An active September in Krk: cycling tours, storytelling walks, local flavours and CRO Race
September 2026 in the town of Krk brings a programme that combines active holidays with the island landscape, local gastronomy and cultural heritage. During two September weekends, the City of Krk Tourist Board is organising four activities: two guided Local Bike Sightseeing Tours and two storytelling walks called "From Karst to Gold". The first weekend is scheduled for September 12 and 13, while the second part of the programme takes place on September 26 and 27, on the eve of and on World Tourism Day itself. The common idea behind all the programmes is to discover the town and its surroundings beyond conventional sightseeing, through movement, encounters with local producers, historical stories and flavours connected with the area. For visitors planning to stay longer in Krk, accommodation offers in Krk may also be useful, especially if they want to combine several September events during the same stay.
The programme is taking place in the year in which Kvarner holds the title of European Region of Gastronomy 2026. The International Institute of Gastronomy, Culture, Arts and Tourism, IGCAT, awarded Kvarner this distinction, highlighting local gastronomic heritage, sustainability, community cooperation and the connection between food and the region's cultural identity. This idea is clearly visible in Krk's cycling tours as well: recreational cycling is not separated from the places through which the route passes, but is complemented by stops at local producers and tastings of island products. In this way, the September programme becomes more than a sporting activity and turns into a slower form of discovering the destination, in which the landscape, food production and local stories are part of the same experience.
September 12: by bicycle via Prniba and Lakmartin to OPG Magriž
The first September Local Bike Sightseeing Tour takes place on Saturday, September 12, starting at 9:00 from the town waterfront in Krk. The route leads from Krk towards Prniba, then via Kornić, Muraj and Lakmartin to OPG Magriž, after which it continues towards Kaštel Salatić and returns to the town of Krk. The tour is 29 kilometres long, with a total ascent of around 330 metres, and is expected to last up to four hours. Participants gather by the Sundial from 8:30 to 9:00. The tour itself is free of charge, but places are limited and advance registration is mandatory.
A special stop on this route is OPG Magriž in Lakmartin, where a tasting of local products is planned. Participants will be offered five types of cheese, prosciutto, olives, dried fig jam and bread, together with one drink of their choice. The tasting costs 15 euros per person and is paid on site, while participation in the cycling tour itself is free of charge. This kind of stop clearly illustrates the concept of Travel to Taste Krk, a project that presents local gastronomy through products, producers and stories directly connected with the island environment. Official information from the City of Krk Tourist Board about the Travel to Taste Krk 2026 programme highlights local ingredients, tradition and contemporary interpretations of island cuisine as the foundations of the project.
- Date: Saturday, September 12, 2026
- Route: Krk – Prniba – Kornić – Muraj – Lakmartin – OPG Magriž – Kaštel Salatić – Krk
- Meeting point: by the Sundial, 8:30 – 9:00
- Start: town waterfront, 9:00
- Distance: 29 km
- Ascent: 330 m
- Duration: up to 4 hours
- Participation: free with mandatory registration
- Tasting at OPG Magriž: €15 per person, payable on site
September 13: "From Karst to Gold" through the historic town centre
The day after the first cycling tour, the programme moves to the historic town centre. On Sunday, September 13, at 18:00, the guided storytelling walk "From Karst to Gold" starts from Trg krčkih glagoljaša, conceived as an interpretation of the town through stories, details and traces of the past rather than as a conventional listing of landmarks and historical dates. Over approximately an hour and a half, participants discover themes connected with the Frankopans, the Glagolitic script, the traditional music of the island of Krk, customs and hospitality, the island's medicinal plants and the historical layers of the town. The walk is free of charge, but the number of participants is limited, so registration is mandatory. The starting point at Trg krčkih glagoljaša further emphasises the programme's connection with one of the most recognisable layers of Krk's cultural identity.
