Europe is home to thousands of stunning islands with crystal clear waters and golden sandy beaches, but one stands out in particular for its unique shape.

Located in the Pašman Canal of the Adriatic, a tiny little island lies in the shape of a heart – one of the world’s few naturally occurring heart-shaped objects.

Galesnjak is situated between the island of Pasman and mainland Croatia, and was first discovered to be shaped like a heart in the early 19th century by Napoleon’s cartographer Charles-François Beautemps-Beaupré.

The small island has a surface area of just 0.08 square miles – meaning you can walk across it in less than 10 minutes – and a 0.96-mile-long beach.

The island’s stunning natural features also include two peaks – the tallest one measuring 36 metres above sea level.

Nicknamed the Island of Love, Galesnjak would be the perfect destination for a romantic getaway, but there’s one pretty major catch.

The island is privately owned by the Jureško family, about which not much is known, who live in neighbouring Pasman. Tourists must seek permission before travelling as it can only be visited with a permit or with organised tours.

If you’re lucky enough to secure a permit to visit the island, you can reach it by travelling to Zadar of Pasman.

Now, Galesnjak is home only to wild plants, trees, a colony of small rabbits, and wild pigeons, but it wasn’t always uninhabited.

There is human activity recorded on the island in the form of three known Illyrian burial mounds as well as the remains of the foundations of an ancient building.

Illyria was a region defined by the ancient Greeks as spanning the western part of the Balkan Peninsula.

There are currently no tourist facilities on Galesnjak but rumours of developing attractions have been swirling, with nothing coming to fruition yet.