HOME TOUR

This summer we road tripped through Slovenia down to their sweet coastal town of Piran, where I could have idled away for a few days, so unexpected was the loveliness. We ate a leisurely dinner, one of our best of the trip, in a tucked away, pastel-painted square. We lingered over gelato while walking the quiet streets and then took a late night drive to Rovinj, Croatia where we stayed two nights to explore Croatia’s Istria region. These coastal towns of Piran and Rovinj were a treat. Come along!

DAY 6 — FROM THE JULIEN ALPS TO PIRAN

Picking up from the Slovenia portion of our summer travels, it was roughly a two hour drive from Kobarid, Slovenia down to the coastal town of Piran. Slovenia has only 30 miles of coastline, sandwiched between Italy and Croatia. But Piran was beautiful. From everything I had read, I was expecting to love Rovinj more so that’s where we chose to stay for two nights.

Striped Dress | Hair Clip | Aubrey’s Dress–Tartine et Chocolat (similar here)

PIRAN, SLOVENIA

Piran is the perfect way to end your time in Slovenia. It is a car-free town with an easy parking garage and a free public shuttle to the old town. They went so frequently we never waited more than 5 minutes to catch the shuttle. Our first stop was climbing the bell tower for a picturesque view over Piran. We took a right turn out of the bell tower and meandered our way down to the sea. While walking, an antique airplane started some aerobatic stunts over the water, buzzing the town very low. Cade, our aviation aficionado was beside himself.

With the cafes lining the walk next to the sea, rails and steps straight into the ocean, showers and lounge chairs free for the taking, I so wished we would have stayed a night. Or had our bathing suits on under our clothing. The sea was so inviting!

ROSTELIN

Eat at Rostelin. It was one of the most memorable meals of the trip and completely packed with people, tables overflowing over the square and grapevine covered trellises. Homemade pastas, charcuterie boards, delicious wine–it was a happy find we stumbled upon while walking the cobblestone streets.

DAY 7 — WAKING UP IN ROVINJ, CROATIA

We had left Piran, Slovenia around 10:30 pm and didn’t arrive in Rovinj, Croatia until 11:30 pm. Rovinj is also closed to car traffic so we had to call the hotel (which was located within the pedestrian zone) upon arrival and they met us in a golf cart, helped us park the rental car and then drove us in to the hotel. We had the pleasure of staying at Hotel Adriatic, part of the Maistra Hotel Collection and woke up to the most beautiful view of the harbor. We had a lovely breakfast on their patio, included in our room and were told about their free ferry service out to their other hotel on St. Andrews Island, a short ride away. So we meandered Rovinj for a few hours before heading out the island to get some good beach and pool time in.

Red Stripe Dress | Similar Earrings | Sandals

BEACH TIME IN CROATIA

The Croatian coast is known to be rocky with very few sandy outcroppings along the Adriatic. This didn’t seem to bother our kids one bit. We did pack our water shoes and wore them the whole trip long. It seemed like most swimming areas had jellyfish netting out which everyone greatly appreciated.

The highlight of the island outing was the inflatable obstacle course just floating out there in the ocean, beckoning my children. Matt swam out there with them, sacrificially of course. I alternated between lounging and wading in. The first nibble from a fish sent me back to the lounge chair. I love the ocean, I don’t love swimming in the ocean. Fish like me and I’m not ok with it.

WANDERING COBBLESTONE STREETS

This could be my single favorite part of travels in Europe. Let me wander. Let me still my mind, feel the sun and walk those time-worn streets. And at twilight, oh be still my heart. Hungry kids however do not find wandering cobblestone streets fun. So upon returning to Rovinj, we changed in our room and headed out to find dinner. I wasn’t great about reservations this trip. I like stumbling upon things. So we wandered until we found a place. We ate at Balbi and this dinner was not particularly memorable but the streets right off the square were. We wished we had gotten reservations at Monte.

After dinner, Gelato by the sea of course. Our kids lived for the daily gelato finds.

DAY 8 — A MORNING OCEAN SWIM

Magical rock bridges and outcroppings right in Rovinj, a minute from our hotel, had all the kiddos excited for a morning, pre-breakfast swim. They even had a jellyfish net out and rails to easily access the sea. Fair warning, it was popular with the older, topless ladies of town.

Green Bikini Bathing Suit

And just like that our time in sweet Piran and Rovinj came to an end. We checked out of Hotel Adriatic and headed east to explore the hill towns of the Istrian Peninsula. Read about the rest of our Croatia here! If you missed the first part of our trip, read it here.