Porec Old Town
Porec Old Town
4.5
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Detailed Reviews: Reviews order informed by descriptiveness of user-identified themes such as cleanliness, atmosphere, general tips and location information.
Popular mentions
4.5
2,774 reviews
Excellent
1,620
Very good
941
Average
172
Poor
30
Terrible
11
Amina A
London, UK60 contributions
Aug 2020 • Family
We visited Porec during August 2020 whilst in the midst of coronavirus. The little city was packed to the rafters even then so I can only assume outside of these coronavirus times this place must be absolutely heaving.
Parking seemed to be an issue with not many spaces available in the car park we wanted. There are several car parks dotted around all with different pricing based on the proximity to the main areas.
Lovely and lively little shopping streets, all cobbled stoned and clean. Plenty of restaurants and food outlets if you fancy a quick bite or a nice leisurely meal serving a variety of meals like steak, fish dishes, pizza. Unfortunately for us, with the amount of people crammed in we weren't comfortable to eat in any and instead opted for a nice quite pizzeria closer to where we were staying.
The shopping area also had clothes shops, drugstores (superdrug style), bakeries, little juice bars where you could grab a juice and continue on, jewellery and art stores, and also many little shops selling souvenirs of the country.
The beachfront at Porec was clean with no litter to be found anywhere which was impressive. You could take a tour to see the dolphins or even a tour to a tiny island which has on it just a hotel but is apparently a lovely place to swim. We didn't get a chance to do this as we got there late and there wasn't a boat available. Best thing to do is book in advance. Overall it was a lovely day out but just a few too many people.
Parking seemed to be an issue with not many spaces available in the car park we wanted. There are several car parks dotted around all with different pricing based on the proximity to the main areas.
Lovely and lively little shopping streets, all cobbled stoned and clean. Plenty of restaurants and food outlets if you fancy a quick bite or a nice leisurely meal serving a variety of meals like steak, fish dishes, pizza. Unfortunately for us, with the amount of people crammed in we weren't comfortable to eat in any and instead opted for a nice quite pizzeria closer to where we were staying.
The shopping area also had clothes shops, drugstores (superdrug style), bakeries, little juice bars where you could grab a juice and continue on, jewellery and art stores, and also many little shops selling souvenirs of the country.
The beachfront at Porec was clean with no litter to be found anywhere which was impressive. You could take a tour to see the dolphins or even a tour to a tiny island which has on it just a hotel but is apparently a lovely place to swim. We didn't get a chance to do this as we got there late and there wasn't a boat available. Best thing to do is book in advance. Overall it was a lovely day out but just a few too many people.
Written August 21, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Deni
Piestany, Slovakia38 contributions
Aug 2020 • Family
Nice city. It was 15min from our hotel. For those who don’t want to go there on foot, there is a noddy train for 50HRK (~6,80€). There are many restaurants, narrow streets with little souvenir shops and beautiful seaside with lighthouse view. There are many boats and yachts in the seaport. We were amazed.
Written September 5, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
XTOS
Boston, MA488 contributions
Aug 2020 • Solo
Absolutely incredible ancient city! Bold traces of Roman, Early Christian, Medieval, Venetian, Gothic, Austro-Hungarian, Italian, and Croatian architecture and history. A Unesco World Heritage City with precious mosaics and architectural gems. The same basic street plan remains from the original Roman layout 2,000 years ago. Decumanus is the main street. Ruins pf a 2,000 year old Roman Temple sits stoic yet unassumingly and abandoned on the northwestern edge of the old town peninsula. Understated beauty and mystery surrounds the old town. Especially late at night. 3 of the original watchtowers and a portion of the defensive walls remaim from the Venetian times, when the entire city was heavily fortified. There is undoubtedlt countless archaelogical treasures buried under this old city. They’ve started excavating a very small section. Hopefully there will be more to come. Check out the Lapidarium Jazz Club/Cafe and old archeological museum to get a glimpse of some of the unearthed treasures. Highly recommended.
Written August 31, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
LuckiB
Nuremberg, Germany29 contributions
Jul 2021 • Couples
My boyfriend and myself stayed in Poreč old town in the last week of August 2021. I was super excited to show him around as he never been here before. For me it has been the 4th maybe the 5th time I was visiting the city.
