Opatija

Take a free virtual walk through Opatija, Croatia — no passport, no flights, no account required. Nearaway streams immersive 4K walking tour footage from Opatija's streets, letting you explore Europe's cities from anywhere in the world.

A small Benedictine monastery gave Opatija its name — opatija means 'abbey' in Croatian. The town's transformation began in 1844 when Rijeka merchant Iginio Scarpa built Villa Angiolina and planted an exotic garden on the bay. When Austrian industrialist Friedrich Julius Schüller connected the villa to the Vienna railway network in 1873, the Austro-Hungarian elite discovered it overnight. By 1889 it was an official imperial health resort, drawing the empire's crowned heads, composers, writers, and aristocrats to its mild air and therapeutic sea. That Belle Époque grandeur — the white villas, the palm-lined promenade, the sense of leisured elegance — defines Opatija today.

Opatija was the Austro-Hungarian Empire's most fashionable resort — Emperor Franz Joseph, Gustav Mahler, and Anton Chekhov all strolled its promenade. The Habsburgs essentially invented beach tourism here. The best time for a virtual walk through Opatija is may–october (mild adriatic climate, mild even in winter). Must-try local foods include Šurlice pasta with truffles, Grilled sea bream, Scampi na buzaru.