One of the places I had always planned to go during my recent Pula trip in Croatia was Brijuni Island. It's a cluster of 14 islands just 10 minutes away from the mainland by boat. Most of the islands are very small and have nothing on them. The largest island is called Viliki Brijuni and is 75% of the total islands area. I saw Brijuni Island on my flight into Pula, it was easily recognisable and the first sign of me arriving in Pula.
Ticketed entry
To get to Brijuni island, you have to first get to a little village called Fažana 10 km away from Pula. There are (not so) frequent buses that cost around €2 and take roughly half an hour, or an Uber costs around €10 - €15. Brijuni island is run as a national park, you have to buy a ticket to get on it. To be honest, it's not exactly cheap. A four hour guided tour costs €50, which includes the 10 minute boat ride from the mainland, an hour on the tourist train to take you around the island (the annoying ones that you see tourists on all the time) and a visit to the safari and museum. Or you can do a non guided tour for €40, which includes the boat ride only, and you wander around by yourself, returning whenever you want. As much as I detest those annoying tourist trains, I was with other people and we decided to do the guided tour. It was pre season and there was no English guided tour only Croatian, but we figured that would be fine, we could see a lot more on the train compared to walking.
I checked the tickets online a few days before, there were always nearly 50 available. I decided to buy them at the ticket office on the day in case there was any change in our plans. When we got to the ticket office that morning, I was told there were no more guided tour tickets left!! A big group of students had just turned up and they had filled up the boat. The only option was the unguided tour that leaves an hour later. What a bummer!!! It was quite annoying that we had to hang around for another hour and watch our intended departure leave without us. It's not as if the little village of Fažana had much to do to fill the hour.
Safari park
We finally arrived on Brijuni island. There were many signposts directing visitors to different parts of the island and activities. There were museums, archeological sites that date back to 1BC, hotels and restaurants, a 1600 year old olive tree and one of the oldest in the med, scuba diving and even a golf course. We decided to visit the safari park, which was advertised as the top thing to do. It was on the other end of the island and about an hour's stroll away. It was a lovely day, and nice and shady under the trees, making it a great day for walks. There were practically no other people around, no sign of the 50 students who took our place on the boat and tourist train!!!
Being on an island, the safari was quite nice. Except it felt a bit weird to see the animals by the sea. There were zebras, llama, cows, goats and turkey, many of them roaming together.
And then there was Lanka the elephant. Lanka has been at Brijuni since 1974 when she was just 2 years old making her 53 today. She was a gift from India, and has been by herself since her mate Sony died in 2010. It's very sad to see Lanka on her own, walking round and round in circles with no company. That's why I'm not a big fan of zoos.
Dinosaur park
Brijuni island dates back thousands of years and another of its famous claim are the dinosaur footprints. According to the official website, there over 200 footprints here and they date back to 130-100 million years ago Source. The dinosaur park is next to the safari and we went in on a jurassic adventure.
This part of the park is by the shores with beautiful crystal clear water. I noticed all the shorelines in the area had pristine clean water. We walked around looking for dinosaur footprints. There were many indentations on the rocks, and some looked like footprints, marching left right left right. Or maybe we were just kidding ourselves into believing they are dinosaur footprints.
Then we finally found something that may be the real deal. Surely this three toe print and the little one above is a dinosaur footprint. Maybe one of mama and her baby? What do you think?
We saw this little fella as we were about to leave. If he could talk, maybe he can tell me if those footprints were left by his ancestors.
Is it worth going to Brijuni?
Great question. I spent all my time walking from the pier to the safari and dinosaur park, and ended up catching the same boat back as the group tour. That means I spent 3 hours on the island. There are many other walking trails on the island and you get to see some Roman ruins, great if you're looking to do a lot of walking. Or perhaps you're a massive dinosaur fan and are willing to pay a lot to see a real ancient footprint, which I may or may not have. In my opinion €50 is a little steep for all this, even if you spend the whole day here.
Let's just say you won't miss much if you don't come to Brijuni Island and I think you can get much better value for money doing something else for the day.
