Croatia · Istria
Yacht Charter Pula and Istria
A Roman amphitheatre still standing whole, a Venetian town on a peninsula, and truffles in the forest behind.
Istria is the top of the Adriatic and it does not behave like the rest of Croatia. It is green rather than bare, the inland is hills and oak forest rather than limestone, the food is closer to Friuli than to Dalmatia, and the towns were Venetian for five hundred years and look it. Pula, at the southern tip, has a Roman amphitheatre that never fell down — the only one anywhere with all four side towers still standing.
Pula, and the arena that survived
The amphitheatre was built in the first century and held twenty-three thousand people. It is among the six largest left in the world, and it is the only one where the complete outer wall and all four towers are intact, because the Venetians who wanted to dismantle it and ship it home were talked out of it by one of their own senators.
The rest of Roman Pula is scattered through a working port town: the Temple of Augustus on the forum, the Arch of the Sergii at the end of the main street, and a mosaic floor showing the punishment of Dirce sitting in a courtyard behind a block of flats. Pula is not a resort and does not pretend to be.
Rovinj, and the coast north
Rovinj is the picture everyone has of Istria: a huddle of houses on a peninsula with the campanile of St Euphemia on top. It was an island until 1763, when the channel separating it from the mainland was filled in, and the shape of the old town still shows it.
North of it the Limski canal cuts eleven kilometres inland — another drowned river valley, not a fjord — and the coast runs on through Poreč and Novigrad to the Slovenian border. The Brijuni islands, off Fažana, are a national park with Roman villas, Byzantine ruins and the remains of the safari park stocked with animals given to Tito by visiting heads of state.
Inland, which is half the point
Twenty minutes from the water the land rises into hill towns — Motovun, Grožnjan, Buje — standing on ridges above oak forest, and that forest produces white truffles that go to the same markets as Alba's. The largest ever found came out of it in 1999.
The same hills grow Malvazija and Teran, and Istrian olive oil has been rated the best in the world by the Italian guide that ranks such things, several years running. A car for a day from the marina at Pula or Rovinj is the single best use of a day ashore on this coast.
Practical notes
- The Pula arena is the only Roman amphitheatre with all four side towers still standing
- Rovinj was an island until 1763, when the channel to the mainland was filled in
- The Brijuni islands off Fažana are a national park, with Roman villas and Tito's former summer residence
- The bora comes off the mountains here without warning and can blow hard for a day at a time
- Motovun and the hill towns are twenty minutes inland, and are where the truffles and the wine are
Reached from: Pula, Rovinj and the Kvarner islands
Where to dine
A table by the water
Monte
RovinjJust under the campanile at the top of the old town, and the most decorated kitchen in the country.
Batelina
BanjoleA family fish konoba outside Pula that cooks the parts of the catch everyone else throws away, and better than anyone.
Zigante
LivadeIn the truffle village below Motovun, where the record-breaking white truffle was found in 1999.
What to do
Anchorages & excursions
The Pula arena
First century, twenty-three thousand seats, and the only Roman amphitheatre with all four side towers intact.
Rovinj
A Venetian town on what was an island until 1763, with St Euphemia's campanile on the summit.
The Brijuni islands
A national park off Fažana with Roman villas, Byzantine ruins and Tito's former summer residence.
The Motovun forest
Oak forest producing white truffles that reach the same markets as Alba's, twenty minutes inland.
The fleet
Yachts available for Pula and Istria
Vessels that operate here, from flagship motor yachts to smaller crewed boats. Every rate is quoted on enquiry.
Good to know
Questions we are asked about Istria
- Why is the Pula arena so complete?
- Because a Venetian senator argued against dismantling it. The plan in the fifteenth century was to take it apart and rebuild it in Venice; he persuaded the Senate to leave it, and it is why all four towers and the full outer wall are still there when no other amphitheatre in the world has them.
- How is Istria different from Dalmatia?
- It is green where Dalmatia is bare, the interior is oak forest and hill towns rather than limestone, and the cooking is closer to north-east Italy — truffles, olive oil, Malvazija — than to the fish-and-lamb of the islands. The sailing is different too: fewer islands, longer coast, and the bora rather than the maestral.
- Can we visit the Brijuni islands?
- Yes, they are a national park. There are Roman villas, Byzantine ruins, dinosaur footprints on the shore, and what is left of the collection of animals given to Tito by visiting heads of state. Access is regulated and the crew arrange it.
- What does a yacht charter in Istria cost?
- It depends on the yacht, the season and the crew, so we quote on enquiry rather than publish a figure that would be wrong for most weeks. Tell us your dates and party size.
Destinations
Nearby destinations
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Enquire about a charter in Istria
Tell us your dates and how many of you there are, and we will come back with the right yacht and a full quotation.