Pag Island

Pag is one of those Adriatic islands that looks almost lunar from the air — long, narrow, and largely bare on its eastern side, where the bura wind carries sea salt across the terrain and keeps vegetation from taking hold. It's the fifth-largest island in the Adriatic and one of the longest, stretching roughly 63 kilometers, and it's connected to the mainland by a bridge at its southern end, so getting there by car is straightforward even without a boat.

The island's best-known craft is lace-making, kept alive for centuries by the Benedictine nuns of the Convent of St. Margaret in Pag Town. Records of the convent's lace date back to the 15th century, and the nuns eventually sold their work as far afield as Venice and Vienna. In 2009, Pag lace was added to UNESCO's Intangible Cultural Heritage list — a rare bit of recognition for a craft this specific to one small town.

Food-wise, the island is best known for paški sir, a hard sheep's-milk cheese with a sharp, slightly salty edge that locals credit to the sheep grazing on salt-dusted, herb-covered ground near the coast. It's worth seeking out in Pag Town or Kolan, where several small producers still make it the traditional way.

Novalja, on the island's north side, is the other reason Pag shows up on so many summer itineraries: Zrće Beach nearby has grown into one of the best-known open-air club destinations on the Adriatic, packed with music festivals through July and August. If you'd rather skip the crowds, Straško Beach near Novalja and Trinčel Beach in Stara Novalja are calmer, Blue Flag-rated spots with clean, shallow water that suits swimmers better than partygoers.

For anyone arriving by boat, Pag has a handful of good stops: Caška Bay, at the head of the long inlet leading down to Pag Town, has a sand-and-mud bottom that holds an anchor well, while ACI Marina Šimuni, tucked into a sheltered bay on the western side, is a common overnight stop for charter yachts working their way along this stretch of coast. It's one of the anchorages you'll visit on a private gulet cruise in Croatia, usually paired with a walk into Pag Town to see the 15th-century old quarter designed by the architect Juraj Dalmatinac.