Cycling the Istrian Peninsula A self-guided biking excursion in beautiful rural Croatia

• Arrival in Poreč. Info meeting with our holiday representative at 7pm at the hotel reception area where we will provide you with the package including hotel vouchers, bicycle with all equipment, maps and a road book. Overnight in Poreč.Accommodation: Hotel Poreč 3* in Poreč or similar 3*hotel

Our cycling tour of Istria will start with a ride fromPoreč, the town where you can find material and spiritual evidences of great cultures at every step. Walk along the old city center and you will find there the Roman Forum, magnificent palaces from different historical periods, and to top it all, the famous Euphrasian Basilica (Euphrasiana).
The ride along this trail is particularly pleasant because you are riding along the coastline with beautiful bays where you can enjoy the breathtaking Mediterranean landscape with green vineyards and olive groves and taste home made food, wine, brandy and honey produced in this area. Continuing along the trail, you will reach Višnjan, a little place that vaunts an astronomical observatory ranked among the 5 most important observatories in the world. Passing by Mirna river delta and Novigrad you’ll arrive to Umag. A town that, apart for its incandescent Riviera, vaunts a rich historical heritage and a unique event – the festival of the traditional organ (Organum Histriae). Situated on a peninsula, founded in the transitional period from late antiquity into the early middle age, with the historic center that loudly speaks with the spirit of the old Venetian Republic. Continuing to northernmost point of istria (Savudrija) and finishing first day in Buje area.

• Accommodation: Guesthouse Casa Romantica la Parenzana 3* in Volpia or Lovac 3* in Kaldanija ( Buje area)
• Meals: Breakfast included
• Distance: 70 km / 43 miles
  Points of interest: Poreč, Višnjan (wine cellars), Mirna river delta, city of Novigrad, city of Umag, Savudrija

Breakfast, on the way to Buzet we will ride across Grožnjan – a typical istrian medieval town sprout high on top of the hill along the right coast of the river Mirna, vaunting its centenary walls, its renaissance loggia dating from 1585 and the beautiful St. Vitus and Modesto’s baroque church. If you just occasionally ride along its streets in which almost every door leads to art studios or galleries, and which windows from every direction echoes the sounds of different music genres, from classical to jazz, you’ll understand why Grožnjan is known as “The town of artists”. Šterna – a village named after a big local cistern (on local dialect – Šterna) situated on the large plateau intersected by water flows. Oprtalj, with unchanged urban medieval disposition, the narrow streets, the shops, the beautiful Venetian palaces, portals and covered passages, and particularly the unique view to the Istrian peninsula from the town loggia, according to many the most beautiful of Istria. Buzet, known as long as in the Roman times as Pinquentium, today is named as ’’the City of truffles’’, considering that the surrounding forests along the valley of the river Mirna cover some of the best areas of the entire Istria for the hunting of this divine tuberous. Overnight in Buzet.

• Accommodation: Hotel Vela Vrata 4* or Hotel Fontana 3 or similar in Buzet
• Meals: Breakfast included
• Distance: 47 km / 29 miles
• Points of interest: city of Buje, Grožnjan the city of artists, Livade the truffle centre of the world, Istrian spa center, city of Buzet

Breakfast. After a taft climb to Prodani the road leads to one of the most attractive and picturesque istrian medieval towns – Draguć. The place which, until some hundred years ago lived from the cultivation of the silk-worm, today is almost completely abandoned. However, its unforgettable natural position and the exceptional beauty of the stone architecture, the modest palaces, the walls and the old churches, perhaps could seem somehow known. Considering that right here have been recorded numerous national and foreign production movies and TV series, like the movies “The 3 musketeers”. Pazin – a true heart of Istria! First written records referring to the city as Castrum Pisinum appeared in 983 and presently, Pazin is known as a commercial, cultural and educational center of entire central Istria. Unique for its spectacular position above the carst abyssal cave, Pazin holds the medieval Castle – Kaštel (today, the Ethnographic Museum of Istria and the Municipal Museum are both in the castle) located on the verge of a 130 meters deep abyss. From Pazin you pass through Gračišće, an absolute pearl of the Istrian hinterland. The entrance into this town can be really enchanting: a magnificent Salomon Mansion made in the combination of gothic and renaissance styles, it makes you think for a moment as if you were lost in some distant corner of Venice. Continue further through Kršan, feudal land property, having obtained its name for the rockiness of the spot and at the same time, was erected on the foundations of an ancient early medieval burg, we arrive in Rabac, the pearl of the Kvarner bay. Overnight in Rabac.

