A stylised version of Fiume during the 1920s was one of the main settings in the 1992 movie Porco Rosso by world acclaimed Japanese director Hayao Miyazaki, as the town in front of which the fantastical "Hotel Adriano" is found and to which it is connected by a boat service taken by the protagonist. Bruce Sterling's November 2016 novel, written in collaboration with Warren Ellis, Pirate Utopia, a dieselpunk alternative history, is set in Fiume (now Rijeka) in 1920 during the short-lived Italian Regency of Carnaro. The 1980s American TV series The Winds of War was in part filmed in Rijeka and the surrounding areas. The German western Winnetou movies from the 1960s, based on Karl May novels, were in part filmed on location in the outskirts of Rijeka. The setting of the 1970s cartoon series Professor Balthazar was inspired by Rijeka. The TV series Novine (The Paper), which has been streaming on Netflix since April 2018, is based in Rijeka and the city was used as the main filming location.

Rijeka is located in western Croatia, 131 kilometres (81 miles) southwest of the capital, Zagreb, on the coast of Kvarner Gulf (45°21′N 14°26′E / 45.350°N 14.433°E / 45.350; 14.433), in the northern part of the Adriatic Sea. Geographically, Rijeka is roughly equidistant from Milan (485 kilometres (301 miles)), Budapest (502 kilometres (312 miles)), Münich (516 kilometres (321 miles)), Vienna (516 kilometres (321 miles)) and Belgrade (550 kilometres (340 miles)). The Bay of Rijeka, which is bordered by Vela Vrata (between Istria and the island of Cres), Srednja Vrata (between Cres and Krk Island) and Mala Vrata (between Krk and the mainland) is connected to the Kvarner Gulf and is deep enough (about fifty metres or 160 feet) to accommodate large commercial ships. The City of Rijeka lies at the mouth of river Rječina and in the Vinodol micro-region of the Croatian coast. Two important land transport routes start in Rijeka due to its location. The first route is to the Pannonian Basin given that Rijeka is located alongside the narrowest point of the Dinaric Alps (about fifty kilometres or 31 miles). The other route, across Postojna Gate connects Rijeka with Slovenia, Italy and beyond.

When someday comes you'll need to get in.

When someday comes you'll need to be able to get around.