Rovinj

Rovinj is a small town on the western coast of Istria, and without question the most photographed in Croatia. It was an **island** until 1763, when the channel separating it was filled in. That gives it its unusual form: houses packed tight and rising straight out of the water with no beach and no quay, and narrow lanes spiralling up the hill to the bell tower of **St Euphemia's Church**. **Venice** ruled it for five centuries and the mark is everywhere — the stone balconies, the lions of St Mark above the gateways, and the local dialect. From Rovinj the Istrian interior opens up: hilltop towns like **Motovun** and **Grožnjan**, truffle country, and caves. Note: the town is very small and fills in July and August; spring and autumn are far better.