The Other Side of Summer
Why the best time to visit Croatia might be when everyone else has gone home?
There is a particular kind of madness that happens every summer. Everyone decides to go on
holiday at exactly the same time. Maybe there is another way...
At our LIOQA Resort, on the island of Ugljan, we have a soft spot for the quieter months. Late spring. September. Early autumn. That beautiful little window when the Adriatic is still sparkling, lunches somehow become three hours long and nobody is fighting you for the best view of the sunset. Now it's the time.
Welcome to the shoulder season. Or, as we prefer to think of it: summer, but with better manners.
You finally have time to notice where you actually are.
Peak-season travel has a strange ability to turn holidays into projects. Breakfast at 8.Boat at 9.Beach at 11.Lunch reservation at 13:30. Quick shower. Sunset. Dinner. Cocktails. Repeat. You return home needing a holiday from your holiday...
There are two versions of many Mediterranean destinations.There is the version everyone sees in July and August. And then there is the version only locals know. The bakery where nobody is rushing. The fisherman coming back in the morning. Empty roads along the coast. Long conversations. Olive trees moving in the wind. A restaurant owner who has time to tell you what you should actually order. Ugljan Island has always had its own rhythm. It is close enough to civilisation when you want it, yet wonderfully good at making the outside world feel slightly less urgent.
Our resort sits on the western coast of Ugljan, with private villas designed around space, privacy, sea views and the luxury of not having to rush anywhere. LIOQA currently features 21 private villas, each with its own pool, garden and panoramic sea views. In high summer, that privacy is wonderful. Open the doors in the morning and there is silence.
Have breakfast slowly. Jump into your heated pool because you can. Walk towards the sea. Change your plans. Cancel your plans. Make no plans. Nobody will report you. Luxury, after all, is not always about having more things.
Sometimes it is simply having more space, more time and fewer people asking what the plan is.
So when should you travel?
And perhaps the answer is surprisingly simple. Come when the sea is still blue, the sun is still warm, the food is still wonderful, maybe even better when half the people have gone home.
We will save you a seat.
Preferably one facing the sunset.
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