rovinj via skocjan caves

rovinj via skocjan caves

• 3 Oct 2023

Hi every-one. I know this post is a day late, but I flew home yesterday and by the time I sorted myself out a bit, it was already my bedtime. As I've been awake since midnight, I've had plenty of time to prepare these images.

I thought I'd like to spend some time by the sea on my holiday and Slovenia doesn't have much of a coastline. Rovinj seemed to offer a bit more, but to get to Croatia I either had to hire a car or take a very long bus ride from Ljubljana. 4 hours sitting on a bus didn't sound like much fun, so I hired a car. 

I drove from Ljubljana to Rovinj via the Skocjan Caves. You can't take photos inside the caves, so I left my camera in the car but I snapped a few photos of the walk out on my phone. I think the climb involved tackling 500+ stairs.

I was surprised to see cyclamens in the wild.

I drove from the caves to Rovinj in Croatia. Rovinj is a walled city and my accommodation was in the old town. 

You can't park in the old town, so my car was garaged a few kilometres away and you're ferried to your accommodation via golf buggies, whcih zip around town. As soon as I could, I walked around the old town to get my bearings before hunting down some pizza.

I stayed in a top floor apartment in the old town and Balbi's Arch was just around the corner.

Rooftops, photographed from my terrace.

The local cat.

The centre of the town is located around Maršal Tito Square.

Rovinj is a very popular summer tourist destination for European families and all the menus are written in Italian, German, English and Croatian. Australian accents were a rarity. The water is crystal clear and most activities are water based so either swimming, dolphin cruises or sailing. Otherwise every one is outside eating at one of the many eateries all offering the same tourist menu of pasta, grills, seafood and pizza or drinking Aperol spritz.

The Italian influence is pretty clear both in architecture and cuisine. This is my bowl of the classic Croatian dish of mixed shells from the Hotel Adriatic.

Rovinj's skyline is dominated by the bell tower of St. Euphemia located in the old town.  

The cobble stoned streets look so Italian.

It's a steep uphill walk through the old town.

St. Euphemia

Once inside, you're rewarded with frescoed ceilings.

You can return by the coastal route via the popular Baluota Beach - no annoying sand to get between your toes though.

There were lots of glamorous looking seaside bars.

It was a bit too early in the day for a spritz though.

One day I decided to catch the ferry to the nearby Santa Katerina Island.

It's just a 5 minutes ferry ride across to the isalnd. Is it possible to catch the wrong ferry across? Well I did and arrived at St. Anthony island instead, necessitating another ferry ride back to Rovinj then back out again.

St Katerina Island features a hotel surrounded by gardens and you can use all the facilities on the Island including the swimming pool, beaches (rocky coves)  and restaurant. It has a great view of Rovinj and it's cooler there as it catches the breeze.

One last swing by Baluota Beach before I left, as its the only beach in walking distance from the old town. 

Despite the terrifying car ride from Slovenia, I think Rovinj was worth the effort.

See you all again soon with some more photos of Slovenia.

Bye for now,

Jillian