Rovinj

Introduction

Rovinj, the “Blue Pearl of the Adriatic”, is one of the most picturesque towns in the Mediterranean and is located in Istria, the most northern and popular part of Croatia. Part of the Venetian Empire for over 500 years, the old town is perched on a pear-shaped peninsula high up on a hill, crowded with Venetian terracotta-roofed houses and crowned by the 18th century Church of St Euphemia, whose bell tower dominates Rovinj's skyline.

Sights and Activities

• St. Euphemia's Church;
• The clock tower with St. Mark's lion;
• Franciscan Monastery;
• Rovinj Heritage Museum;
• The Batana Museum House (the typical small boat);
• Protected natural landscapes (all 22 islands and coast).

Events and Festivals

• Christmas period - Rovinj Music Festival
• End of September - Weekend Media Festival
• Mid of April - Weekend Bike and Gourmet Tour
• Begining of May - Rovinj Photodays and Histria Classic (old cars)
• Mid of June - Rovinj’s regatta of traditional boats with lug and latin sails

Getting There

By Plane

Rovinj is served by Pula airport approximately 30 km south. The easiest way to reach Rovinj from the airport is to drive - the journey takes approximately 40 minutes. Although cars are not permitted in the old town, Rovinj is sufficiently small so that parking is available close to most of the city. Prices are around 2 kn per hour (the park-o-meters accept only coins).

By Bus

There are buses from Central Pula run by Flixbus.

By Boat

Venezia Lines is a high speed ferry company in the North Adriatic, linking Venice to the Istrian coast and in particular Rovinj. Departure (in season) every day at 17:00 and arrival at 20:00.

Getting Around

The old town and the surrounding area are small, and are easily accessible on foot. Bicycle hire is quite inexpensive in Rovinj and there are very good cycle tracks up and down the coast.

Eat

One of the most famous restaurants in town is the Wine Vault Restaurant , featuring modern French cuisine and the widest selection of wines in Croatia.

Some of the nicest restaurants include:

• Neptun restaurant;
• Puntolina;
• Sidro;
• Santa Croce.

Drink

Istrian peninsula is known for wine-making and, thus, wine tasting in Rovinj is a must-do. White wine is more prevalent in Istria, however the most popular local variety of red wine is Teran, a big, jammy wine with a spicy ending, often mixed with Merlot to soften the taste. Every café and restaurant in Rovinj serves local wine, so sampling the flavor of Istria is fairly simple. A couple of wine bars in the old town, like the charming Piassa Granda, are dedicated to featuring the area’s finest. For those just wanting a small taste, several of the wine shops found along the lanes offer samples to tourists. As we sipped, our interest in the locally produced wine extended beyond the bars and shops.

Sleep

There are a few camping sites available as well.

You can use the form below to search for availability (Travellerspoint receives a commission for bookings made through the form)

Keep Connected

Internet

Internet cafés are available in all major cities. They are relatively cheap and reliable. A free Wi-Fi signal can be found virtually in every city and can be found in cafés, restaurants, hotels, some libraries, schools, colleges etc. Mostly it's free, but sometimes a fee is required or you can use it for a limited time only. Internet connections with unlimited downloads costs 178 kn (€24) per month via T-Com and just 99 kn with some other providers like Metronet or Iskon.

Phone

See also: International Telephone Calls

The country calling code to Croatia is: 385. To make an international call from Croatia, the code is: 00.

Croatia uses the GSM 900/1800 system for mobile phones. There are three providers, T-Mobile (also operates the Bonbon prepaid brand), Vip (also operates the Tomato prepaid brand) and Tele2. Over 98% of the country's area is covered. If you have an unlocked phone, you can buy a prepaid SIM card for 20 kn. There have been promotions in which SIM cards were given avay for free with newspapers (7 kn) and sometimes even literally handed out on the street. GSM phones bundled with T-Mobile or Vip prepaid SIM cards can be found in post offices, grocery stores and kiosks at varying prices.

An alternative to using a mobile phone is Calling Cards which can be found in postal offices and kiosks, there are two providers, Dencall and Hitme. You can buy cards from 25 kn.

Post

Hrvatska Posta is the national postal service of Croatia and has pretty fast and reliable service throughout the country and internationally. It takes several days by airmail to other countries in Europe, but over a week to the US for example. They have a direct link to the pricelist, where you can see the prices of sending postcards, letters and parcels both domestically as well as to other countries. Post boxes are yellow in Croatia and the times of collections are indicated on the box. The opening times of post offices vary, but mostly they are open from 8:00am to 7:00pm Monday to Friday and until 2:00pm on Saturdays, though some might keep shorter or even a longer hours, just ask around. You can buy stamps here, or at newsstands. Prices start at around 10Kn for sending a letter or postcard to neighbouring countries, a few more further away. If you want to send packages internationally, it might be better to check companies like FedEx, TNT, DHL or UPS. They are reliable, fast and usually not much more expensive than Croatia's postal service.

External Links

• Official Governmental Website
• Tourist Website