Exploring Istria this fall was a perfect end to my two weeks in Croatia. Yes, I'd heard Istria might be the new Tuscany but needed to see it to believe it.

Much of the peninsula is caught between mass tourism, holiday homes and horrid communist era buildings. That might be enough to keep you away...it shouldn't be.

Move into the interior of the region and you'll find the walled hill villages, Romanesque churches, family-ru… Continue