The city was pumping with tourists… I have never seen so many people in general but now that the world is approaching a new wave of Covid I was even more surprised to see how much it’s not required to distance anywhere or wear a mask even when people are going into the souvenir shops. I felt personally not so safe because of that behavior. However since we are vaccinated I went with the flow and tried to enjoy our time…
BUT!
The city has decided to pick quantity over quality on most of it’s platforms. Restaurant don’t even let you book a table anymore because they want to maximize their capacity to an extent that the waiters cannot handle the amount of people pouring into the places anymore and they are tired to give you any attention. It was really sad to see.
What was even more sad and a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT that the once really charming inner town somehow allowed two tasteless discos to open on the beachfront in the heart of the old town… It’s not the party I am against, it’s the shouting House music that was so loud that people could not hear their own voice or enjoy their dinner even ten buildings away from this ridiculous place. Young /teenage drunk foreigners are shouting “Junge” on the promenade at 9 p.m celebrating that they can get drunker a lot cheaper than home.
Is that really necessary? Was that the aim of the city to demolish its old reputation as being an atmospheric Istrian gem of a place and become a cheap copy of the “Ballermann party district” in Palma?!
These places have their own districts normally, outside of the heritages old town where people can take a taxi to and go dancing and partying but it’s definitely should have not been allowed to be opened in the middle of the old town next to all the traditional restaurants and bars where you potentially could listen to real Croatian music and enjoy what the city has to offer!
And the saddest part is that the people of Poreč will really feel this once the people who still respect their home stop coming and what they will end up with is a bunch of out of control people allowing themselves to do things in their city they cannot do at home.
The sea is still beautiful and you can still find corners i.n the old town where you cannot hear this terrible noise.. so three out of five.
The city was pumping with tourists… I have never seen so many people in general but now that the world is approaching a new wave of Covid I was even more surprised to see how much it’s not required to distance anywhere or wear a mask even when people are going into the souvenir shops. I felt personally not so safe because of that behavior. However since we are vaccinated I went with the flow and tried to enjoy our time…
BUT!
The city has decided to pick quantity over quality on most of it’s platforms. Restaurant don’t even let you book a table anymore because they want to maximize their capacity to an extent that the waiters cannot handle the amount of people pouring into the places anymore and they are tired to give you any attention. It was really sad to see.
What was even more sad and a HUGE DISAPPOINTMENT that the once really charming inner town somehow allowed two tasteless discos to open on the beachfront in the heart of the old town… It’s not the party I am against, it’s the shouting House music that was so loud that people could not hear their own voice or enjoy their dinner even ten buildings away from this ridiculous place. Young /teenage drunk foreigners are shouting “Junge” on the promenade at 9 p.m celebrating that they can get drunker a lot cheaper than home.
Is that really necessary? Was that the aim of the city to demolish its old reputation as being an atmospheric Istrian gem of a place and become a cheap copy of the “Ballermann party district” in Palma?!
These places have their own districts normally, outside of the heritages old town where people can take a taxi to and go dancing and partying but it’s definitely should have not been allowed to be opened in the middle of the old town next to all the traditional restaurants and bars where you potentially could listen to real Croatian music and enjoy what the city has to offer!
And the saddest part is that the people of Poreč will really feel this once the people who still respect their home stop coming and what they will end up with is a bunch of out of control people allowing themselves to do things in their city they cannot do at home.
The sea is still beautiful and you can still find corners i.n the old town where you cannot hear this terrible noise.. so three out of five.
Written August 29, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
erictiele
Lyon, France5 contributions
Aug 2021
Strange feeling: beautiful city, beautiful surroundings, but the whole area is badly damaged by mass tourism business. The coast line of all Istria is a vast camp and hotel site, there is not a single beach without jet skis, ski lifts, water parks, etc... Porec's architecture is amazing but not a single house in the old town is anything other than ice cream, candy or souvenir shop, or terrace with expensive poor quality continental food. The local authorities have been intelligent to build huge car parks and an excellent road network to access this tourist pits and consequently have obtained what they wanted: noisy areas packed with tourists giving away euros. We attempted the inner country side, but hardly anything exists for a trail walk or any nature discovery, unless tour operated. If you like Disneyland-like atmosphere it is the right place for you, but avoid if it is about re-discovering stunning Croatia of not so long ago
Written August 6, 2021
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Nat🪐
17 contributions
Jul 2022 • Couples
My fav city. Really worth a visit. Church is really nice. A lot of restaurants and candy stores. 12kn homemade icecream and other homemade foods. Playground, attractions, sea, boats, bars and all kind of stores. So colorful and clean.
