Beaches and swimming.:
There are many beaches within a 12 to 20 kilometre range from Casa Celestina. The closest beach is at Kanegra on the Piranski Zaljev (Bay of Piran) and is less than 15 minutes drive.
There are also beaches that can easily be reached just over the border in Slovenia at Portoroz and Piran. Novigrad, about 20 km drive, is a charming town and you can swim from immediately outside the town walls which is ideal if you want to combine walking round the town with a swim. Along the coast between Novigrad and Umag there are plenty of places to swim and Umag itself has beaches. There is also an indoor and outdoor swimming pool at the nearby Istarska Toplice spa which is open for day use.
Eating out:
This region of Istria is studded with excellent restaurants of the highest quality as well as bars and café serving simpler fare.
Closest, and highly recommended, is Restaurant Marino in the nearby village of Kremenje. Like all the restaurants in Central Istria, Marino specialises in dishes incorporating truffles gathered from the local woodlands. This first class restaurant also offers its own prize winning Kabola Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot and Malvazia wines.
Momjan, just 2 km from Merisce boasts two excellent restaurants providing home cooking (pasta and grilled meat and fish) in a convivial atmosphere. Restaurant Zigante in Livade in the valley between Motuvun and Oprtalj is unquestionably one of the finest restaurants in Istria. The imaginative menu includes many dishes that incorporate truffles and there is a first class wine list. There are several other excellent restaurants within a 15 kilometre radius.
Travel:
Fly Ryanair to Trieste in Italy or to Pula in Croatia (both 1 hour 15 minutes drive). Ryanair flies daily to Trieste from London Stansted (2 hour flight time) and 3 days a week to Pula. Another option is to fly to Rijeka airport on the island of Krk (1 hour 15 drive time). Croatia Airlines flies direct Heathrow to Rijeka on Wednesdays and connects to Pula via Zagreb on most days. Slightly further away but still within reach are Treviso (Ryanair) and Venice Marco Polo (British Airways; 2 hours 15min drive). Another option is to fly EasyJet to Ljubljana in Slovenia (1 hour 45mins). This route opens up the option of a day or two in the beautiful Slovenian lakes of Bled and Bohinj.
Thomsonfly fly to Pula from Gatwick, Manchester and Birmingham on Tuesdays.
From Scandinavia, Scandjet fly directly to Pula from Stockholm and Gothenburg. German wings fly direct to Pula from Cologne and Berlin.
marks the location of the property in Istria
