Istria
We’ve compiled the best of the best in Istria - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
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We’ve compiled the best of the best in Istria - browse our top choices for the top things to see or do during your stay.
Perched in all its compact medieval redolence atop a hill a short drive or walk from the sea, Labin is Croatia's former coal mining capital and the birthplace of Matthias Flacius Illyricus, a Reformation-era collaborator of Martin Luther. Its narrow, historic streets are well deserving of a good walk—followed, if time allows, by a dip in the sea at Rabac, the coastal beach town just 3 km (2 miles) below, filled with hotels, resorts, apartments, and villas to rent, and a vibrant promenade lined with cafés, restaurants, and family activities. From Labin's endearing little main square, Titov trg, with its 16th-century loggia and bastion, it's an easy stroll to Šetalište San Marco, a semicircular promenade with a spectacular view of the sea. Walk to the end and take a sharp left up the cobblestone road. Once you reach the top of the hill, you can climb another 98½ feet up for an even better view from the town's onetime fortress, the Fortica. Making your way down the other side of the hill back toward the main square, you will pass the Crkva Rođenja Blažene Djevice Marije (Church of the Birth of the Virgin Mary). With a facade featuring a 14th-century rose window and a 17th-century Venetian lion of the sort you will encounter elsewhere in Istria, the church is a mix of architectural styles dating back to a late-16th-century renovation, though its foundations may date to the 11th century. Dotted throughout Old Town Labin are working art studios, souvenir shops, museums, and galleries. In July and August, the Labin Art Republika hosts art openings, live musical concerts and outdoor films.
With its beautiful aqua blue bay and splendid, natural surroundings down rocky cliffs that call to mind the Amalfi Coast, the seaside resort town of Rabac has transformed from a quiet, 17th-century fishermen’s village into one of the most popular tourist destinations in Istria. Perfectly situated just 3 kms below Old Town Labin and equidistant from Opatija and Pula, Rabac offers an endless number of white pebble beaches and untouched nature ideal for hiking, biking, kayaking, windsurfing, fishing, diving, and exploring. Many hotels, resorts, boutique hotels, villas, apartments, and campgrounds host international tourists looking for family-friendly holiday experiences. Yet, despite its growing popularity, Rabac still manages to transmit the same casual coastal charm and welcoming spirit of that 17th-century village it once was. An added bonus is having the medieval hilltop town of Labin just 10 minutes up the road, where its numerous chic restaurants, live music programs, art galleries, and historical sites further enrich your holiday.
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