Istria & Kvarner: the back story

Istria layers Roman monuments, Venetian-style harbour towns and hilltop villages over a countryside of vines and truffle forests. This is the back story behind the places on our list.

Rome on the Adriatic

Pula keeps one of the best-preserved Roman amphitheatres in the world, raised in the 1st century AD to hold thousands of spectators. Its outer walls still stand almost whole, and in summer concerts and the Pula Film Festival fill it again. Along the coast in Poreč, the Euphrasian Basilica glitters with gold mosaics laid in the 6th century.

Towers and hill towns

Venice is never far away. Rovinj’s colourful houses climb a peninsula to the Church of St Euphemia, whose bell tower is modelled on St Mark’s. Inland, Motovun’s medieval walls ring its hilltop above the Mirna valley, and in nearby Grožnjan artists and musicians have filled the stone houses with galleries and studios.

Truffles and vines

The forests of the Mirna valley below Motovun are where Istria’s truffles are found. At Zigante in Livade the menu is built around them, at its best in the white truffle season of autumn. Near Bale, Meneghetti makes wine among vineyards and olive groves, while in Rovinj, Monte turns Istrian produce into creative tasting menus.

Pula’s amphitheatre was built in the 1st century AD, and its outer walls still stand almost complete.

Our advice: come in autumn for the white truffle season, basing yourself in Rovinj and driving inland to Motovun and Livade.