Kvarner and the islands of Krk, Cres and Lošinj

The easiest approach is to set off early and split the drive into two parts — doing the whole transfer in one go is needless hard work in a motorhome. The route runs through Austria and Slovenia, both of which require a vignette, so buy them before you leave home. Styria or a spot just beyond the Slovenian border makes a good overnight stop; you then reach the coast the next morning feeling fresh.

The descent from the mountains to the sea is one of the finest moments of the whole trip — within minutes the pine-covered slopes turn into coastline. Save the afternoon for Opatija: an Austro-Hungarian spa town of turn-of-the-century villas, with the Lungomare promenade running the length of the riviera from Volosko through Opatija to Lovran. Walk at least the stretch out to the Maiden with the Seagull statue, have a coffee on a terrace and save your first swim for tomorrow.

Rijeka is a working port rather than a picture postcard, and that is precisely why it is worth a stop — the Korzo, the covered market hall and a lively city with no tourist gloss. Above it, on a rock over the Rječina canyon, stands Trsat Castle, built by the Frankopans and restored in neo-Gothic style by Marshal Nugent in the 19th century; from the courtyard the whole bay lies at your feet. In the afternoon cross the bridge to the island of Krk and settle into one of the campsites near the town of Krk.

Vrbnik sits on a rocky spur above the sea and is home to the white žlahtina wine you will not taste anywhere else. Do not drive a motorhome into the historic centre, though — the lanes are extremely narrow, the narrowest of them, Klančić, barely lets a single person through, and the only sensible option is to leave the vehicle in the car park above the town and walk down. In the afternoon head to Baška in the south of the island, where the long pebble beach of Vela plaža waits, hemmed in by bare hills. In neighbouring Jurandvor stands the church of St Lucy, where the Baška Tablet was found, one of the oldest Glagolitic monuments.

The Jadrolinija ferry sails from Valbiska on the west coast of Krk to Merag on Cres and the crossing takes about twenty-five minutes. In July and August a reservation for a motorhome is practically essential — without one you wait for several departures and half the day is gone. In the north of Cres, turn off to Beli: the narrow hairpin road is no place for long A-class vehicles and the descent to the beach below the village is genuinely steep, so leave the vehicle up in the village and walk down. Griffon vultures nest on the cliffs nearby, and they are what most visitors come for.

The morning belongs to the town of Cres — a Venetian port with a loggia, a clock tower and cafés right at the water's edge. If you are confident on a narrow road, you can drive up to Lubenice, a stone village on the ridge above the sea with a view down to Sveti Ivan beach far below. End the day in Osor at the southern tip of the island: an ancient town beside the Kavada channel, dug by the Romans, and the swing bridge to Lošinj, which opens several times a day for boats. Traffic stops while it does, so treat the crossing as a short break rather than a smooth drive.

Compared with rocky Cres, Lošinj is green — the pine groves around Čikat bay reach almost to the water and cast the shade you will appreciate in August. In Mali Lošinj the Apoxyomenos Museum is well worth a visit for its ancient bronze statue raised from the sea; otherwise this is a town for a slow day: the harbour, the promenade, an ice cream. In the afternoon move on to Veli Lošinj, where the church of St Anthony holds one of the richest collections of Italian masters on the Kvarner islands, and give the rest of the day to the bays.

From Porozina in the north of Cres a ferry runs to Brestova on the Istrian side and the crossing is shorter still than the first one. From there drive up into Učka Nature Park — from the visitor centre at Poklon you can walk up to the Vojak summit, which on a clear day looks out over the whole Kvarner and part of the Alps. In the afternoon point the vehicle north and split the return into two stages, just as you did on the way out; a night in Slovenia or Austria will spare you a lot of stress on the final day.

The last stage runs back across the Alps and is mostly steady motorway driving. Plan your lunch away from the motorway services — both in Austria and in southern Moravia there are plenty of places along the route where you can park a motorhome. Once home, it pays to hose the vehicle down straight away and let it dry while the salt water is still fresh on the chassis.