The Lungomare is one of the finest seafront promenades in the Adriatic — 12 km of paved path running south from Opatija through Ičići and all the way to Lovran, hugging the shore the whole way. It was built in 1889, originally as a winter health walk for the guests of the grand hotels, and the scale and ambition of it still impresses. Along the route you pass Belle Epoque villas half-hidden by magnolias, small concrete swimming platforms with iron ladders down to the sea, and views across the Kvarner Gulf to the islands of Cres and Lošinj. The full walk to Lovran takes about two hours; most people do a stretch and return. Start early in the morning, when the light is best and the path is quiet.
Lungomare
12 km Habsburg-era seafront promenade along the Adriatic
A story
The Lungomare was originally called the Franz Joseph I Promenade, built in 1889 at the behest of the Austrian Riviera development project. The stretch through Opatija was kept scrupulously flat — not for aesthetic reasons, but because the Habsburg aristocracy who came here for their health could not be expected to climb hills.