Best of Istria | Additional Resources

Compiled here are some of the best resources about Istria.

Istria Tourist Board and Croatian National Tourist Board

• Istria Tourist Board: Tourism board of Istria.
• Istarska Zupanija: Administrative center of Istria County.
• NW Istria Tourist Board: Includes Umag, Novigrad, Brtonigla, and Buje.
• Central Istria Tourist Board: Includes Pazin, Buzet, Groznjan, and Motovun.
• Porec Tourist Board: Includes Porec and surrounding towns.
• Vrsar Tourist Board: Includes Vrsar and surrounding area.
• Funtana Tourist Board: Includes Funtana and surrounding areas.
• Rovinj Tourist Board: Includes Rovinj and surrounding towns.
• Pula Tourist Board: Includes Pula, Medulin, and Brijuni Islands.
• Labin and Rabac Tourist Board: Includes Labin and Rabac.
• Croatian National Tourist Board: Information about Croatia and Istria.
• ShareIstria: Annual promotional campaign from Istria Tourist board that started in 2015 and showcases the best of Istria thought pictures and stories of bloggers.

Travel

• TripAdvisor Istria Forum: Discussion thread with over 3,000 discussions from the TripAdvisor community.  
• TipTravel Magazine (free).
• Croatia Tickets: Buy tickets to major attractions and events online. 
• Istria Experience: Free and paid activities in Istria.
• Compilation of Croatia and Istria travel resources: Helpful travel information about Istria.
• Travel Guide Books to Istria and Croatia: Books about Istria and Croatia.

Culture

• Istria Culture: Istria Tourist Board project with pictures, locations, and descriptions of top cultural attractions in Istria.
• Istra Inspirit: Comprised of series of events that revive history, Istrian myths and legends at authentic locations.
• Istria from Smrikve:  Extensive information about towns and villages (architecture, history, food, languages, and traditional dances and music), town maps with heritage buildings, and photo galleries. It also includes a database of over 300 top restaurants, olive oil producer, and winemakers.
• Histrica: Information about towns and events in Istria.
• Istrianet: Historical information about Istria, including profiles of prominent Istrians.
• Istrapedia: Information about various topics related to Istria.
• Croatian Museums: App with information on more than 100 Croatian museums.
• UNESCO World Heritage List and UNESCO Cultural Heritage List. 

Food & Wine

• Gourmet Istra: Gourmet guide by Istria Tourist Board. It also includes an updated schedule of events.
• Istria Gourmet Food Tours: Gourmet and wine tours in Istria.
• Agency for Rural Development of Istria (AZRRI):  Promotes rural areas of Istria, organizes the annual Open Door Days of Agrotourism event in November, and offers cooking workshops.
• Eat Istria: Cooking classes and wine tours.
• Taste of Croatia: Directory of restaurants and wineries.
• Dobri Restorani: Croatian restaurant awards.
• VinIstra: Association of winegrowers and winemakers in Istria.
• Wine & More: Great resource for information about wines in Istria and online store for Croatian wines.
• Wines of Croatia: Wine reviews.
• Made in Istria: Online market of Istrian products directly from producers.
• Fini Recepti: over 2,000 Croatian recipes.
• FindEatLocal: Authentic local tours, tastings and experiences.

Accommodation

• Global companies: Airbnb, Booking, Homeaway, and Flipkey. 
• Local companies: LovelyIstria and MyIstria.
• Hostels: Croatian Youth Hostel and Hostelworld. 
• Apartments: Apartmanija. 
• Camping: Croatian Camping Union. 

Istria Tours

• Activa-Istra
• Aida Tours
• Arlen Tourist Agency
• Istria Experience
• Istriana Travel
• Krug Travel
• Nitro Tours
• Truly Croatia Tours

Transport

• Bus timetables: Croatia and Zagreb.
• Train timetables: Croatia. 
• HAK: Croatian automobile club is the best source of traffic information.
• Car rental: See Chapter 12.
• Ferries: Jadrolinija; Croatia Ferris.  
• Transfers: Goopti (shared shuttle to airports and between coastal towns).
• Car sharing: BlaBlaCar; Prevoz (cheap car sharing in Slovenia); DayTrip. 
• BusCroatia and GetbyBus: Bus transport between Croatian cities and internationally. Other bus services that operate in Istria include Autotrans, Brioni, and Crnja Tours. 
• Pulapromet: Pula city bus.
• Busradar: Long distance and international buses.

Outdoors

• Biking in Istria.
• Mountain climbing in Istria.
• Hiking maps. 
• Parenzana trail. 

Parks and Environment

• Brijuni National Park.
• Ucka Nature Park.
• Kamenjak Park.
• Croatian National Parks. 
• State Institute for Nature Protection.
• Natura Histrica: Public institution for the management of protected areas in Croatia.
• Green Istra: Non-governmental organization founded in 1995.

News

• Glas Istre (Croatian). 
• Croatia Week (English). 
• Total Croatia News (English). 
• HRT (Croatian Radiotelevision; Croatian).
• TV Istria (Croatian). 

Best of Istria Book Resources:

• Best of Istria: Website companion to this book.
• Best of Istria Google Map: Google map companion to this book.
• Best of Istria Trips Maps: Trips 1 - 9, Trips 10 - 17, Trips 18 - 19, and Trips 20 - 25. 
• Croatia Local Guides Community: Community of local guides in Croatia (everyone is welcome to join). Click on “Istria” tab for all posts related to Istria.

Go to the Best of Istria homepage to read other chapters of the book.