Piran (Slovenia)

...THERE

Whilst Piran is only about ninety minutes from Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana getting there can be a little problematic. The train only takes you a far as Koper, an industrial town slightly north of Piran, but still on the coast - from there you need to take a bus, a twenty minute ride. The train takes roughly the same amount of time as the bus so you may as well go by bus all the way.

If you go by car you avoid ...
...Piran is so small that at weekends and during the summer there is virtually nowhere to park on the small peninsular on which Piran sits.

It is possible to visit Piran as a day trip (or longer of course if you prefer) from north-eastern Italy (from Trieste by bus or ferry - the latter in the high season only) or from northern Croatia (Pula is less than an hour away).

WHAT ITS LIKE

Piran is a town that has ... more

If I tell you that the small central European country of Slovenia has a coastline measuring only 46 kilometres you probably won't be surprised to hear that its best know coastal town has a population of only 17,500. All over Slovenia people tell you to visit Piran, nobody recommends any others from the handful of towns on the Slovenian littoral. In November 2005 (my third visit to Slovenia) I finally got down to the coast to find out if what they said was justified.

GETTTING THERE

Whilst Piran is only about ninety minutes from Slovenia's capital, Ljubljana getting there can be a little problematic. The train only takes you a far as Koper, an industrial town slightly north of Piran, but still on the coast - from there you need to take a bus, a twenty minute ride. The train takes roughly the same amount of time as the bus so you may as well go by bus all the way.

If you go by car you avoid all the detours that the bus has to make, but Piran is so small that at weekends and during the summer there is virtually nowhere to park on the small peninsular on which Piran sits.

It is possible to visit Piran as a day trip (or longer of course if you prefer) from north-eastern Italy (from Trieste by bus or ferry - the latter in the high season only) or from northern Croatia (Pula is less than an hour away).

WHAT ITS LIKE

Piran is a town that has been virtually untouched by the march of time; this is due mainly to the fact that it stands on a narrow peninsula where there is no room for new development and which is protected due to its historic value. The small bus station just manages to inch onto the peninsular but other than that there's little newer than 16th century.

What there is to do in Piran very much depends on when you visit; unfortunately that means that very little is open in November though we were happy just to wander the narrow streets, have a waterside lunch and climb the campanile which dominates the town for tremendous views over to Italy and Croatia.

These days the town is focused around Tartinijev trg (Tartini Square) named for Guiseppe Tartini, composer and violinist, Piran's most famous son. It's possible to visit the house in which he lived - but only in the summer. These days you'll have to make do with looking at his statue and sliding around on the treacherous marble paving around the square which is the only place you can park cars. It's a rather lovely square - two crescents of Venetian style 15th century houses but its spoilt because it's impossible to take a photograph without getting the cars in.

Piran has a strong Italian feel to it and, unlike neighbouring towns, the citizens of Piran welcomed the Venetians rather than fighting them off, making Piran look very different to other Slovenian coastal towns. For some considerable years the people of Piran traded with the Venetians and the town was a prosperous one. However, like the Italian town which lies across the water, Trieste, Piran later fell to the Austrian Empire and fell out of favour in the commercial world. Happily for historians and tourists, though, this is a major factor in Piran being untouched, even if it did nothing to improve the lot of its people.

Piran has one reasonable museum - the Sergej Masera Maritime Musuem; like most museums in this part of the world it operates according to the most bizarre opening hours which vary throughout the year. Typically it doesn't open at all in November! Friends and the local tourist information office tell me that the museum covers the three most important aspects of Piran - the sea, salt (there are vast salt flats down the road near Portoroz) and sailing - obviously another link to the rule of the Venetians.

One attraction that has less erratic opening hours is the aquarium just past the harbour but a big party of schoolchildren had just gone in so we gave it a miss and decided instead to head for the seafront which is basically a road with rocks and the sea on one side and a row of seafood restaurants on the other. Having left behind a Ljubljana that was close to freezing, it was fantastic to find the sun and a temperature close to thirteen degrees in Piran. Off came the socks, the trouser legs were rolled and into the sea for us. There's no beach here - you just climb down three steps off the road and into the water. There's a barrier of big rocks so we sat there until our feet dried off (we didn't take towels, we hardly expected to be going in the sea!). There is a proper beach just up the coast at Fiesa - about a kilometer away which friends tell me is very crowded in summer - my instinct would be to head across the border into Croatia if I was really determined to bathe.

Not only is Piran reminiscent of Italy in architecture but also in its cuisine. The restaurants do have some Slovenian dishes but lean more towards Italian dishes such as risotto than in other parts of the country. A delicious seafood risotto and a very generous salad and beautifully marinated sardines with tasty fries along with a half carafe of red wine came in at less than 20 Euro.

Coffee is another passion of the people of Piran and while there are several places to have a coffee, the best is just at the end of Tartinijev Trg; young an old gather here each morning to chat and people watch. We sat outside and found it one of the most delightful places we've ever seen in Slovenia.

Behind the waterfront is the residential part of Piran - a series of narrow streets, quite like those in the Spanish quarter of Naples - dark alleyways washing hanging out to dry, rooms built over arches, ancient fountains hidden in secret nooks. (A word of warning - not suitable for wheelchairs, pushchairs or people with mobility problems, there are lots of steps and wobbly paving, and the marble is very slippery).

After our filling lunch we decided we needed to reinvigorate ourselves with some exercise and a walk up the Church of St George that dominates the town was just the thing. The church has renaissance and baroque features but the most striking thing about it is the campanile that was modeled in the Venetian style. This is one attraction which is open all year round and we loved the views it offers all over the Slovenian coast, beyond to Croatia and, on this clear day, over to the Miramare at Trieste.

When I next return to Piran (and I do intend to) I will certainly take a boat around the bay and get the only view I've yet to see - Piran from the water; pictures I've seen remind me of Dubrovnik, another walled city of about the same era. I will certainly be staying a couple of days but I can't imagine Piran being much of a base for anything longer or perhaps a stop-off on the way into Croatia. With the museums and other attractions being open there would be enough to fill two days but otherwise Piran makes a fine day trip.

It has no shops, a small food market and only a couple of souvenir stalls; when the people of Piran shop for anything other than fresh produce they head to Koper or even into Italy where things like clothes and furniture are cheaper and the choice is better. For the cinema or nightlife they make for Portoroz, the brash, modern resort just to the south. Even its accommodation is limited and fairly expensive; its probably quite difficult to offer discerning travelers the type of accommodation demanded these days within the confines of strict planning regulations! There are one or two charming looking pensions around town I cannot imagine that they go any way towards meeting the demand in the height of summer. Out of town accommodation is more abundant and the road from Koper, through Izola and past Portoroz is littered with signs offering a bed for the night. My gut feeling though is that pre-booking is required in this part of Slovenia.

Piran is a resort for those who like their seaside towns unspoilt and with more to do than lie on the beach; it would probably appeal more to older people rather than those with demanding children to please. An, most importantly, it's a town which is best not visited in November!

www.piran.com
info.piran@siol.net
 

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