5 most beautiful places in Istria!
In the previous article, I wanted to motivate you to visit Istria if you have not done so before. In this article, I will help those who have decided to set off towards Istria. Regardless of whether it is a short trip or a multi-day journey, every traveler before the trip is faced with a lot of questions about how to best organize the trip and what to visit on it so that the journey would be successful. It is enough that you have decided to visit just one new city; it is up to you to explore the best sights, restaurants, galleries, etc. In order to make that process easier for all of you who will head towards Istria, I bring you this article which will greatly help you not to wander and to feel that you have made a good decision regarding what to see and what to experience in Istria. This list deserves to be at least twice as long, but we do not want to write big novels, but rather give a concise list that you will be able to easily remember and recall.
1. Rovinj
Rovinj is, in my personal judgment, definitely the first place that is worth visiting and staying in. I have been so many times already in situations where I had to recommend several places in Istria to guests, and Rovinj has always, but always, been in the first place. The very appearance of the city is charming, unusual, and very pleasing to the eye, in one word – fairy-tale-like. Rows of houses with facades in different colors that climb from the sea towards the hill on which dominates the outline of the Church of St. Euphemia and the tower with the statue of St. Euphemia that turns in the direction of the wind. Besides the old town itself, which is interesting on its own, there is also the Zlatni Rt forest or Punta Corrente located only 500m from the old town. By visiting the forest, you come to countless possibilities of how to spend quality time, such as staying on beautiful beaches, cycling on arranged paths, climbing on rocks, etc. The choice of restaurants and the complete eno-gastro scene in Rovinj is also a quality experience. Do not miss Rovinj.
2. Brijuni
Perhaps I will most easily portray the beauty of Brijuni if I tell you one fact. The undisputed president of the former state of Yugoslavia, of which Croatia was also a part, had two residences for rest. One residence was located in the southeast of the country, and the other were Brijuni. Brijuni are a smaller island located a few minutes by boat from the town of Fažana. Untouched nature consisting of the rich flora and fauna of the island, untouched beaches that surround only the island, wild animals that freely walk the island, a unique peace and sense of tranquility is what makes Brijuni. You can walk across Brijuni, you can ride a bicycle, you can dive, whatever you do, everything is special in that place.
3. Buje and surroundings
For many years I traveled through Istria and all its parts until one day I realized how beautiful Buje and the surroundings of Buje are. Buje and the places around them are not on any shortened list of the beauties of Istria, but they absolutely deserve to be there. Buje and the surroundings have the strongest concentration of the best Istrian, and even Croatian, winemakers, a serious offer of extra virgin olive oil, Tuscan landscapes and magical sunsets that are visible through olive groves towards the sea. Istria itself is a top combination of blue (sea) and green (forests, fields, meadows), and Buje are especially rich in that combination.
4. Motovun
According to the Celtic name Montana, Motovun means a town in the mountain. Why this is so, you will quickly see as soon as you arrive by the local road at the foot of the town. A picturesque, extremely photogenic and fairy-tale-like medieval town on top of a hill hides within itself 26 protected cultural monuments, which is why the town itself is on the UNESCO World Heritage tentative list. In addition, for those eager for gastronomy, Motovun offers one highly valued ingredient from the mushroom family. These are, of course, truffles. A mushroom that grows underground in quite specific bioclimatic conditions, with a specific taste, and which is “hunted”/searched for with the help of dogs or pigs. Some of the truffle houses in their offer have excursions in which they demonstrate truffle hunting in the Motovun forest.
5. Amphitheater in Pula
Historians among you will especially enjoy visiting this place. The Amphitheater in Pula is the largest and best-preserved monument of ancient architecture in Croatia. By size, it takes 6th place among Roman amphitheaters in the world, and it is the only one in the world in which all three Roman architectural orders are preserved. Looking at the Amphitheater in Pula, you feel awe towards the strength that it has resisted the tooth of time for so many years, you feel admiration for ancient construction skills, and finally you feel privileged to stand in front of one of the most important monuments of ancient culture in today’s world. If you are lucky, you might even have the opportunity to attend a concert of some of the biggest music stars in the world within the walls of the amphitheater.
All in all, these are not the only places you should remember and stick to on your journey. Beauty is in the eye of the observer, and I believe that some of you with a little adventurous spirit will “dig out” some new beaches, new rocks, parks and places that will be on their personal top 5 list. Personally, I enjoy these 5 mentioned, but I also look forward to every new exploration of Istria because I know it is a great source of good things and well-lived moments. One of the companies engaged in agricultural production in Istria has a very accurate and strong slogan that says a lot about Istria, and the slogan is "The ease of existence in Istria." That is more or less how it is...
Matej Rotim
