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After a fifteen-minute crossing of the Brijuni Channel, excursion craft from Fažana arrive at Kupelweiser's hotel complex on Veli Brijun's eastern shore. From here a miniature train with English-speaking guide

heads north through parklands to a safari park at the northern tip of the island.This was originally stocked with beasts given to Tito as presents by visiting dignitaries – the two elephants presented by Indira Gandhi are still here, alongside zebras, antelopes and camels. The train continues along the western side of the island to the White Villa and other official residences, including the Villa Jadran, where guests have included Queen Elizabeth II and Gina Lollobrigida, all watched over discreetly by liveried guards (Tito's personal quarters – together with his famous tangerine groves – were on the island of Krasnica, a few hundred metres offVeh Brijun's west coast). The train stops to allow exploration of a ruined Byzantine fortress at the southwestern corner of the island, its stark grey fortifications in bleak contrast to the green paradise it was built to defend.

The train then returns to the hotel complex via the scant remains of a first-century BC Roman villa at Veriga Bay. Beside the hotel complex an exhibition entitled Tito on Brijuni (Tito na Brijunima; daily summer 8am-7pm; winter 8am-2pm; free with excursion ticket) starts, on the ground floor, with a display of the animals given to Tito as presents and stuffed after their death, including four seven-week-old giraffes which contracted a virus soon after their arrival from Africa. Upstairs is a fascinating exhibition of photos documenting Tito's various personae: one moment a man of the people talking to Faiana fisherfolk, the next, sharing jokes with jet-setting house guests such as Sophia Loren, Elizabeth Taylor and Richard Burton, who played the part of Tito in the epic war film Sutjeska in 1970. Look out too for a photograph of Tito taking Ho Chi Minh for a spin in a motorboat, with both men sporting raffish Panama hats – an experience witch the Vietnamese leader appears to be enjoying somewhat less than the Marshal.