• Accommodation: Hotel Mimosa 4*, Rabac or similar in Rabac
• Meals: Breakfast included
• Distance: 67 km / 41 miles
• Points of interest: City of Draguć, Pazin the capital of central Istria, Gračišće, city of Labin, Rabac the pearl of east Istria

After breakfast we ride across Raša, the first modern mining town in Istria and Barban to Pula. On the way you will find “Liburna”, a nature reserve of autochthon animals. Apart from these charming animals, in particular sociable donkeys, you will find here a unique ethnological collection of antique tools. Which city is situated on seven hills, has a magnificent Amphitheater and is not Rome? The answer is – Pula. No, it is not a mistake – you are, indeed, in front of Pula, the largest city in Istria. Pula is an enchantress with thousand appearances which has been casting spell on its visitors for centuries. This day we finish visiting the old city with the Sergius’ Triumphal Arch (from the end of the 1st century B.C. and the beginning of the 1st century A.D.) and famous Arena, a Roman amphitheater (from the 1st century B.C.). Overnight in Pula.

• Accommodation: Hotel Amfiteatar 3* or Galija 3* in Pula or similar in Pula
• Meals: Breakfast included
• Distance: 53 km / 33 miles
• Points of interest: Raša river valley, Barban city, Istrian villages, City of Vodnjan, Roman amphitheater in Pula, Old part of 3000 years old Pula

After breakfast we ride tako us along the coastline towards Rovinj. You will head for the mysterious world of Bale region, proud fot its glorious Soardo-Bembo Castle of the Gothic and Renaissance period and the parish church of St. Julian. Bale had been developed from the ancient Roman castrum (military fortification) along Via Flava, the ancient Roman road that used to connect Trieste and Pula. Svetvinčenat, with its grandiose Morosini-Grimani citadel with towers, parish church, municipal loggia and a line of 16th century houses of the Renaissance and a town cistern – šterna in the middle, Savičenta really belongs to a range of the most attractive Venetian creations of that period effected in this region, and with held one of the rare witchcraft trials in Istria during 17th century. This day finishes in Rovinj.

• Accommodation: Hotel VIla Lili 3* or Baron Gautsch 3* in Rovinj or similar in Rovinj
• Meals: Breakfast included
• Distance: 55 km / 34 miles
• Points of interest: Restaurants in Fažana, Castle in St.Vincent, Palaces in Bale, city of Rovinj

Breakfast. A marsh, rare birds, a cursed city, buried pirates treasure, a fjord, a cave with a primitive man and a hermit, an ancient solar observatory – all this you will find during today biking. Our bike ride will takes us across Kanfanar to the ruins of the medieval town of Dvigrad. Just to stir your imagination – you are now in an area where many legends and mysteries based on historical events still live on: that of Dvigrad devastated by the plague because of an ancient curse, of the buried treasure of Captain Morgan’s pirates near the village named after him (Mrgani), of the cave where the remains of the primitive man were found and where, as legend has it, St Romuald used to live as a hermit in the Middle Ages. After riding along the coastline you will reach Vrsar, a romantic fishermen village where the famous Casanova came back even two times. This one week bike tour finishes in Poreč where where you will spend the last night.

• Accommodation: Hotel Poreč 3* in Poreč or similar in Poreč
• Meals: Breakfast included
• Distance: 60 km / 37 miles
• Points of interest: Old city of Rovinj, Ruins of Dvigrad, Lim Bay, city of Vrsar, Poreč

After breakfast departure.

• Meals: Breakfast