I recently spent an idyllic week at the Belvedere resort in Vrsar, a small coastal town on the Istrian Penninsula. While we were there I visited Pula, Rovinj and Porec. I would like to return next fall. Does anyone know of a similar seaside vacation destination in that area that we could spend an additional week or two? Any information would be much appreciated.

I see that you didn't go into Slovenia to visit Piran, another delightful town. Also, you might check out Opatija on the other side of Istria. (Technically it's not part of Istria.) Opatija is a little bigger than the towns you mentioned, but it's a very elegant town with a long history of tourism.

Check out my web page from our visit there last month:

http://www.travel.stv77.com/croatia/slovenia.htm

Nicely done, Steve. Will be very helpful for trip planning. Thanks.

If you go back to Istria you should visit Motovun (old hill town), national park Brioni (near Pula), Opatija, and beautiful Island Cres and Losinj.

http://www.tzg-cres.hr/g/g_karta.htm

http://www.tz-motovun.hr

http://www.brijuni.hr/en/Home.aspx?P...mp;gohome=true

Thank you so much, Steve and Mario. I will definitely be putting some of those places on my itinerary.

I cannot say enough about Istria. We, too, loved Rovinj.

Although the following are hilltowns and not on the coast, they are must see villages. You absolutely have to see Humb, "the world's smallest city". It is teeny weeny and lovely and ancient. Bale is another surreal little town totally stuck in time. Roc is fun to explore as well. If you are into truffles, Buzet may be a good place to visit - the truffle capital. Groznjan is an artsy little hilltop village that is great fun to wander about. Gracisce is simply amazing. We preferred the above to Motovun. It was a lovely town but was overrun with tourists (in September). The others were very quiet.