Geography

The official web-site of Istria says that the average population density of Istria is '73 inhabitants per square metre'. This may seem true in the resort town of Porec in mid August, but with nearly 3000km2 and just over 200,000 residents, Istria actually has a lot of room to roam. For those letting properties, those high season tourist swarms are an inverse locust storm; they leave plenty behind.

Istria exhibits diverse geography. The mountainous landscapes of north and east give way to a hilly and verdant interior before embracing the sea in tongues of red earth and rocky, pine-covered headlands. There are precipitous gorges, underground rivers, forested ridges, olive groves, and scores of coves, inlets and islands. The ebb and flow of cultural influence through this once strategic gateway have left a fascinating record of human adaptation - Roman fortresses, early Christian churches, hill-top bastions, Venetian trading ports, baroque palaces, grand hotels, and, well, nudist camps.

Regions

The history of Istria is a complex skein of Croatian, Italian, Austrian, Slavic strands with the odd thread of German, French and English. There have been forced emigrations, politically motivated resettlements, permitted and proscribed languages and fluctuating seats of power in Istria, but it is the undeniable attraction of the place that has finally emerged. Since 2004, when the travel press voted that it was Istria's turn, the theme has looped back a few millennia - for it was the Romans who first decided that Istria was a nice spot for a villa.

Though the rugged coast and brilliantly clear water of the Mediterranean is the calling card, a tour of the ancient hilltop towns provides spectacularly different views and a glimpse of a remote and arduous life where it was obviously important to see your next guests arriving. Now being restored as 'artistic' towns, charm has displaced the threat that created the 'huddled together' look that is now seen as picturesque. These places are comfortable, even cosy.

The same can be said for Istria as a whole. It feels safe, and apart from petty thievery in the busiest spots in the high season, the statistics show that it is. Long may this be true. The simpler life-style shapes daily life too. Coffee breaks in the town seem to be governed by a law specifying a minimum of one hour in the cafe. Thankfully, shopping facilities in Istria are not dominated by malls and franchise-a-mania. (Mind you, a forty year old socialist mall is certainly a sight worth missing.) Few locations are far from an adequately-stocked centre, and if they are, the drive is almost certainly enjoyable.

Many inland town are built on lesser hills; the crest of the hill a cluster of churches, squares and old buildings and and newer buildings bunched on the slopes below. An exploratory drive in the country invariably reveals a new delight. Houses outside the towns are usually built near the roads, but, except at high season, traffic is light. Beware, there are enough dilapidated Istrian stone houses along these roads to stimulate carloads of fanciful conversation for miles. (See clean title).

Despite the focus on tourism, the west coast is not an unrelenting promenade of hotel balconies. Though there are areas devoted to the package tour trade near most of the bigger towns, there are also long segments of coastline where there is virtually no development. The coastal towns all have old centres of medieval buildings, though in many larger towns new building has all but displaced them. So too, fishing piers have given way to moorings for pleasure boats. That said, in the best of these the towns, the narrow cobbled alleys, tiny squares, shuttered windows and ubiquitous laundry lines generate a distinctly Italian ambience.

The coast south of Pula, Istria's largest town, is a convoluted series of coves, bays and spits with an enticing sprinkling of islands. This area has become the watersports centre of Istria with marinas, fishing tours, diving centres and more. Catering to this crowd has added restaurants, clubs and nightspots.

The east coast is less developed, partially because the geography makes access more difficult, but ads for building land are starting to appear. Large carpets of forest and scrub break at the small towns to provide dramatic views over the island of Cres. Rabac, the biggest resort on the east coast, is a fairly sophisticated affair with tiers of purpose-built holiday apartments curved around a pretty bay.

The legacy of history is reflected in Istrian cuisine, too. The meat and potatoes diet of central Europe here meets seafood and pasta. There are many grilled dishes with unpronounceable names that are worth trying, and some out of the way restaurants providing only one (delicious) entre per day, like home cooking, really. The fish restaurants on the coast give new significance to the notion of 'fresh'. Eating out in Istria is satisfying and inexpensive.


Average number of sunny hours per year: 2400

Official languages: Croatian and Italian