walking in Istria
 

We are planning on taking a walking vacation in the hilltowns for one week this September. Has anyone used Fiore tours in that region before? They offer a one week inn to inn walking vacation. Has anyone out there done any inn to inn walking in the region? Would you recommend doing it? We are really interested in doing a walking trip in Croatia and Istria looked promising, less tourists, good food and interesting sights. Am I right about this??

Thank you so much in advance!

I haven't done a walking tour but I did visit Istria at the end of April/early May this year. Compared to, say, Italy, it may seem less touristy, but it is certainly very touristy these days. Motovun is a big tourist trip. Grožnjan was less crowded (and my favorite of the few towns I saw) but still had plenty of people milling around on a Saturday afternoon in early May. Some of the other hill towns are not so busy, though - it varies by the town.

I loved Rovinj, where I stayed a few nights, but it too is pretty touristy now, especially mid day when all the tour groups descend. It is a nicer place to return to at night when most of the tour groups have left. September may not be high season in Croatia but it is still a busy shoulder season.

Consider a visit to the Kvarner Gulf (closer to Rijeka). Towns like Opatija and Lovran are worth a look. I stayed a night in Lovran and enjoyed a walk along the Lungomare, a long seaside promenade, more than I imagined I would. Lovran is kind of an OK but forgettable town; Opatija is a bit ritzy but worth checking out, at least - a nice town for a few hours stroll.

As Andrew notes, Istria gets a LOT of tourists, and most of the hill-towns wouldn't exist without them. (As I understand it, many of them were largely abandoned after WWII, and have only been renovated and re-inhabited with an eye to tourism.) Only you can decide if that would work for you!

There is some wonderful food to be had in Istria, much of it showing the area's Italian history.

Hope that helps!

Hmmmm thanks for your replies. We are heading to Slovenia first, is there anywhere else in that region that you could recommend that is great but not so touristy?

You might want to check the Lonely Planet and Rough Guides -- they might cover things like walking tours. (Always a worthy investment, IME, but you can also check a library.)

Slovenia is delightful -- I wouldn't be surprised if you can find a great option there!

I wouldn't avoid Istria because of fear of tourists - it's not Italy for sure. I was just trying to set your expectations for what you can expect. It isn't some undiscovered land where no one has seen a foreigner before. Rovinj in early May was wonderful at night - the tourists were there mainly in the daytime. There are lots of less-polished, less known hill towns - you can skip Motovun if you want. None of the rest of it felt spoiled by tourists to me.

Slovenia has tourists, too. Ljubljana has gotten more touristy, though it's still a lovely city (and again, nothing like Italy in that regard). Towns in eastern Slovenia like Ptuj and Maribor are much less so, I think. In fact, Ptuj when I was there (Saturday) was almost a ghost town, and Celje (Sunday) was even more so; Slovenia is a fairly Catholic country, and the less touristy towns do kind of close (except restaurants) on Saturday afternoons and Sundays.

Basically if you don't go where there are tourists you will not find the tourist facilities you want...

I looked into these areas but never got further than Kamnik in the end: Kamniska Bistrica, Robanov Kot and Ljubno ob Savinji. They all look great. Transport is by bus and not frequent. Also several day hikes from Lake Bohinj. I would say that there are heaps of hiking opportunities in Slovenia but not knowledgeable about inn to inn routes. There are a number of online websites dedicated to hiking in Slovenia.

If you are now thinking of hiking in Slovenia rather than Istria, you might want to post a new thread with a revised title.