Apart from taking day trips into inland Istria, it's also possible to pop over the border into Slovenia to see what their part of Istria is like!

Alternatively, seeing as you're in part of the world, a day trip by catamaran to the mesmerising Venice is certainly do-able.

Piran, Portoroz or Koper in Slovenia
If you fancy exploring the Slovenian Istria (yes, the the region just over the border is called the same) then it's not too far away but unfortunately, not that easy to get to! There are buses that run between some of these towns, but generally seem to be at times that wouldn't allow for a day-trip, and/or would involve a change of bus at Buje. As such, if you've hired a car for your stay in Croatia trips over the border to Slovenian coastal towns would be much easier!

Porec to Piran takes about 50 minutes, from Pula to Piran takes 1 hour 30 minutes by car. See the Via Michelin for driving routes.

Once you're there, you'll encounter...well...a Slovenian Istria! Portoroz is one of the region's premier resorts in terms of beaches, facilities and nightlife, whilst Piran is a wonderful coastal town with a strong Venetian feel, and a number of sights. Koper is a relatively larger port town (Slovenian's only official commerical port) so is slightly more industrialised, but still has things to see and do.

Venice
We often get asked whether it's possible to take a day trip from towns in Istria to Venice. And the answer is yes - if you don't mind a few hours trip on a catamaran!

Venezia Lines have catamaran services from Porec, Rovinj, Pula and Rabac to Venice. The journey time is between 2 and a half hours (from Porec) to 4 hours (from Rabac). Services run between April and October on the more popular routes (Porec and Rovinj) - they also run daily during July and August. See their website for full timetable details.

It's not really our place to extol the virtues of Venice here on the Visit Croatia website, and we're sure that many of you already know its delights! Check out the Venice Tourist Board website for some useful information.