Rovinj, Istria, Croatia - the prettiest city in Europe?

I would argue that Rovinj is the most romantic european city that nobody has ever heard of.

Our quick two day jaunt into Croatia began with a couple stops in the Istrian hillside towns of Groznjan and Motovun. Both recommended by Riknojan Stevic (his Crotian name), these two towns are great stops on the way to your destination; ours being Rovinj. Groznjan was our first stop around mid-morning that coincided with a French tour bus, so we generally blended in better than them. The town was nearly abandoned not long ago, but recently many artists have made this place home, operating little gallery's or souvenir shops or cafes. It was a great little town and good to see people keeping the ageless village alive.

Our next stop, Motovun, had a little more giddy-up in its stride. This is a big truffle town and the world record truffle was found in the surrounding hillside and sold for over $200,000. The town is perched on the top of a large hill, brilliantly protected from invaders during the middle ages. Just in case they surrounded the village with some fortifications that make a great walking tour of the city. Below is the walk up before entering the town walls that reminded me of the village on the way to the top of Les Baux de Provence in Southern France.

We left Motovun with full bellies and a clear blue sky, you can catch the no-look shot of the town from our rental.

From Motovun it is a 30 minute drive on the new highway to Rovinj. You arrive in town along the north end of town with plenty of parking and depending on the time of day, you get an outstanding view of the town, see the first pic of the post. We arrived to our hotel, Hotel Garzotto, which ended up being the best decision we made all trip, and perhaps the best overall hotel experience we have had in our three years in Europe (and that is saying a lot for a €100 spot). Despite being €100, it oozed character as the hotel is built in the skeleton of a former venetian palace. Dario, who makes you feel right at home by offering you a typical Istrian aperitif, did a great job preserving the integrity of the palace. It was a dump when he bought it and it took him two years to get the restaurant (that used to be a donkey stable) prepared for service.

After our drink, we squeezed our way through the narrow "streets" to our swimming hole that welcomed our return to the Adriatic for the third time in three years. The city itself was amazingly preserved and actually lived in by its locals, mixed between residential and commercial spots that were local, but yet interesting for the tourist. Below is the venetian seal, evidence of the bustling venetian outpost that thrived during the 16th century, the time most of the buildings are still surviving from.

After swimming we walked around the port and picked up some fab photos and romantic views. There were lots of little boats to check out. We then grabbed a bottle of wine we had from Slovenia and enjoyed the sunset on the pier.

This is the view we had to enjoy our bottle of wine over. Rovinj is truly a beautiful place!!

Following the sunset we fulfilled our promise and checked out the restaurant, which had great rustic charm. He recently hired a new maitre-de and head chef who cook some outstanding Italian food. The restaurant was pretty packed by the end of the night and Dario actually joined us for part of his meal and furnished us a great bottle of wine for being good company. Following dinner I bought a round of Raki for the patrons, which included a group of Dario's friends who also own restaurants in town. Needless to say we had some friends to close out the night with!

We stumbled home after our drinks and wonderful dinner through the narrow lanes and slippery uneven marble sidewalks...no injuries were sustained.

You can see the "smooth" pavement we walked on all day (and the following day).

The next day consisted of walking around the old town and renting (free) bikes from the hotel and going to the park to see the crystal clear water.

It was really hard to leave this place, we had to pay for an extra day of rental to do it, but without question, it was worth it. If I had to choose between Dubrovnik or Rovinj, it'd be a toss-up!