The name Dvigrad means “two town”, or perhaps “twin towns”. It’s tucked away in the Drago valley, which leads from Pazin to the sea. The actual river has gone underground at this point, only emerging in the Lim channel. In prehistoric times, this was a major highway to inland Istria, and later it became the…
There are over 300 Bronze Age hillforts around Istria, of which Monkodonja is one of the most impressive. Not simply for the glorious location and the massive defensive walls, but the careful interpretive boards that really help you to visualise what it was like when it was inhabited. Monkodonja means Quince Mountain in the local…
Monte was Croatia’s very first Michelin starred restaurant, currently one of three. So far we’ve visited the other two: Pelegrini in Šibenik, and 360 in Dubrovnik, to find out what makes these restaurants so special. Nothing if not thorough, we’ve now driven up to Istria so we can experience Monte’s award-winning cooking too! I’m particularly…
One of Istria’s most iconic towns is the lovely Rovinj, which we last visited as students many moons ago. In going back, I was a little afraid that the intervening years and busloads of tourists would rub the magic off my carefree happy memories of the place. But as it turned out, Rovinj in September…