Official historical sources from the City of Krk state that the Krk Inscription from the 11th century, one of the oldest known Glagolitic finds, is preserved in the town, while the Frankopan Castle on Trg Kamplin developed over several centuries. The oldest part of the castle, the square Frankopan tower, was completed in 1191, and the town's historical portal describes the castle as the only preserved secular medieval monument in the town of Krk. These facts provide additional context for the storytelling approach: instead of viewing heritage as an isolated museum exhibit, the walk connects it with the streets, squares and spaces through which participants pass. This is precisely why the programme may also appeal to visitors who have already seen Krk's main landmarks but want to understand them through stories and local context.
- Date: Sunday, September 13, 2026
- Meeting point: Trg krčkih glagoljaša
- Start: 18:00
- Duration: approximately 1.5 hours
- Participation: free with mandatory registration
World Tourism Day 2026 focused on digital transformation and artificial intelligence
The second September weekend of the programme is connected with World Tourism Day, which is celebrated every year on September 27. For 2026, UN Tourism has selected the theme "Digital Agenda and Artificial Intelligence to Redesign Tourism", while the official global celebration is being held in El Salvador. According to UN Tourism, this year's focus is on the ways in which artificial intelligence can contribute to smarter, more inclusive and more sustainable tourism, from better decision-making and skills development to destination management and visitor experiences. The theme is particularly relevant at a time when digital tools are having an increasingly strong influence on travel planning, the selection of activities and the ways in which people discover lesser-known places.
Krk's World Tourism Day programme translates this technological theme into a very physical experience of the destination. Rather than presenting digitalisation as a replacement for direct experience, the programme on September 26 and 27 brings the focus back to walking, cycling, conversation, heritage and local food. Technology can help with route planning, finding activities or organising a trip, but the value of a destination still emerges through encounters with places and people. In this sense, the two Krk activities – the storytelling walk and the cycling tour – fit well into the broader discussion about how digital possibilities can be used as a tool for higher-quality travel, rather than necessarily faster or more superficial travel.
September 26: a new edition of the storytelling walk "From Karst to Gold"
On Saturday, September 26, the day before World Tourism Day, the storytelling walk "From Karst to Gold" takes place again. Participants meet at Trg krčkih glagoljaša, with the programme starting at 18:00. It lasts approximately an hour and a half and participation is free of charge, with mandatory advance registration due to the limited number of places. The concept remains focused on interpreting the town through stories that connect its tangible and intangible heritage, from the Glagolitic tradition and the Frankopans to music, customs, plants and hospitality.
For visitors who know Krk mainly through summer images of the waterfront and beaches, this kind of walk reveals a different dimension of the town. The historic centre can be read as a series of layers formed over long periods, and its value cannot be reduced to individual buildings. Streets, inscriptions, squares, walls and the castle become part of the same story about a place that for centuries served as the island's administrative, commercial, religious and cultural centre. The programme therefore allows a single evening tour to become an introduction to a broader understanding of Krk and its history.
- Date: Saturday, September 26, 2026
- Meeting point: Trg krčkih glagoljaša
- Start: 18:00
- Duration: approximately 1.5 hours
- Participation: free with mandatory registration
September 27: cycling tour towards Vrh and Dvori Svetog Jurja
On World Tourism Day itself, Sunday, September 27, the second September Local Bike Sightseeing Tour takes place. The route starts in Krk and leads via Kornić, Muraj, Lakmartin and Kaštel Salatići towards Vrh and Agroturizam Dvori Svetog Jurja, after which participants return to Krk. The total distance is 31 kilometres, with approximately 440 metres of ascent, and the expected duration is up to four hours. Participants gather by the Sundial from 8:30 to 9:00, while the start from the town waterfront is at 9:00. As with the first tour, participation is free with mandatory registration.
A gastronomic break is planned at Dvori Svetog Jurja, featuring prosciutto, cheese and homemade bread, one drink of choice, as well as coffee and water. The tasting costs 15 euros per person and is paid on site. The route through rural areas and the Kimpi field combines recreation with parts of the island that lie away from the typical summer movement between beaches and the historic town centre. This gives participants an opportunity to see within a few hours how the landscape changes between the coast, settlements, fields and the island's interior, while the gastronomic stop adds local products and a local host as an important part of the experience.
