Motovun: a visitor's guide to Istria's best-known hilltop town

Seen from the road across the Mirna valley, Motovun looks like a town from a painting: houses and a bell tower packed onto the top of a green hill, ringed by walls. It is the most visited of Istria’s hilltop towns, and with good reason.

A short history

There was a hilltop settlement here long before the Venetians, but the town you see today took shape after Venice took control in 1278. The Venetians built the solid walls that still circle the top of the hill, and for five centuries Motovun watched over the valley and its valuable oak forest, whose timber went to build Venetian ships.

What to see

The town walls

The highlight is the walk along the walls, which are intact and serve as a walkway around the upper town. On a clear day you look over the Mirna valley, the Motovun forest and the hills of inland Istria, sometimes all the way to the Učka mountain.

The gates and the main square

You enter the old town through a series of gates and arrive at the main square with the church of St Stephen, its separate bell tower and the old town loggia. The lanes around it are short, and it is easy to see everything in an hour.

The Motovun forest

Below the town lies the Motovun forest, around 10 km² of damp oak and ash woodland on the valley floor, part of it specially protected. It is famous for its white and black truffles, found with trained dogs. Our truffle season guide explains when and how to taste them.

Mario Andretti’s birthplace

The racing driver Mario Andretti was born in Motovun in 1940, together with his twin brother Aldo, before the family emigrated.

The Motovun Film Festival

Since 1999 Motovun has hosted an international festival for independent films each summer. For a few days the town fills with screenings, concerts and young crowds. It is great fun if you want it, and a reason to choose another day if you would rather have the walls to yourself.

Practical tips

• Getting there: Motovun is roughly 40 to 50 minutes by car from Poreč, on a scenic road through vineyards.
• Parking: leave the car in the car parks below the old town and walk up. Bring comfortable shoes; the cobbles are steep and can be slippery.
• When to go: late afternoon, when the day visitors leave and the light turns gold over the valley. In summer, mornings are cooler for the climb.
• Eating: there are restaurants inside the walls and more in the valley below, in Livade. Truffles appear on most menus.

Combine it with

Motovun fits naturally into a loop with Grožnjan, the artists’ town, and Hum, often called the smallest town in the world. See our hilltop towns day trip. Cyclists can ride part of the old Parenzana railway, which passes through a tunnel below Motovun.

Where to stay

Motovun is an easy trip from any of our villas. Villa Bina and Villa Cvita Domenica in Labinci are a little closer to the interior; Villa Duga is closer to the beach and the old town of Poreč.