Welcome to Hooked on Walking and our walking holiday in Croatia. This self guided walking holiday in Istria region of Croatia is graded a level 2-3 tour. Discover the past and new Croatia step by step. Enjoying the mild Mediterranean climate along the beautiful coast you will walk the peninsula Istria,  the Pearl of the Adriatic Sea. For persons interested in history and culture a rich past provides many points of interest. You will discover many known and less known highlights of Istria and guided as well as self-guided tourists will get many useful tips.
History lives on the heart-shaped peninsula in the north of the Adriatic Sea, from the stone-age via Illyric, Greek, Romans, Germans and Slavic, Venetians, Austrians and Italians – each age and culture left its testimonies. More than 7000 years of history, being a cross point of cultures and a melting pot of different peoples, all leaving their traces.
You just name it, pre-Christian mound settlements, antique amphi theatres and temples, Byzantine mosaics, churches and sculptures from Roman and Gothic, Renaissance, Baroque and the Modern. Thus “diversity” is the common theme of Istria, which also shows in all other aspects of the region. Different characters of the landscape, mirroring the geological and climatic variety of the peninsula: quiet countryside and lonesome coast, flat plains and steep mountainsides, eradicated Karst and dense forests.
Embedded you find different settlements, which contribute to the charm of Istria: old mound settlements with medieval ambience, mundane sea-resorts, characterised by the architecture of the late 19th century and charming, Mediterranean coast towns with archways, plazas and rocking fisher boats.
Istria is an exiting picture-book having strong contrasts on a small area. Sunny bathing beaches on the sea contrast with lonely bear-inhabited forests, where time seems to stand still, moon-like landscapes bare of any vegetation and snow-covered mountains.

Bring your walking shoes and walk into the sunset!
Available Sundays 18th May-15th June , 24th August-7th September
Level 2-3 self guided tour

Day 1. Individual arrival at  Rovinj or pick up at Trieste
Welcome and tour introduction

Day 2. Hiking to the Limski Canal 11-14 miles 19-23 km 7 hours
You start the day with a  short transfer by car to the start of your walk. Visit the treasure cave of Karl Mays “Treasure of the Silver Lake”. Afterwards you walk up to a little church, where you have an impressive view of the canal. Walk past lovely, carefully decorated villages and walk along the old railway track from Kanfanar to Rovinj. Discover vineyards, wild juniper and fields, protected by old stonewall. Faraway you see the steeples of Rovinj, where the hiking tour ends. Included is a visit of Mini Croatia Park as well as a guided city tour of Rovinj with a visit of the church of St. Euphemia.
Walking distance 19 - 23 km

Day 3 -  Rovinj – Barbariga 13.6 miles 21.8km
You walking boots carry you along the sea. You walk via rough as well as asphalted walking paths along small camping grounds and bays. Slightly hilly, offering many possibilities for a swim, through olive groves and little, shady woods. Little inns along the wayside are waiting for you to refresh yourself.
Walking distance 21 km

Day 4 - Barbariga – Fazana 9 miles 14.5 km
After a good breakfast you start today’s walk along the sea to Fazana. Every little piece of fertile ground is used for growing: wine, green peppers, olives, tomatoes and different fruit count to the most important crops. Not to forget plums as basis for the local plum-schnapps named Sliwowitz. We visit Peroj a little Istrian village with idyllic fisher houses, made from Karst stones. There we leave the coast and walk into the country to Vodnjan, a place said to be inhabited already 30 to 40 thousand years ago. The church of Vodnjan houses 6 mummies with no scientist being able to tell, why they are preserved in such a good condition.

Further the church of Vodnjan houses more than 370 relics from more than 250 different saints. Our last destination today is Fazana, along evergreen bushes with rosemary, salvage and thyme to our accommodation.
Walking distance 14.5 km

Day 5 - Brijuni National Park
Fazana is a little fisher village. Situated between Vodnjan and Pula it also serves as starting point for visits of the national park Brijuni. The village itself is very quiet, worth seeing is mainly the church Sv. Kosma with a famous picture of the Last Communion, painted by Z. Ventura (1578). The national park Bruijuni consists of 14 smaller and bigger islands, home of an extraordinary variety of species. On the islands about 700 different species of flowers, bush and trees (laurel, rosemary, olives, pines, cedars, eucalyptus and bamboo) can be found. Climate, vegetation and history of the island always arouse a high interest in them. Declared a national park in 1983, it is also home of a safari park with zebras, lamas and deer. The visit takes 3 hours incl. the boat trip. The rest of the day is dedicated to relaxation.

Day 6 - Fazana – Pula 11.8 miles 19 km
Today we follow the traces of the Romans to Pula. You will note a considerable change of the landscape. Until now the west coast offered the picture of an inhabited area, developed for tourism with an agriculturally developed back country. Now the east coast is getting starker, without rendering the unreal impression of the middle Croatian coast. With 82.000 inhabitants Pula is not only the biggest city of Istria, but also the cultural, economical and unofficially political centre of the peninsula (official capital of the peninsula is Pazin). Nowadays Pula is a growing metropolis of the Istrian peninsula, with large quays, suburbs, museums, theatres and a welcoming old town with points of interest from the different epochs.
Walking distance 15 km

Day 7 – Individual departure
Transfer to Rovinj by Taxi or transfer back to Trieste or Ferry to Venice

How to get there
Fly by Ryanair to Trieste and then by bus to first hotel or by private transfer to tour start.
There are also flights to Pula with Ryanair.
You can also fly to Venice and catch a ferry to Rovinj .
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