Rijeka rejects ya! (Rijeka)

Member Name: dangaroo

Product:	Rijeka
Date:	21/04/09 (51 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Good transport hub

Disadvantages: Not much to see, dity and noisy

Ok that was probably the worst title ever in retrospect! Travelling with our dog in the summer of 2007, proved fun, interesting and occasionally difficult. Whilst Czech Republic, Austria and Hungary was a breeze. Slovenia average and Croatia awful - in regards to travel possibilities with a dog and without a car!

Having left Postojna in Slovenia around 2 on the train to Rijeka, on arrival we walked the short distance to the bus station because we weren't intending to stay in Rijeka but instead head straight for the island of Cres, a short journey by ferry but mostly by bus. The bus driver was having none of it though, so we unexpectedly ended up staying in Rijeka. Rijeka is far more hectic than any other Croatian town, the main road runs straight through the middle of the town, it's noisy and polluted - particularly of course at the small disorganised bus station. Mooching around working out what to do, we were offered accomodation and it seemed like the simple answer to stay for the night and work out a Plan B, the landlord's wife worked at the bus station and he was there visiting her with his little daughter who immediately took to our dog.

The ground floor flat we rented, had a kitchen, bathroom and two beds and the landlord was cool with the dog staying, it was about a kilometre or so from the station but he drove us up there anyway. We paid 200 kuna (which was about £20 at the time), a bit on the dear side perhaps and I'm sure we could have got it a bit lower but basically couldn't be bothered after hours in a bus station and were getting a bit hungry and could do with an ale!

I found Rijeka to be a bit of a grubby port city, it was obviously pretty industrious and the sights were limited to a very small area in the centre. Major roads running through the centre of the town makes for lots of waits at traffic lights and doesn't give it a very pedestrian friendly feel. That is of course from the cobbled centre which has a few nice buildings but is a standard high street really. The area around the Roman Gate is the nicest and there is a handful of buildings one can appreciate but I wouldn't say they were that much to write home about. The boulevard down near the harbour has bars dotted on either side, we had a few beers there whilst waiting for the boat we eventually took, the bar we found was ok but they were by enlarge rather expensive by Croatian standards.

One of the sights we missed out on due to time difficulties was Trsat Castle overlooking the city from a hill, I kind of regret that! Overall, Rijeka is a decent transport hub but has little going for it.

Summary: Possibly Croatia's ugliest coastal town