As we began to plan our route through the Balkans (Croatia, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Montenegro) we came across a New York Times article titled 36 Hours in Istria. The article made the Istrian Peninsula sound like a less touristed area of heavily touristed Croatia – and that immediately interested us – so we decided to make it the first stop on our Balkan adventure.
The Istria Peninsula is located on the Adriatic Sea and is mostly Croatian, though smaller portions of the peninsula are controlled by Slovenia and Italy. The entire peninsula has a fair amount of Italian influence owing to its history as part of the Roman and Venetian Empires. In fact, it’s easy to mistakenly think you’re in Italy while surrounded by olive groves, vineyards, and colorful coastal towns. It even has its own (much smaller) Roman colosseum! The best thing is that Croatia is quite a bit cheaper than Italy, so you can enjoy many of the benefits of Italy at a significant discount.
Cities to Explore
Motovun
Motovun is considered by many to be the most beautiful of the hill-top medieval towns in Istria (there are more than one!), and it’s also well-known as the birthplace of race-car driver Mario Andretti. The town is filled with shops selling local wine, olive oil, and truffle products (a specialty here), and the city walls offer stunning views of the countryside. We stopped for a great lunch with a lovely view at Konoba Fakin before touring the city walls for a minimal cost of 20 kuna (about 3 US dollars). We’d highly recommend making a stop here if you have time!
Rovinj
We decided to base ourselves out of Rovinj to explore Istria, and this ancient seaside town didn’t disappoint. Considered by many to be Croatia’s second most beautiful city (behind Dubrovnik), this coastal village has beautiful winding cobblestone streets and the gorgeous St. Euphemia church dominates its skyline. There are a ton of great restaurants and bars, many with fantastically fresh seafood and wonderful sunset views.
We highly recommend a sunset visit to Mediterraneo Bar, which is located right on the water and has cute mismatching chairs, stools, and cushions that provide great views of the fading sun. You’ll also want to take a jump in the tantalizingly clear water from one of the rock beaches surrounding the old town – we found the water to be surprisingly warm even in early October.
Fažana
If there’s one reason to visit the fishing village of Fažana it’s for the fresh seafood that’s plucked daily from the Adriatic Sea. We went to Stara Konoba, at the recommendation of the aforementioned New York Times article, and it was one of our best meals in Croatia. We also perfectly timed our meal during a downpour, which added to the ambiance (and, of course, we were quite happy to be someplace dry!).
Pula
Not far from Fazana sits the ancient city of Pula, which boasts historic architecture as well as a great beach. Before arriving here, we had no idea there had been more than one Roman Colosseum, but guess what – there were quite a few! The one in Pula is the sixth largest Roman amphitheater still standing and was built sometime during the first century. It costs 50 kuna (about 8 dollars) to enter, which is a steal compared to the one in Rome, and though its considerably smaller than the one in Italy we thought it was definitely worth exploring. Don’t miss out on the basement level where they used to keep the lions before gladiator matches – very cool to see.
We had also planned on going to the popular Saccorgiana Beach while in Pula, but a rainy day drowned out those plans (quite literally). We hope you’ll go and tell us all about it!
Next up: Croatia’s most beautiful waterfalls!
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