- Date: Sunday, September 27, 2026
- Route: Krk – Kornić – Muraj – Lakmartin – Kaštel Salatić – Vrh – Agroturizam Dvori Svetog Jurja – Krk
- Meeting point: by the Sundial, 8:30 – 9:00
- Start: town waterfront, 9:00
- Distance: 31 km
- Ascent: 440 m
- Duration: up to 4 hours
- Participation: free with mandatory registration
- Tasting at Agroturizam Dvori Svetog Jurja: €15 per person, payable on site
What participants in the cycling tours need to know
Both September cycling tours are recreational and are ridden at an easy pace, but the organisers have established clear safety requirements. Each participant must have a technically sound MTB bicycle, and wearing a helmet is mandatory. Children aged eight and older may participate with prior signed consent from a parent or guardian. Participation is at one's own risk, and in the event of adverse weather conditions the route may be changed or the tour cancelled. As the number of places is limited, advance registration is mandatory, with each registration valid for only one person, meaning a separate form must be completed for every participant.
The tours are organised by the City of Krk Tourist Board and Infinity sport – Bike centar Krk. A similar model of guided recreational tours in Krk is also offered during other parts of the year, and official 2026 announcements from the Tourist Board confirm that the Local Bike Sightseeing Tour combines cycling through the surrounding landscapes with historical sites and smaller settlements. The September editions additionally introduce a gastronomic component, making them suitable for participants whose goal is not a sporting result but several hours of active exploration. Given the distances of 29 and 31 kilometres respectively and ascents of 330 and 440 metres, however, it is advisable to realistically assess one's own fitness and arrive with a bicycle prepared for the planned route.
The third stage of CRO Race starts from Krk on September 24
Between the two weekends of recreational activities, Krk will be part of another major cycling event. According to the organisers' official schedule, the eleventh edition of the international CRO Race takes place from September 22 to 27, 2026, and the third stage on September 24 runs from Krk to Labin. This will be the fourth time the town of Krk has hosted the start of one of the race's stages. For the island, it is an opportunity for recreational cycling, represented through local cycling programmes, to meet in the same month with professional road cycling at the highest international level yet reached by CRO Race.
The CRO Race organiser has announced that from 2026 the race is included in the UCI ProSeries, moving into a higher category of international professional road cycling after its tenth edition. The official 2026 schedule confirms six stages: the race begins on September 22, the third stage from Krk to Labin is held on September 24, and the race concludes on September 27. The Krk part of the project is supported by the City of Krk Tourist Board and the City of Krk, the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Malinska-Dubašnica, the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Dobrinj, the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Omišalj, the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Punat, the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Baška, the Tourist Board of the Municipality of Vrbnik, the Tourist Board of the Island of Krk and the Kvarner Tourist Board. Over just a few weeks in September, Krk will therefore offer everything from easy recreational rides to the start of an international professional stage.
September in Krk is therefore not conceived as an extension of the peak summer season, but as a period in which the destination can be discovered more slowly and in greater depth. Cycling tours lead towards fields, smaller settlements and local farms, storytelling walks return attention to the details of the historic town centre, while CRO Race brings an international professional sporting event. World Tourism Day gives the entire programme an additional broader framework at a time when there is a global discussion about how technology and artificial intelligence are changing the way people plan and experience travel. At the same time, Krk's programme is a reminder that, regardless of digital tools, a destination remains most memorable through real places, movement, encounters, flavours and stories that can only be experienced on site.
Sources:
- City of Krk Tourist Board – information about the Local Bike Sightseeing Tour programme and the Travel to Taste Krk 2026 project (link)
- City of Krk Tourist Board – Travel to Taste Krk 2026, context of local gastronomy and island products (link)
- City of Krk / Story of Krk – historical information about Frankopan Castle (link)
- UN Tourism – official theme of World Tourism Day 2026 and focus on the digital agenda and artificial intelligence (link)
- IGCAT / European Region of Gastronomy – Kvarner, European Region of Gastronomy 2026 (link)
- CRO Race – official 2026 race schedule and Krk – Labin stage on September 24 (link)
- CRO Race – announcement about the race joining the UCI ProSeries from 2026 (link)