Get to Rovinj in comfort and style

March 1, 2010 12:43 AM

How best to arrive to the Hotel Istra (Rovinj, Croatia) ?

Going for a summer vacation and meeting the family at the Hotel Istra in St.Andrew's Island in Rovinj, Croatia. If anyone has any good tips on how best to arrive it would be a great help! I can see that there is a possibility with the airport at Pula - but i've never been to Croatia before and any help would be appreciated. I'll be arriving from either Paris or Copenhagen. (any extra tips about recommended things to see and do would also be great). Thank you all!

posted by alchemist to Travel & Transportation around Rovinj, Croatia (4 answers total)

Best answer: I've been near this area from both sides. That is, we drove down as far south of Koper from the North. And we drove up to Split on the Croatian coast as well as island-hopping.

Coming into Pula should be fine. There are lots of flights to Pula these days including cheap airlines like RyanAir. You'll then need to take a bus or taxi to get you to Rovinj. Then you catch a ferry in Rovinj to take you out to the island.

One other option if you're going for style and comfort is to arrive into Venice, Italy and then take the 2-3 hour ferry across to Rovinj. It would save you bus trips and drop you directly into Rovinj. This is probably a more expensive option. There's a few more tips/experiences on the VirtualTourist forum.

The Adriatic is beautiful. Such great weather and clear blue waters. Based on our own experiences there, its where the Italians go to vacation. We didn't run into many American tourists - Croatia remains undiscovered to them - but Croatia was overrun with Italians and Spaniards and Germans and Brits primarily. So, don't worry about tourist infrastructure - it is definitely there.
posted by vacapinta at 2:53 AM on March 1, 2010

Response by poster: that's some really great information! Thank you! If others have any other recommendations I would appreciate hearing more.
posted by alchemist at 8:32 AM on March 1, 2010

Best answer: You can get a taxi from Pula Airport to Rovinj for 450 HRK (=62 EUR). If you're a cheapskate, you can taxi to Pula and then get a bus to Rovinj.

Alternate routes are by train or plane to Rijeka and then by bus to Rovinj. Connections from nearby airports in Ljubljana or Trieste are not so good.

I haven't tried the Venice-Rovinj ferry, but it sounds great - you get to see Venice, too. Keep in mind that there are two airports near Venice: Marco Polo and Treviso. You'll need to figure out connections from airport to ferry in both cases, but I think there's a ferry port at Marco Polo.

I speak Croatian, so feel free to PM me if you need help with Croatian websites and info. I wish I'd seen your question earlier, but I hope you haven't gone on vacation yet. :)
posted by gakiko at 2:32 AM on March 18, 2010

Response by poster: that's also great info about both airports in Venice. Thanks! Vacation is during june/july so I still have time to look for inspiration. Thanks for the help!
posted by alchemist at 2:51 PM on March 21, 2010