We will be in Plitvice for one night and plan on visiting the Park in the morning and leaving early afternoon to drive to Istria. We are interested in the hill towns in the north central part of Istria. Wondering where to stay and far and how long the drive would be. Michelin will not map it! We will be staying in Piran the next night. Is it practical to drive to Piran and then drive back to the hill towns (Buzet, etc.)?
We are traveling in late May (2 couples). Thanks for any help.

I would not recommend staying overnight in Piran and then returning to the "hill towns", when all you would be doing is losing time and spending more money. If you like the hill towns stay there!
I live [on weekends]in Momjan, which overlooks the gulf of Piran, and my neighbor Edi and his family rent out nice rooms. Also near us are other agrotourismes or pensiones...many of them! Even more romantic and mroe in the northern center of Istria are the guest houses of Paolo or Nadia [Nadia speaks a bit of english if that is an issue] in Zrenj/Stridone. Nadia's cuisine is only matched by Rino's in Momjan.
After spending the night at Pietropelosa [Paolo and Nadia], a nice driving tour can take you from Zrenj to Oprtalje, then Zavrisje, then Groznjan...eat in Momjan [for Tuscan cuisine] or Brtoniglja [for the best seafood].
Other towns I like and visit often by bike are: Sovinjak, Roc, Hum, Buzet, Motovun, and the old part of Buje that most people have never seen. You may include these into your itinerary as you wish.
Enjoy your trip and do let others know how much you enjoyed these towns and the food.

Thank you uaz04 for your help. The places you mentioned staying, agriturismos, do they have a website? We like booking ahead as we are 2 couples and need 2 rooms (and are in our 70's!) Is there any special town/village that you particularily suggest for an overnight stay? Everyone on Fodor's highly recommends Piran, as does Rick Steves, and that's why we choose it. We will be heading into Slovenia after Piran or ??

Hello sasi!
Here is a very helpful site for you,
Pazin Tourist Board,lists all the private accommodation, farmstays etc in the hill top regions of Istria
This is my first time on Fodors, we will be visiting Croatia in September.
Have a great time!

Sasi,

In October, we drove from Rovinj to Plitvice - it took us 5 hours.

Plitvice NP was a great experience. I've never seen anything quite like it. It's not comparable to anything I've ever seen in the states. The lakes and waterfalls are gorgeous. I imagine that spring time is the perfect time to visit the park. The boardwalks and paths are an engineering marvel. If you can somehow swing it, spend the whole day in the park. You will not regret it.

Thanks for suggesting the website for Istria - Istria Tourist Board. When I googled it, it went to www.tzpazin.hr and it's a great website. We have found quite a few nice places that we will contact. Also, we decided to spend two nights in Plitvice, so will have lots of time to see all the sights. This forum is the best! Sasi

We will be visiting Plitvice in early May. We have reservations at the Plitvice Lakes Bed and Breakfast owned by the Krismanic family. looks like a cute place as we will be staying in the small house on the property. 56 euro per night. We love to hike and cannot wait to get onto these beautiful trails.

Hi Wilbox,

We will be in Plitvice the middle of May and are also staying at Krizmanic House. However, there are lots of places with that name! I believe ours is actually in the house, not separate.
We will spend two nights there and looking forward to it, too.