I'm planning a trip to Slovenia and Croatia in May (so I will be asking a few dumb questions here about that - fare warning!). Here's the first: I'm thinking of spending a day touring hill towns in Istria. Rick seems to love Motovun, and his book lists a few other little hill towns. It seems there are lots of these. I'd appreciate hearing from anyone here who can recommend (or recommend against) visiting any of these. Thanks!
Posted by
WPB, FL & Firenze
3112 posts
I visited Motovun and Groznjan during my visit to Istria. I thought Groznjan was the more interesting of the two hill towns, although the views from Motovan are far better. There are a couple of good inexpensive restaurants in Groznjan, with outdoor seating on nice days. Note that you'll need a car to explore the hill towns, and the turn for the road up to Groznjan is easy to miss.
Posted by
OP
Seattle, WA, USA ☔️
6788 posts
Thanks, Frank. We will have a car (with a good map and GPS). Right now I'm trying to determine how much time to allocate to this area. I'm planning 2 nights and 1 full day in Rovinj before heading out to explore other parts of Istria. I'm thinking of driving to Pula to spend a morning checking out the Roman ruins there, then spending the afternoon wandering the hill towns (Motovun, Groznjan and possibly a few others). I'm thinking we might spend the night in Motovun then continue exploring hilltowns the first part of the next day, before moving on. About how much time would you allocate to Istrian hill towns? I'm thinking that about one full day (spread across the afternoon of the first day, and the first half of the second day). Does that seem about right? Thanks again!
Posted by
Perry, Iowa, USA
8 posts
We are also planning a trip to Slovenia and Croatia in May. We are staying 7 nights in Rovinj and will have a car to make daytrips to nearby towns. I would also like suggestions for interesting villages, sights and wineries near Rovinj. Would Plitvice be a reasonable daytrip from Rovinj? Thank you for your help! Laurie