A tiny hilltop village in northwestern Istria with about 750 inhabitants, perched 230 metres above the Mirna and Dragonja valleys. The village was nearly abandoned after the post-war Italian exodus until the Yugoslav government in the 1960s turned it into a "town of artists" — assigning empty stone houses to painters, sculptors, and musicians.
The strategy worked: the village still has more galleries per square metre than almost anywhere else in Croatia, and the summer brings the Jeunesses Musicales international music school, which fills the lanes with practising students. The streets are quiet, the views across the green valleys to the sea are excellent, and the few small cafe terraces are unhurried. Easily combined with Motovun and the Mirna valley.