Višnjan
Three hundred metres from the shop, the bakery and the restaurant. Ten kilometres from the sea, and a long way from anything resembling a resort.
Villa Bucks sits 300 m from the centre of Višnjan, which is close enough to walk for bread in the morning and back before anyone else is up. The shop, the bakery and a restaurant are all at that same distance.
This matters more on a long stay than it sounds. A group of twenty runs out of something every single day, and not needing a car to solve it changes the character of the week.
The coast is where Istria sells itself. The interior is where it lives: hill villages, oak woods, vineyards and the truffle country around Motovun and the Mirna valley.
The house has 1200 m² of garden and sea views from the upper rooms — the odd combination inland Istria specialises in, where you can see the Adriatic from a hillside ten kilometres away from it.
Višnjan is a place to sleep, eat and swim, and a good position from which to reach everywhere else. Poreč is 18 km, Aquapark Istralandia 18 km, Motovun 22 km, Grožnjan 28 km, Rovinj 40 km, Pula and its Roman arena 55 km.
Every one of those is a day trip that gets you back for dinner at the house.
9 bedrooms, 7 bathrooms and space for 20, with a 50 m² heated pool, a hot tub and a sauna. The whole property goes to one group.
There is no reception, no neighbouring apartment and no owner on site — a distinction that a village of this size makes easy to arrange.
Inland Istria, north-east of Poreč, about ten kilometres back from the Adriatic. It is a small hilltop village, not a resort — which is the reason to stay here rather than a reason not to.
The village centre is 300 m away, roughly a four-minute walk, and that is also the distance to the shop, the bakery and a restaurant. Everything else needs a car or one of the bikes at the house.
The village is quiet. The house is not: a heated pool, hot tub, sauna, gym, games room with pool table and table tennis, a PlayStation 5, darts and free bikes. The coast and the aquapark are both a short drive.
10 km to the nearest rock beach, about twelve to fifteen minutes by car, with the wider choice of beaches along the Poreč coast just beyond.
For day trips, yes — Istria rewards driving. There are eight parking spaces at the house. For bread, wine and dinner, no: those are 300 metres away.
Send the week and the size of your group. The reply comes from the owners, in writing, with the full cost.