lošinj - their schedule can be checked here. There is also an option of traveling from Valbiska (Krk) to Merag (Cres) and then you can continue the route with a car driving across Cres to Lošinj over a small bridge at the city of Osor. 

The same catamaran line, Kapetan Luka, operates a catamaran that travels from Pula to Zadar, via Mali Lošinj - their itinerary can be looked at here.

The most popular Croatian ferry line called Jadrolinija operates a car ferry service from Zadar. This line stops on many islands along the way so be prepared for a long ride but also beautiful landscapes. 

You probably didn’t know but Lošinj also has a tiny airport that has summer flights from Lugano, Venice, and Zagreb all operated by Silver Air so if you happen to be near these cities and want the fastest way to reach Lošinj – check the Silver Air timetables here.

Pag

The island of Pag is one of the easiest to reach of all the Croatian islands. Why? Well, it is connected to the shore by the bridge at the southern part of Pag.
That’s why you can reach the island from every part of Croatia – either by bus from Rijeka or Zadar (the closes major cities) or other cities like Zagreb, Pula, etc or with a car.

If you prefer to travel by ferry, there is a year-round catamaran service from Rijeka to Novalja that operates every day. You can check the timetable here.

Brač

Traveling further to the south we would recommend visiting Brač! It is very close and perfectly connected to Split. There are catamarans and ferries with car services to several major towns on Brač that travel from Split & Dubrovnik. 

If you happen to be on Hvar, there are also services to and from Jelsa (Hvar) to Bol (Brač).

Depending on the place you want to visit or stay on Brač you should check the following ferry lines: Jadrolinija, Kapetan Luka, Krilo, and Adriatic Fast Ferries.

If you prefer to fly to reach your destination the island of Brač offers that too! There is a small airport on the island that only has several flight destinations, but it is worth checking it out if you are traveling in the period between spring and summer.