Porec on the Istrian Peninsula

We booked ourselves into Camping Bijela Uvala near Porec for 5 nights (the longest we’ve stayed anywhere on this holiday). The idea is to have a holiday whilst on holiday. So no trudging round hot city streets in the midday sun, especially as the weather has turned really hot with 33-36° sunshine predicted.

This is our pitch, with lots of shade under the trees. The first pitch we were allocated was about 20 metres away from the main swimming pool, with lots to do for the kids, slides, splash pool, entertainment, games, and very loud music ALL day!!!!!!

I lasted all of 20mins before getting a headache. There’s no way I could take that noise for 5 days, so I trotted up to reception and said very nicely, “I can’t stay here!”, the guy on reception said no problem, here’s the map, you can have any pitch you want in the yellow section up here, he said pointing at the map, if you can find one that’s empty. That was easier said than done!!!

We moved from the bottom right (see red dot by the huge pool complex) to top left red dot where there is a pool but it’s mostly adults. Perfect.

We did a quick calculation and think there are around 2.5 – 3 thousand pitches (some are glamping tents, a lot of cabins, but mostly campers or caravans and a few tent pitches) with say an average of 2 to 4 people per pitch, that means there could be around 7 to 10,000 people on site at any given time!!! We knew it was big, but never stayed on a site this size before.

We are very lucky as not only did the pitch have electric but it has water and a drain, which means we won’t have to move the motorhome to fill and empty the water tank. (Only someone who camps will appreciate how good it is to have water in and water out on your pitch, especially without having to pay extra for it!)

Also the facilities block (toilet block) is new and very, very nice.

It even has a shower and sink area just for kids.

The following day we took a walk around to get our bearings.

We discovered 4 more pools a massive play area for kids of all ages, at least 6 bars/snack bars /restaurants, a full size supermarket (with an inhouse bakery) a fruit shop, a fish stall and a bakery stall, and not forgetting numerous icecream stalls.

At various places along the water front you can hire boats of all sizes, pedalos, paddle boards, book onto dophin cruises, speedboat trips, hire bikes or scooters (very handy for getting around the complex) and much more.

And the kids area is huge. It has two huge grey domes, one is full of pinball / slot machines and pool, and the one has games like ping-pong, air hockey, etc, there is a stage and seating area for at least 500 people (there is entertainment every night from 6-8pm for kids) and later at weekends for adults. There are even fireworks on Saturday night.

One evening a guy came round trying to sell a boat trip for the next day, which we bought. €50 each for a boat trip to 2 towns, lunch with bottomless wine, a trip down a nearby fjord where scenes from Pirates of the Caribbean was filmed. A 7hr trip for that price seems reasonable

We were picked up at our campsite and driven the 10mins into Porec, boarded the boat, which had started off at Novigrad, and travelled down the coast to Rovinj, into the Lim fjord then to Vrsar and back to Porec.

Here are some photos taken in Rovinj

The guide book says to look out for the ‘fumaioli’ (exterior chimneys), these were built during a population boom when entire families lived in a single room with a fireplace.

The area all the way up towards the Church is called Grisla and is a winding walkway filled with all sorts of tourist shops.

Just off the tourist trail is equally as pretty

At the very top is the Church of St Euphemia built in the 18th century, it’s the largest baroque building in Istria.

Rovinja’s patron saint was tortured and thrown to the lions for her Christian faith by Emperor Diocletian in AD 304.

According to legend her body disappeared only to appear one dark and stormy night off the coast of Rovinj in a spectral boat. It was moved to the top of the hill, where it still stands today in a grand sarcophagus in an annexe of the church.

The 60 metre bell tower is based on St Mark’s in Venice and is topped with a statue of St Euphemia which shows the direction of the wind by turning on a spindle. Not that it turned whilst we were there it was far too hot and still.

The Balbi Arch at the bottom of the hill from the church was built in 1679 on the location of the former town gate.

After 2. 5 hours we were back on the boat making our way up the coast to the Limska Draga Fjord. 10km long, 600m wide and with steep valley walls that rise to 100m, the Lim Fjord was formed when the Istrian coastline sank during the last Ice Age, allowing the sea in and fill the Draga Valley. The cave was where an 11th century priest, Romualdo, lived, however, it’s more famous now for having been a film location for The Pirates of the Caribbean.

The last stop was Vrsar, a tiny fishing village which is now where all the boat trips stop, so it’s basically all restaurants, bars and ice cream parlours. By this time it was so hot you could smell the hot tarmac and see it shimmering in the heat.

We stopped for an ice cream and couldn’t wait to get back in the boat for some cool air.

On our last day we walked round another part of the campsite, right at the top end past the glamping tents, where we found a lovely little cafe/bar that we hadn’t seen before. We did a bit of people watching and enjoyed a cocktail.

Then came back to watch the cricket on the TV. Not me I’m sitting here writing this blog and every now and again sweeping the cherries off the rug which regularly keep raining down on us.

We will be going to Venice next, to a campsite not far from where we stayed last year. It’s only for a couple of nights.