Istrian Hill Towns in Croatia

The Adriatic Coast is a big draw on the Istrian Peninsula in Croatia but so are the hilltop towns in the interior. I decided to drive a random route and explore a few of the towns nearby.

Just a couple of kilometers from my Airbnb in Brtonigla, the small village of Buje was a surprise. It wasn’t mentioned much online but I discovered it had an extensive old town and many Venetian architectural traces.

I climbed to the top of its church tower even though it looked extra “crumbly”. The day was clear and you could see all the way to Venice and the Slovenian mountains in the distance. Thankfully, I missed the bells ringing near my head by a few minutes.

I ended up visiting four or five hill towns and honestly, they started to run together. The towns were all fortified on hills for defense and capped by some sort of Venetian-inspired clock tower.

In Motovun, I stopped by the birthplace of racing driver Mario Andretti. Istria in 1940 was then part of the Kingdom of Italy but after World War II, the Andrettis, along with most Italians, were exiled and ended up in a refugee camp in Lucca. Just another reminder that borders and homelands are fluid.

One small town that made an impression was Hum, Croatia. Hum had a population of just 30 in the last count. With a mayor and council system, it branded itself as the “smallest town in the world”.

I ended the day in the Croatian coastal town of Novigrad on the Adriatic. I hiked out to the the end of the main town pier and watched as kids fished in the clear water as the sun went down. Of course I stopped for ice cream on the way back to my car.

I’ve called an audible and decided to head north into Austria and Germany for my final two weeks here in Europe on this trip. You know, Oktoberfest started in Munich today…

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