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Travel guide
Istria
4 days · 8 things to do
Best time to go: May to June, and September to October
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Welcome
Istria, in a few days
A peninsula at the top of the Adriatic, Istria has a Roman amphitheatre at Pula, hilltop villages inland and a coast cut into pine-shaded coves. White truffles are dug in the Motovun forest, and the olive oils here win prizes.
- Day by day
- D1 Day 1 3 things
- D2 Day 2 2 things
- D3 Day 3 2 things
- D4 Day 4 1 thing
- Worth sorting before you go
- Words that help
- The practical page
- Packing checklist
The trip
Day by day
Map of the sights (numbers follow the suggested order). It prints with the base map.
D1
Day 1
3 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Rovinj old town free · about 1 h 30An island until 1763, its lanes spiral up to St Euphemia's Church and a 60-metre bell tower modelled on St Mark's in Venice.
- Afternoon · Euphrasian Basilica, Poreč · about 1 hA UNESCO-listed 6th-century complex built under Bishop Euphrasius, whose apse keeps gold-ground Byzantine mosaics of the Virgin among angels and local saints.
- Late afternoon · Grožnjan free · about 1 hA stone hill village almost abandoned in the 1960s, then repopulated by artists who restored houses in return for studios; it now has thirty galleries.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Amarin ↗ · All places to stay by budget →€130 a night
D2
Day 2
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Motovun and the Mirna valley free · about 1 h 30A walled hilltop village whose Venetian ramparts take twenty minutes to walk, above the Motovun forest where white truffles are found from October to January.
- Afternoon · Hum and the Glagolitic Alley free · half a dayHum claims to be the world's smallest town, reached from Roč by a road lined with eleven stone monuments to the Glagolitic alphabet.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Amarin ↗€130 a night
D3
Day 3
2 things to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Brijuni Islands · half a dayFourteen islands off Fažana, a national park since 1983, where Tito spent his summers and received heads of state, whose gifts stocked a safari park.
- Late afternoon · Pula Arena · about 1 hThe sixth-largest surviving Roman amphitheatre, built under Vespasian, unusual because its three-storey outer wall still stands to its full 32 metres.
🛏️ Where to sleep · Hotel Amarin ↗€130 a night
D4
Day 4
1 thing to do · at your own pace
- Morning · Cape Kamenjak · half a dayIstria's southern tip, a nature reserve of low cliffs to jump from, clear coves, fossilised dinosaur footprints and some thirty species of orchid.
Before you go
Worth sorting before you go
📶 eSIM data
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
Online the moment you land, no roaming bill.
Get one · Holafly
🛡️ Travel insurance
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
Health, luggage, cancellation.
Cover it · Ekta
💳 Fee-free card
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
Pay at the real rate, with no exchange markup.
Open one · Revolut
🚐 Airport transfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
A private car at a fixed price from the moment you land.
Book it · GetTransfer
Some links are partner links: we may earn a commission, at no extra cost to you.
Good to know
Flavours & local habits
🍽️ Worth tasting
- Grilled fish and shellfish, straight off the Adriatic.
- Peka: meat or octopus cooked slowly under a bell covered in embers.
- Cevapi: small grilled sausages, the Balkan staple.
- Istrian truffles, shaved over pasta and eggs.
- Local wine: plavac mali in red, malvazija in white.
⚠️ Best avoided
- Book early for July and August: the coast fills up and the prices climb with it.
- Fish is sold by weight, so ask the price per kilo before you order.
- Check the bill in Dubrovnik for padded extras, bread and cover charges included.
- Do not drive into the old towns: they are pedestrian, and the fines are real.
Getting by
Words that help
English ↔ Croatian
| English | Croatian |
|---|---|
| Hello | Dobar dan |
| Thank you | Hvala |
| Please | Molim |
| Yes | Da |
| No | Ne |
| Excuse me | Oprostite |
| Goodbye | Doviđenja |
| Do you speak English? | Govorite li engleski? |
| I don't understand | Ne razumijem |
| How much is it? | Koliko košta? |
| Where are the toilets? | Gdje je WC? |
| The bill, please | Račun, molim |
| Help! | Upomoć! |
| Cheers! | Živjeli! |
The essentials
The practical page
CurrencyEuro (EUR, €)
BudgetAbout €103 a day, mid-range
Best seasonMay to June, and September to October
PlugC/F · 230V
Tap waterSafe to drink
TippingRound up, or 10%
Emergency112
EntrySchengen area: an ID card or passport for EU citizens, 90 days visa-free for UK, US, Canadian and Australian passports.
HealthNo vaccination required. Check that tetanus, diphtheria, polio and MMR are up to date.
Scan to open this guide online, always up to date.
https://offwegooo.com/en/guides/istria
Don't forget
Packing checklist
Have a good trip.
Guide made on offwegooo.com · Photos via Pexels · Details are indicative, check before you leave.