Inland Slovenian Istria, among olive groves, vines and hilltop villages

What Slovenian Istria is

Slovenian Istria is not an official region but the traditional name for the part of the peninsula that belongs to Slovenia. It takes in the municipalities of Koper, Izola, Piran and Ankaran, with about 124 settlements according to the Slovene Wikipedia, and in several of them Italian is an official language alongside Slovene. For centuries it was Venetian, Koper from 1279, Izola from 1280 and Piran from 1283, until Napoleon dissolved the republic in 1797.

The coast is only part of it. The interior is made up of the flysch Šavrin Hills, with plenty of ridges and the odd karst feature, and two main rivers, the Rižana and the Dragonja.

Stone villages on the hilltops

Padna is my favourite. It sits on a hill among olive trees, vines and wild rosemary, with lanes of stone houses and the typical Istrian balconies, the baladur. Its church of St Blaise has frescoes, and legend says the bell tower was paid for by selling Swiss chard, which is still grown here. In April the village holds its olive oil and chard festival.

Close by, Sveti Peter has Tonina House, an ethnographic collection with an old olive press, and sunsets over the olive groves that the tourist board rates among the best in Istria. Nova vas nad Dragonjo looks over the valley from its bell tower and holds a wine and Istrian red garlic festival in July.

In Koper municipality, Koštabona has two churches and a chapel from the 15th century on a natural spur, and Krkavče keeps a replica of a 2.5 m carved stone whose original is in the Koper Regional Museum. At Hrastovlje, the church of the Holy Trinity holds the Dance of Death, painted in 1490.

Olive oil, Refošk and Malvasia

Slovenian Istria is olive oil and wine country. The most widely grown grapes give Refošk, a red, and Malvasia, a white, and among the fruit cherries and figs stand out. Many inland families open their farms and cellars, and the Piran tourist board points to the Gramona farm at Seča as a place to learn about olive growing.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Piran before prices climb.

The Dragonja valley and the Parenzana

The Dragonja rises in the Šavrin Hills and runs for about 30 km along the border with Croatia. Its bed is almost untouched, with waterfalls, gorges, gravel banks and pools. It once had more than forty mills, and two restored ones, Mazurin and Kodarin, can be visited, along with the stone bridge between Škrline and Brič and the Pinjevec waterfall. At the end of the valley lie the Sečovlje salt pans.

The Parenzana, the old railway from Trieste to Poreč, had 35 stations, and its route is now a path for walking and cycling between the coast and the interior. For the rest of the area, carry on with the Karst and the wider region of the coast and the Karst. The Dragonja marks much of the border, and if you want to cross over, I explain how to combine Slovenia and Croatia.

If you would rather have a local show you round, book a guided tour in Piran and choose by the reviews.

Once your dates are set, check which hotels are still free in Piran before prices climb.