Imagine reaching a trail-race checkpoint and finding a reason to stay. The sea is close enough for a swim. There is music, something to make with your hands, someone you have just met and would like to keep talking to. At Timed Out™, your race clock pauses while you enjoy the Experience Stations. You can stay in the conversation a little longer.

That invitation captures the spirit of Love Trails Croatia. Returning to Baška on the island of Krk from 29 September to 4 October 2026, the holiday brings together five nights of trail running, hiking, movement and music, hosted by the team behind Love Trails Festival in the UK. Its programme gives people plenty to do, with the freedom to decide what each day should feel like.

Now in its second year, it begins with a question that reaches beyond running: how do we make more room for the experiences that make us feel alive?

The reasons we created Love Trails are personal. 

Trail running changed our lives, and sharing that possibility with other people remains at the heart of what we do. Croatia gives us time to explore the idea over several days, through encounters that can grow into friendships and unfamiliar experiences that might become things you love.

Our starting point is a recognisable frustration. Adventure can be surprisingly difficult to fit into a convenient life. Time outdoors gets postponed. Meeting new people takes effort. It is easy to spend an evening looking at places you would like to go, then return to exactly the same routine the next morning. We wanted to make taking part feel easier.

The response is there in the programme. Each experience offers a practical starting point: somewhere to meet, something to explore together and a reason to be curious.

Baška makes those possibilities unusually close. Mountain trails rise above the bay, coastal paths lead towards coves, and the town gives the week a shared home beside the Adriatic. You can spend part of a day high above the water and another part in it. Coming at the end of September also means encountering the island after the busiest summer period, when the coast has a little more breathing room.

That geography helps shape the programming. Moving through the landscape becomes a way of reaching something worth staying for, with the journey giving people time to get to know each other.

Timed Out™ takes that thinking into the race itself. On the 18km route, participants run or hike timed legs, then pause at three Experience Stations. Mountain views accompany breathwork and craft; beachside stops bring opportunities for music, movement and swimming. Time spent at the stations is excluded from the race result.

There is still room to push yourself between stops. The format also gives you permission to enjoy arriving somewhere. An interesting conversation or a dip in the sea can belong within the experience you came for. The day continues back in Baška with a post-race party featuring a Maribou State DJ set.

A shorter 6km loop ending with a craft station offers another way to take part. Across the wider holiday, guided hikes and socially paced runs sit alongside options for experienced trail runners. The invitation leaves room for different ambitions.

Wednesday applies a similar idea to an afternoon of music. Groups take different adventures towards Jablanova Beach, where GUTS supplies the soundtrack. Some explore the canyon; others take a longer hike with Steps to Togetherness. By the time everyone gathers beside the water, there are already stories to exchange.

There is something appealing about reaching a party on foot. 

The anticipation builds along the trail, and the people beside you have already become familiar. The beach brings the groups together, with time to swim or try cyanotype printing, making a print with sunlight. A single afternoon can hold adventure, creativity and the pleasure of dancing somewhere you have made an effort to reach.

Thursday’s Mindful Miles x Clapham Yoga Club hike, presented by Vivobarefoot, leads to Estate Winery Katunar for Falle Nioke live. Grounding and guided reflection form part of the journey. On Saturday, runners and hikers can reach Adjua’s solo performance at Crkva Majka Božja, followed by Tom Colville’s Deep Listening Session. Later, a hike to Lighthouse Škuljica leads to Ben Cipolla’s sunset performance.

These journeys invite a particular kind of attention. Walking to a performance gives it a beginning before the first note. The place, the company and the route become part of how you encounter the music.

That relationship works in another direction with Brian d’Souza, also known as Auntie Flo. His biosonification workshop explores how electrical signals from living organisms can be translated into sound using electronic equipment. A field-recording hike invites participants to listen to the surroundings and capture what they hear. The landscape becomes material for discovery as well as somewhere to move through.

Creativity also appears along the coast with ATHENE’s Hike to Craft, and after dark with pin-making and embroidery at Club Porto. Making something offers an easy point of focus when you are getting to know someone. You can talk while your hands are busy, ask for help or discover an interest you share. There is room to participate without needing to arrive with a particular talent.

The movement programme carries that same openness into the body. Curated by Neil Frankel, it places practical strength and conditioning alongside yoga, breathwork and more exploratory movement. His invitation is simple: “Don’t disqualify yourself from trying.”

You might come for The Running Room’s advice on supporting your running and discover that you enjoy a slower practice. You might recognise yourself as a yoga person, then find pleasure in a playful movement challenge.

The programme makes being a beginner an available choice, even for people who are highly experienced in something else.

The care extends to how the week unfolds. Physio-led preparation sits before Timed Out™, with recovery sessions afterwards and a Runner’s Recovery Toolkit on Saturday. Participants can explore what helps them feel ready for the trails and what supports them once the effort is over. Useful knowledge can travel home with them.

Together, these sessions suggest a generous approach to an active holiday: trying things, learning from experienced teachers and paying attention to what your body needs that day.

The week is intentionally intimate

For anyone considering coming alone, that combination of guidance and shared activity matters. The week is intentionally intimate, with solo travellers joining couples and groups of friends. There are repeated opportunities to meet through experiences that already give you something to do together.

It is easier to imagine a conversation beginning when you are following the same path or working something out alongside each other. You can meet someone on one adventure and recognise them at the next. Over several days, there is time for an introduction to become a familiar face, and for a familiar face to become someone you make plans with.

There is time to step away, too. A long breakfast, a quiet swim or an afternoon in town can be exactly the right choice. The programme is there when you want it; taking a holiday includes deciding when to rest.

Look through this year’s week and the possibilities start to feel personal. Which experience would tempt you to try something new? Who would you like to share it with? If you are thinking about joining us next year, you may already have someone in mind. You can also come with that part undecided, leaving space for the people you have yet to meet.