Written August 12, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
L R
Bury78 contributions
May 2022
A beautiful, clean and interesting town, which we were very lucky to be close to. It has boat trips available, we took a short trip to a nearby island. Restaurants, bars, ice cream parlours an shops are all nearby and are very enjoyable.
Written May 20, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Graham S
Tewantin, Australia4,372 contributions
Aug 2019
A late arrival from Venice had us collapsing on our bed in Eufrazijeva St of Old Town, but when we then looked down on the busy street scene of bars & restaurants from our balcony, we just had to sample some of this wonderful atmosphere.
Porec is full of life. Families out roaming around till late with well behaved kids in tow.
Wandering around is a magical experience.
The history is ancient best illustrated by Eufrazijeva Basilika ... certainly a must visit building. The laneways are all enticing you to explore.
Evenings too are a buzz of partying & music.
Restaurants were close to the best we experienced in all of our 5 week tour of Croatia Montenegro & Bosnia.
Great memories.
Porec is full of life. Families out roaming around till late with well behaved kids in tow.
Wandering around is a magical experience.
The history is ancient best illustrated by Eufrazijeva Basilika ... certainly a must visit building. The laneways are all enticing you to explore.
Evenings too are a buzz of partying & music.
Restaurants were close to the best we experienced in all of our 5 week tour of Croatia Montenegro & Bosnia.
Great memories.
Written February 5, 2020
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Roberto
Austria356 contributions
Jul 2022
The old town is definitely worth seeing. There are many small hidden pubs and restaurants. Price-wise, it is a lot better than in Austria. We were in July and there is a lot going on in the old town. You have to be a little careful on the old streets because the stones can be very slippery because they are already abraded by many tourists.
Written July 12, 2022
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Sandygranny
Sandy, UK947 contributions
Jul 2018 • Family
Porec Old Town is very picturesque and steeped in history with many beautiful buildings, ancient ruins, quaint narrow cobbled streets, shops selling arts, crafts and jewellery and numerous restaurants, cafes and ice cream parlours. Porec was formerly part of the Republic of Venice.
We had a leisurely stroll around the Old Town where there are plenty of bars and restaurants. Everywhere was very clean although some of the cobbled streets were a bit slippery underfoot in some places due to the polished stones.
The market on the sea front sells plenty of gifts and souvenirs but I have to say there were also a few tacky items on sale.
The Old Town is definitely worth a visit and there are many tours setting out from Porec every day, either by coach or by boat.
We had a leisurely stroll around the Old Town where there are plenty of bars and restaurants. Everywhere was very clean although some of the cobbled streets were a bit slippery underfoot in some places due to the polished stones.
The market on the sea front sells plenty of gifts and souvenirs but I have to say there were also a few tacky items on sale.
The Old Town is definitely worth a visit and there are many tours setting out from Porec every day, either by coach or by boat.
Written August 9, 2018
This review is the subjective opinion of a Tripadvisor member and not of Tripadvisor LLC. Tripadvisor performs checks on reviews.
Susan J
Huddersfield, UK12 contributions
Hi does or has anyone stayed at hotel materada porec, and is it open. Thank you.
Graham S
Tewantin, Australia4,372 contributions
No I haven't stayed there but reviews seem pretty good ... seems very much a modern resort style hotel ... a complete contrast to the place we stayed in in the centre of Old Town Porec. Pools, beach & lazy areas were not what we aimed for as we have got all of that, as we're from Sunshine Coast Queensland, Australia.
Porec is a vibrant place with great restaurants, cafes & bars which kick on till the early hours.
MATERADA is a few kilometres north of the Old Town so you will need to take that into consideration.
But a delightful & popular town.
OPEN at the moment ??? not sure - need to communicate directly with hotel I guess.
Enjoy your travels.
Hi, Can you tell me what the Valamar Diamont Hotel is like please as well as Porec itself. We are considering going here for a relaxing holiday. so we can chill by a nice pool and have a wander into the resorts for a few nice meals and drinks. Concerned that it is a bit far north and too isolated ?
