Hill Towns in Istria easy drive from Rovinj

Motovun was indeed quaint when I was there a few years ago - no idea about the road being closed.

You do have Pula on your agenda, right? Not a hill town, but it would be a shame to miss that....a better Roman Coliseum experience than what you can get in Rome!

Vrsar is tiny but charming. It's on the way to Porec.

I don't think Porec pales in comparison to Rovinj. They are both worth visiting, as evidenced by the heavy tourist loads in both places. I remember Rovinj as having more of a closed-in medieval street plan. There is bus service from Rovinj to Vrsar to Porec. There's also service to Pula, but I haven't been to the latter.

I enjoyed wanderng through both Motovun and Groznjan.

Motovun is the biggest of the towns. I thought it was OK. Groznjan is much smaller and more "quaint" in my view - almost too nice, fixed up almost like a movie set. You can certainly visit more than one town. In fact, I think it would be a mistake to visit just one.
Motovun and Groznjan would be two good choices. They aren't that far apart.

I kind of wish I had skipped Pula, too. I'd seen plenty of Roman ruins in Italy.

Thanks so much everyone. I think we'll head for Motovun and Groznjan. It does not sound like the road to Motovun is still closed?