Overview
Istria formerly Histria (Latin), Ίστρια (Ancient Greek), is the largest peninsula in the Adriatic Sea.
Description
Continental Croatia meets the Adriatic in Istria, the heart-shaped peninsula just south of Trieste in Italy. While the bucolic interior of rolling hills and fertile plains attract artsy visitors to its ancient villages, rural hotels and farmhouse restaurants, the verdant indented coastline is enormously popular with the sun'n'sea set.
Heading inland from the Istrian coast, you'll notice that crowds dissipate, hotel complexes disappear and what emerges is an unspoiled countryside of medieval hilltop towns, pine forests, fertile valleys and vineyard-dotted hills. The pace of daily life slows down considerably, defined less by the needs of tourists and more by the demands of harvesting grapes, hunting for truffles, picking wild asparagus and cultivating olive groves.
Pula, Istarska
Croatia
URL:
http://www.lonelyplanet.com/articles/istria-the-heart-of-croatia