SM1
Cannock, UK147 contributions
The hotel is lovely set in woodlands. We have just come back after a week there. It’s 3 minutes walk to the nearest beach and about a 20 minute walk to porec town but a lovely walk. This is where the nearest shops are if you need anything for your stay.
scrappy485
York, England, United Kingdom83 contributions
Are there any bars available that show sports please?
LindaLancashire
Lancashire58 contributions
Hi, was there in June and of course lots of the bars had the World Cup on so although I can't say for other sports, football was def shown then. I would think if they had football then they would have other sports too.
Sorry can't be more help.
Rambling R
6 contributions
Hi we are visitngoing porec on the 29 the September for a week, will all that bars ando shops be open we have left our trip a bit late in thd seas on.
Ogman
Melbourne, Australia46 contributions
a lot will be closed as its outside the tourist season. However prices will go down and less tourists. Get a car and go on a few nice day trips into truffle country (motevun) and to pula.
Fishydiner
Ottery St Mary110 contributions
How much might we spend on a good meal for 2 going next week
TripMember020820161
Oswestry, UK352 contributions
Wide variety of restaurants to eat out with a wide range of prices.I wouldn't expect that you would have to pay a great deal more than eating out in Britain.
Christine G
London, UK21 contributions
Trying to find some good restaurants to eat in . There seems to be lots of pasta and pizza places which is fine but wondering if there are any Chinese or Indian restaurants by way of a change
Vedran Cotic
Split, Croatia979 contributions
Istria is often named - ''Croatian Tuscany or Toscana''.
That beautiful region is full of vineyards, they have magnificient truffles, and seafood is great, and that's the main food out there, besides pizzas and pastas, but Chinese or Indian food is really hard way to find, but you can find Chinese food only in other cities like Zagreb in continental Croatia or Split in Dalmatia...
234lott
Norwich, UK11 contributions
Hi Hoping to rent an apartment within walking distance of Porec in May any suggestions as to what area I need to be looking at. Many thanks
Sol-Skin1967
Porec, Croatia86 contributions
Hi I am renting a place with walking distance to everything - apartment Sidro. or look for Spadici, Novo Naselje area.
Andries V
2 contributions
Are there waterpolo fields at the beach of Porec? Where are they located?
sweissman207
New York City, NY
I am searching for two single rooms for arrival Sept. 29 and departing October 1. Small hotel with character please.
H_to_the_Beach
Bristol, UK26 contributions
Valamar Riviera is lovely not small but feels small. Adults only
medstudent13
Ljubljana, Slovenia16 contributions
I would like to know which beach is recommended ,especially for younger people (with caffes,music..)? Thanks
del f
King's Lynn, UK3 contributions
sorry Ljubljana
i havent been yet ..going in early sept .have just been researching on here
dilburt
Porec Old Town - All You Need to Know BEFORE You Go
Frequently Asked Questions about Porec Old Town
- We recommend booking Porec Old Town tours ahead of time to secure your spot. If you book with Tripadvisor, you can cancel up to 24 hours before your tour starts for a full refund. See all 13 Porec Old Town tours on Tripadvisor
- According to Tripadvisor travelers, these are the best ways to experience Porec Old Town:
- Piran and Panoramic Slovenian Coast from Porec (From $104.64)
- Lake Bled & Ljubljana Tour from Porec (From $142.02)
- Lipica Stud Farm and Skocjan Caves from Porec (From $134.54)
- Day trip to Poreč and Pula with lunch from Rovinj (From $91.44)
- Day trip to Rovinj and Poreč with lunch from Pula and Medulin (From $91.44)
- Hotels near Porec Old Town:
- (0.02 mi) Apartment Andrea Old Town
- (0.03 mi) Alessio Premium Rooms - King Room 4
- (0.03 mi) Alessio Premium Rooms Quadruple No 7
- (0.03 mi) Alessio Premium Rooms - Superior Room 3
- (0.03 mi) Alessio Premium Rooms - Trippleroom 1
- Restaurants near Porec Old Town:
- (0.00 mi) Sarajevo Grill
- (0.01 mi) One Burger Bar
- (0.02 mi) Il gelato di Salvatore
- (0.03 mi) Lapidarium
- (0.03 mi) Pizzeria SALOON
- Attractions near Porec Old Town:
- (0.02 mi) Decumanus Street
- (0.02 mi) Sincic Palace
- (0.03 mi) Lion Gothic House
- (0.03 mi) Roman Ruins
- (0.03 mi) Zuccato Palace