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Piran Boats

Charming Piran Slovenia Destination Guide

June 9, 2016 By Jan Robinson 13 Comments

This post may contain compensated links. We may earn a small percentage if you book through a compensated link, but it won’t cost you any more by doing so. You can read our full disclaimer here.


The Slovenian town of Piran sits on the peninsula of the Gulf of Piran, toward the top of the Adriatic. This far south-western corner of Slovenia is squeezed between the borders of Italy to the North and Croatia to the south, a distance as the crow flies of only 20km at the closest point.

It is true that Slovenia has a limited coastline, but the tiny seaside town of Piran has charm by the bucketloads. Lonely Planet suggests falling in love with this gem of Venetian architecture in April or October, but the end of May 2015 was a beautiful time to be there, with minimal crowds and gorgeous weather.

What You Will Find in This Post

Things to do in Piran Slovenia

Self Guided Walking Tour

Everything is within walking distance in the old town of Piran.

An overhead view showing Piran Harbour and Tartini Square.

[pinit]

Piran Tartini Square from Above

It is easy to do a self guided walk in Piran. See the map at the bottom of this post.

Tartini Square Piran

Start your walk at Tartini Square, where the mini-bus from the Fornače car park drops it’s passengers. Named after a local boy, the famous composer Guiseppe Tartini, this square was the inner harbour before being filled in 1894. The house where he was born is still in use in the square and has a small museum on the 1st floor. That’s his statue in the photo above. Museum closed Mondays.

Piran Harbour

You know I’m a fan of boats and harbours and I thoroughly enjoyed walking around this one.

Piran Harbour

Piran Harbour Slovenia

Piran Boats

Red Port Marker, Piran

Piran Port Marker Red

Fishing nets on deck.

Piran harbour fishing nets

Hotel Piran. I liked the porthole windows.

Hotel Piran

Piran Kids by the Sea

Piran Mermaid.

From the port it’s a relaxing walk along the waterline, beside bars, restaurants and mermaid to Cape Madona or Punta Headland.

Piran Mermaid by Day

Lady of Health Church Piran and Bell Tower.

On the Cape is the Church of our Lady of Health with it’s interesting looking 19th century gothic revival bell tower. The Church was given this name during the 17th Century when Istria was busy fighting the Plague. On the seaside of the bell tower is a round stone building with light(house) attached while off-shore is an underwater area rich in marine life.

Piran Lighthouse and Bell Tower of Lady of Health Church

Go Swimming at Piran Slovenia

The promenade takes a turn to the right here, to even more waterfront cafes and an ocean swimming area. (We’ll come back here to watch the sunset later).

Piran Ocean Front Cafe

 

Pirans Seaside Cafes

St. George’s Church Piran.

When the pavement runs out climb the steps to the road that leads to St. George’s Church. The walk is pleasant and the views on arrival are excellent. The Church is free to enter.

Piran Walk to St. George's Church

Climb the Cliffs of Piran

Piran looking down from St. George's Church

Piran looking north along the coast

 

St. George’s Bell Tower Piran

The bell tower, shown here from behind, is a faithful replica of St. Mark’s Campanile in Venice and can be seen from most places in Piran.

Ticket on site (1 Euro).

Piran Bell Tower St. George 2

As my head emerged through the trap door into the belfry the bells let loose. Whoah. I was too busy hanging on to cover my ears. It was an intense experience. The ticket seller will let you know the timing of the bells.

Piran Church of St. George Bells

Piran Church of St. George Exterior

You can see the statue of St. George on the left.

Piran Church of St. George

The Old Town Walls Piran

Piran Walls from Church of St. George

Travel Tip – Old Town Walls

A word of warning here.

The entrance charge is 1 Euro. The change machine was broken and there was nowhere nearby to change money. Entry is by turnstile and as we only had 1 euro we squeezed through together. Many people climbed the hill only to find they didn’t have the required coin to enter.

The walls are not extensive but are in good condition, surrounded by pretty gardens and offer excellent views.

Piran Old Walls

 

The view back to the Church of St. George.

Piran and Church from Walls

And down…

Piran Walls Looking Down

Leaving the wall we visited the intimate Church of Madona della Neve with painting of Mary of the Snows.

 

Church of Madona della Neve Piran

Address Bolniška ulica 6330 Piran.

Piran Church of Madona della neve

The Cloister of Friars Minor

We then stepped into the elegant simplicity of the Friars Minor cloister. Choir song hung delicately in the air giving me cloister goosebumps. Yes! there is such a thing. With those acoustics it is no wonder that these Renaissance porticos host summer concerts.

Address Bolniška 30 6330 Piran.

The cloister of the Friars Minor

 

Explore the back streets and alley ways of Piran

Away from the coastline with it’s spruced up architecture, the churches are located in alleys where buildings take on a more casual appearance.

Exploring the winding backlanes of Piran

Watch a Piran Sunset

The setting sun paints the town golden.

