Things to Do in Zadar in October

The Kornati archipelago is a maze of 89 stark, almost lunar limestone islands scattered south of Zadar, and October is a quietly brilliant time to see them. The summer fleet has thinned, so you're not sharing the anchorages with twenty other boats, and the light in autumn goes soft and golden across the bare white stone and the deep blue channels. Combine it with neighbouring Telašćica nature park on Dugi Otok, where the cliffs drop straight into the sea and there's a salt lake warm enough for a dip. The trade-off is weather dependency: tours run on calm days and get cancelled when the bura blows, so build in a buffer day.

Zadar's peninsula is a compact, walkable layer-cake of history, and October's cooler air (highs around 68°F / 20°C) makes wandering it a pleasure instead of a sweat. Start in the Roman Forum, the largest on the eastern Adriatic, where you can still see the toppled columns and the towering 9th-century round church of St Donatus built right on top of the ancient paving. Climb the bell tower of St Anastasia's Cathedral for a view over the terracotta rooftops to the islands. With the summer crowds gone, you can hear your own footsteps echo off the stone.

October is harvest month, which makes it the single best time of year to eat and drink your way through the Zadar region. This is when fresh-pressed olive oil hits the tables, the wineries of the Ravni Kotari plain inland are crushing grapes, and the salty, peppery Pag cheese (from the island just up the coast, where sheep graze on salt-stung herbs) is at its prime. A tasting tour links the morning produce market beside the old town walls to konoba kitchens turning out brodet (Adriatic fish stew) and pašticada (slow-braised beef in a sweet-sour wine sauce). The autumn cooking here is richer and more interesting than the grilled-fish summer menus.

Plitvice Lakes National Park sits about 75 miles (120 km) inland from Zadar, an easy day trip, and October is arguably its finest month. Beech and maple forests blaze copper, gold and rust around the sixteen terraced lakes. Autumn rain keeps the waterfalls thundering, and the punishing summer queues at the boardwalks have vanished. The trade-off is cold and daylight: it can be 10°F cooler than the coast up at that altitude. Mornings are misty and damp, and the shorter October day means an early start is essential to walk the full lower-and-upper-lakes circuit before the light goes.

Zadar's two modern landmarks sit at the tip of the Riva promenade, and October's earlier sunsets (around 6pm early in the month, near 5pm by the end) mean you don't have to wait until late to catch the show. The Sea Organ is a set of stone steps with underwater pipes that turn the swell into a haunting, ever-changing chord. Right beside it, the Greeting to the Sun is a 22-metre (72-foot) glass solar disc set into the pavement that soaks up daylight and pulses through colours after dark. Alfred Hitchcock famously called Zadar's sunset the most beautiful in the world; autumn's clearer, less hazy air makes the case for him.

The island of Pag, reachable by a bridge and a short coastal drive north of Zadar, looks like nowhere else on the Adriatic. It's a wind-scoured, almost treeless moonscape of pale stone where the bura has stripped the land bare. The famous Pag cheese and lamb get their flavour from salt-laden grazing. October's lower sun rakes across the rock and the ancient salt pans at Pag town. The summer party scene at Zrće beach has shut down, leaving the island stark and quiet. This is a self-drive or small-tour day, not a beach day, and it's all the better for the autumn emptiness.