Istria vacation, food & activities

Planet

The itinerary focuses on the Istrian peninsula, and our destinations are all quite close together. By staying within a relatively small geographic area, our itinerary seeks to minimize gasoline use and the subsequent carbon footprint from driving between locations. Our chosen activities (hiking, biking, sea kayaking, SUPing, swimming, and walking) are also low-impact since they don’t require the use of any fuel.

We also strive to conserve water on the trip by planning multiple nights in each destination as much as possible. This tour has 3 nights in Rovinj, 1 night in Pula, and 3 nights in Motovun. Structuring the itinerary in this way helps us reduce water consumption since towels and linens don’t need to be washed every day. We also encourage guests to reuse towels for the duration of their stays at each accommodation when possible.

We visit and recommend restaurants that source many of their ingredients locally. Doing so supports local producers while also reducing the carbon footprint our meals have since the food does not have to travel very far.

As part of our commitment to traveling in an environmentally-responsible way, we avoid single-use plastics whenever possible and encourage our guests to do the same. For example, we plan stops for you to refill your reusable water bottles during the day so you don’t need to buy any plastic drink bottles. If you encounter any plastic waste along a trail or in the sea during our activities, your guide will have a trash bag to collect it.

People

This tour highlights authentic Istrian culinary traditions and agricultural practices, including olive growing, olive oil production, winemaking, and truffle hunting. By working with small, local producers, we provide our guests with meaningful and enriching cultural and culinary experiences while also supporting the local economy.

We place our guests in small locally-owned guesthouses and bed and breakfasts rather than chain hotels to better support the local community. We also eat in and recommend a variety of local restaurants to spread tourism dollars around the Istrian community rather than concentrating it among just a few businesses.

Your local guides are very knowledgeable about Istria and have good relationships with local vendors in the places we visit. In addition to scheduled stops at local restaurants and businesses, your guides will be happy to recommend additional shops where you can purchase locally-made artwork, crafts, and other products.

We constantly seek to foster positive relationships between tourists and locals. We provide all of our multi-day tour guests with a detailed pre-departure packet ahead of their visit so that they know what to expect upon arrival in Croatia. The packet includes information about the local currency, transportation, a detailed packing list, tipping etiquette, safety, and essential vocabulary, such as “hello,” “goodbye,” “please” and “thank you.” This way, guests feel comfortable when they arrive and are likely to receive a warm welcome from locals.