Istria has the potential to be a 12-month tourism destination, but it is really nice to discover when most things are closed and the crowds non-existent, as TCN discovered on a 2-day tour, finishing on December 31, 207.
New Year at home or New Year away? There are advantages to both, of course, but with the reality of school restricting family travel for much of the year, we decided to accept a kind offer from one of my clients in Istria and welcome 2018 at Aminess Maestral Hotel in Novigrad.
Although I have been to Istria several times, I am a Dalmatian boy at heart, and my knowledge of all Istria’s hilltop villages is poor. Several kind responses to my Facebook plea for suggestions had an itinerary quickly in place, and we set off to explore. Visiting Croatian tourist towns in July and August is a totally different experience, of course, and while one benefits from the lack of crowds, very little is open for tourists. I much prefer off-season travel, and I encourage anyone with plans to visit Dubrovnik, for example, to do so in the first week of February, immediately prior to and during the Festival of St. Blaise. The days before see the old town stripped back to its stone core with so many restaurants and bars closed for the winter, and the festival itself is one of the great spectacles of the Croatian tourism calendar.
But what of Istria out of season, starting out on December 30? It was in truth a little hard to drag the kids out of the Aminess Maestral Hotel, one of the friendliest hotels in all Croatia, and with excellent facilities and among the best buffet hotel food I have come across. But explore we did, starting with one of Istria’s best-known and most charming hilltop villages, Motovun.
Misty Motovun – timelapse movie from Romulic & Stojcic on Vimeo.
My photography has long been ridiculed by the Croatian media, so I encourage you to watch this award-winning video of the town. Misty Motovun is among the finest work of the Osijek Maestros, Romulic and Stojcic, who deservedly won an award for this stunning masterpiece, above.
One of the challenges of sightseeing with young children is maintaining their enthusiasm while making them forget how many steps they have to walk. Motovun’s picturesque stone cobbled streets were doing a great job in keeping them entertained on that score, although they were not so impressed that we parked at the bottom of the hill and make the relatively steep ascent, while a bus full of German tourists cheerfully drove past us at speed.
That one tourist bus apart, there was hardly a soul of the timeless Motovun streets, just several cats who also played their part in part in keeping the kids entertained.
Almost all of the tourist shops were closed, which gave Motovun an even more authentic feel, but if you wanted to stay or warm up with a hot chocolate or something stronger, there were options.
Hotel Kastel at the very top of the town was doing a brisk trade, and for a relaxing stay away from the crowds, I can imagine Motovun out of season is rather pleasant.
There were also several interesting details to pick up with the slower pace of life. Among my favourite was this plaque, explaining and explaining the patron saint of the internationally renowned Motovun Film Festival.
Hilltop villages were all very well, but we are a Dalmatian family in exile in Varazdin, and the call of the sea is in our veins. The last few days of December were divine, and the sea views from Rovinj were as spectacular as the historic peninsula old town itself.
Croatia’s most successful tourist destination, the town had not quite shut down, indeed there was considerable excitement about the New Year concert, which was to be headlined by the Gypsy Kings. And there were plenty of gems to be found along its ancient streets, this romantic spot above being a particular highlight.
But Dalmatians need that coffee, sun and sea mix – there was certainly nothing wrong with the view or the coffee overlooking the harbour towards Rovinj after a full day’s exploring.
One of the Facebook suggestions was to go to Savudrija where I was told that there would be some lively boat action. It took me a minute to catch on that my friend was sarcastically referring to the Piran Bay dispute, and the fact that the Slovenian authorities were now patrolling the waters awarded to them and preventing Croatian fishermen, who had fished there for an eternity, from entering.
I sold it to the kids on the opportunity to visit the most northern town on Croatia’s Adriatic coast, then went off in pursuit of some local fishermen, who were forthcoming about the new realities and how it is affecting their lives and livelihoods. Read the report here.
But if there was one Facebook recommendation I was given consistently, it was to visit Groznjan. I knew that it was yet one more of those pretty hilltop villages, and that there was some kind of art colony there, but little else.
It is a stunner!
What it must be like in the season with all the artists there and shops open is tantalising to imagine, but off-season, it was a tiny little town which time forgot – and an idyllic film location in waiting. At times it resembled rural Oxfordshire, at others northern Italy. It was utterly enchanting.
A surprise around every corner.
From pretty squares…
… to quaint old streets.
And although we had little company around the compact little centre, there was a restaurant and cafe open, allowing us a glimpse of business life in Groznjan, with friendly locals having time to interact with the fewer visitors. I am sure Groznjan is amazing in summer, but stripped back to its stone bones with its streets emptied of tourists, it is utterly fabulous at the end of December, the trip highlight in our short tour of discovery.
And then, the biggest surprise of all. Having struggled to bump into anything more than a handful of tourists, we returned back to Aminess Maestral Hotel in Novigrad. The hotel was packed. Not a single hotel bed was free for the night, and a staggering 560 guests were booked in for the New Year Gala dinner, with even more guests in the neighbouring Aminess Laguna Hotel. Ten buses with plates from Austria and Italy.
Late December in Istria – a fantastic getaway, where you will have the majority of the idyllic stone towns to yourself, but where quality refreshment and hospitality can be found. A winning combination.
