Porec sits halfway up the western coast of Istria, a small town built on a narrow peninsula that juts into the Adriatic. Its Roman street grid is still intact -- you can walk the original Decumanus, the main east-west street, and Cardo Maximus crossing it at right angles, just as they were laid out two thousand years ago.
The town's great treasure is the Euphrasian Basilica, a 6th-century Byzantine church whose golden mosaics rival anything in Ravenna. It is a UNESCO World Heritage Site and reason enough to visit. But Porec is more than its basilica. The old town is a compact maze of Venetian and Romanesque buildings, with cafe terraces spilling onto medieval squares like Marafor -- the old Roman forum -- and fishing boats bobbing in the harbour below. Medieval fortifications survive in the Pentagonal Tower and Round Tower.
Beyond the historic centre, Porec is the heart of Istrian coastal tourism. The beaches stretch north and south, backed by pine forests and resort complexes; Zelena Laguna is the most popular, and the small island of Sveti Nikola is a short hop across the harbour. The surrounding countryside -- rolling hills dotted with hilltop villages, vineyards, and olive groves -- is some of the most beautiful in Croatia. The local wines, especially Malvazija, and the Istrian truffles are worth seeking out, and the Parenzana cycling trail along an old Habsburg railway is the easiest way into the interior.