Piran sits within easy reach of half a dozen worthwhile excursions. Secovlje Salt Pans are the obvious half-day, ten kilometres south on the Croatian border. Portoroz next door is the developed beach resort and an evening's pleasant walk away.
Koper, twenty minutes up the coast by bus, is the working port city of Slovene Istria with a small Venetian core well worth an afternoon. Further afield, Trieste in Italy is an hour by car and offers a complete change of pace — a grand Habsburg seafront and one of the most distinctive coffee cultures in Europe.
To the south, the medieval Croatian hill town of Motovun and the truffle country around it are an hour and a half by car; the bigger Croatian coastal town of Rovinj is two hours. East of Piran, the Slovene karst region — caves at Postojna and the medieval cliffside castle at Predjama — is also reachable as a long day trip.