Summer starts
at Ernestino.

Portorož is a different animal

It is small and manageable: a little glamorous, a little socialist, a little Italian, a little Istrian and, in summer, just mad enough to remind you that you are on holiday.

Most importantly, everything is close. Coffee by the sea in the morning, the beach ten minutes later, Piran in twenty and olive groves within half an hour. Soon you may be sitting by the salt pans, seriously wondering why you voluntarily spend so much of your life in a car.

Portorož is a base. That may be its greatest charm.

Portorož itself

Portorož grew around tourism, spas and the very old human idea that salt water, sunshine and a slightly better dinner cannot do you much harm. Surprisingly, they were largely right.

There are hotels, beaches, bars, restaurants, a promenade, marina, tennis, pools, wellness centres, ice cream and enough cafés to sit in a different one every day for a week while still claiming to be studying the local culture.

The town comes alive in the evening. The heat eases, the promenade fills and people begin that strange Mediterranean activity: walking up and down with no obvious purpose. We call it an evening stroll. It is surprisingly pleasant.

Piran is nearby. Very nearby.

If you came to Portorož and did not visit Piran, your holiday may require an administrative review. Piran is one of the loveliest small towns on the Adriatic and is practically around the corner.

The walk takes about 45 minutes, depending mainly on how often you stop for photographs, ice cream or the question: ‘Shall we have just one drink?’

Driving is faster, of course. In theory. Then you discover Piran’s first great truth: getting there is not the problem; finding somewhere for the car is. A walk by the sea, the bus or a taxi is often the more elegant solution.

Istria begins five minutes away

Move only slightly inland and the landscape changes completely: olive trees, vineyards, stone houses, narrow roads and small villages where nothing terribly important seems to have happened since the last century. Everyone appears calmer as a result.

Padna, Nova vas, Sveti Peter, Dragonja, Sečovlje … This is no longer hotel Portorož. This is Istria, where home-made wine, olive oil, prosciutto, truffles, fuži, fish and a whole series of dishes make it very difficult to stick to the plan of ‘something light today’.

Slovenian Istria is small, and that is an advantage. In one day you can see the sea, salt pans, an Istrian village, a vineyard and an old town, and still have time for dinner.

A holiday without dinner is simply work in another location.

The salt pans

The Sečovlje salt pans are only minutes from Portorož. If you feel you have seen a few too many tourists, cars and people photographing their Aperol Spritz, go there.

The rhythm is different: flat, quiet, wind, birds, salt. Suddenly you can watch the same landscape for ten minutes without anything happening. Recommended. Apparently the human brain occasionally needs this.

Croatia and Italy? Both.

Portorož sits at the very edge of Slovenia, so Umag, Grožnjan, Motovun and Novigrad are close enough for a trip into Croatian Istria. If you do not get up early — a perfectly legitimate holiday decision — you can simply go for lunch. It still counts as an international excursion.

Trieste is about an hour away. Perhaps a little less, perhaps a little more, depending on traffic and whether every inhabitant of the northern Adriatic has had the same idea that day.

It is excellent for coffee, architecture, shopping and checking whether Italians really can debate the correct way to order coffee for ten minutes. They can.

The sea

Then there is the large blue thing in front of the house: the Adriatic. Portorož does not have dramatic miles of sandy beach. Let us say that immediately. It does have organised bathing areas, lawns, piers, small coves and plenty of nearby places where you can find your own piece of sea.

Strunjan, Fiesa, Cape Seča, Luna below Forma Viva, Bernardin, Piran … If you are prepared to travel ten or fifteen minutes farther than the average tourist, your options multiply.

That is a good rule for travel in general: the loveliest things are usually about fifteen minutes beyond the place where everyone else stops.

So why Portorož?

Because it is easy. Because you can leave the car alone. Because you can sleep late, explore Istria in the afternoon and sit by the sea in the evening. Because Piran is under your nose, while Croatia, Italy and the Karst are close enough for a day trip.

Because there is a dangerous amount of food. And because Portorož is lively enough not to be boring, yet small enough that after two days you behave as if you know everyone. You do not. But the feeling is pleasant.

It is not perfect, of course. Summer can be hot, August can be crowded and parking can become a philosophical question.

Some prices apparently have a sea view even when you do not.

No hidden gems, please

That is why it helps to know Portorož a little more like a local: where to go, when to go, where to eat, where to leave the car, which bar has a view and which merely has the price of one, where the breeze is good and what you may safely skip.

These notes are for exactly that. We will not pretend that every stone in Istria is a historic marvel or every terrace a ‘hidden gem’. We would rather tell you where we would go ourselves — and sometimes where we would not.

There are so many hidden gems these days that it is rather surprising anyone still finds them.