Piran Shining Gold in the setting sun

Punta Headland is a favourite sunset place.

Piran Sunset Views

Piran Tower at Sunset

Looking toward Venice from Piran Slovenia.

Piran Sunset

Best Restaurants in Piran Slovenia

For a Budget Dinner

Fritolin Pri Cantini, Prvomajski trg 6, Piran, Slovenia

Calamari 8.50 euro. Tuna Salad 4.50 eruo.

Fritolin Pri Cantini Piran

And where to find it.

For a Budget Lunch

Pizzeria Petica, Župančičeva ulica 6, 6330 PIRAN – PIRANO, Slovenia

We found this pizzeria when looking for a more expensive seafood restaurant. The casual atmosphere and cheaper prices appealed to us. The clientele was a mix of locals and tourists and the meals were enjoyable.

Piran Pizzeria Petica 5

Tartini Square

By night.

Piran Tartini Square

Hotels in Piran Slovenia

95% of the time in Europe we stay with Airbnb for three days or more, but Piran was different. We could have come on a day trip from our base in Umag, Croatia, but I really wanted to watch the sun go down, stay for dinner, walk through the romantic streets and have a night cap in the cafe on the square before bed.

Vila Piranesi Piran

We arrived one morning and left the next so staying in the town centre – right on the harbour at Vila Piranesi – made sense. Booked last minute on Booking.com the one bedroom apartment cost 76 Euro. The position was fantastic and price reasonable. Our modern one room apartment was small, clean and the kitchen had everything required to self-cater.

Vila Piranesi is the pale pink building below.

Piran Accommodation Vila Piranesi

Parking in Piran Slovenia

In-town-parking is only for the inhabitants of the town and requires a special permit. 

The guests of the Vila Piranesi and other visitors park at the Fornače Car Park which is located just before entering Piran (Piran, Dantejeva ulica 12 ). The Vila gives a discount on parking at Fornače, if the fee is paid at the Vila Reception. This reduces the price to 7.50 Euro/day an excellent discount on the normal fee of 20 euro.

A free mini-bus collects passengers 30 metres from the ground floor of the carpark and delivers to Tartini Square.

History of Slovenia

Since the break-up of Yugoslavia in 1991, Slovenia and Croatia have not reached agreement on their respective boundaries in the Gulf of Piran.

Travel Bloggers Reveal their budget travel tips for your Europe Bucket List.

 

Add a link to your travel post at the link up below.  I am co-hosting Nancie’s Travel Photo Thursday with Ruth from Tanama Tales and  Rachel from Rachel’s Ruminations.

An InLinkz Link-up


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Filed Under: Destination, Self Guided Walking Tours, Slovenia, Ten Weeks in Europe 2015

About Jan Robinson

Jan Robinson writes about travel on her Budget Travel Talk blog. A solo traveller in her teens, for the last 40 years Jan has travelled through Australia, Asia, Europe, Turkey and New Zealand with her husband. They specialise in road trips, caravanning and Independent travel without spending a fortune. Her favourite destination is Turkey and she is currently dreaming of Myanmar and Mexico.

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Reader Interactions

Comments

  1. Jackie Smith

    June 9, 2016 at 10:38 pm

    Oh such memories this one brought back. We had just a quick day trip to Piran on a cruise a few years ago and found it to be one of the most charming places we’ve ever been to and certainly calling out for a return visit. It is on our list to get back to one day; hopefully we’ll figure out the ferry system and get there that way the next time.

    Reply
    • Jan

      June 13, 2016 at 2:14 pm

      Where were you thinking of ferrying from Jackie?

      Reply
  2. Sophie

    June 10, 2016 at 6:12 am

    Gorgeous photos, Jan. I’ve been in Piran once, back in the days when the country was called Yugoslavia. I was just a teen, though, so was more interested in boys and parties than scenery. Would love to return and see it with grown-up eyes.

    Reply
    • Jan

      June 13, 2016 at 2:13 pm

      Hi Sophie, It is funny revisiting places I’ve been in my youth. It is quite often as if I’ve never been there before!

      Reply
  3. Ruth - Tanama Tales

    June 10, 2016 at 11:59 am

    I remembered reading about Piran for the first time in the National Geographic Magazine. Since the, I have been interested in visiting. People who visit Slovenia tend to concentrate on the mountainous part of the country not on the coast. But, I am a coast person, so, I will prefer to visit Piran.

    Reply
    • Jan

      June 13, 2016 at 2:12 pm

      You can visit Piran from Ljubljana the capital of Slovenia and visit the mountainous region from Ljubljana as well. Piran is well connected by a highway to Ljubljana, although we took back roads from Piran to Lake Bohinj and Lake Bled in the Triglav National Park and then went on to the capital. Slovenia is a very picturesque and beautiful country. If you go to Piran you should also visit Ljubljana, I think you would like it.

      Reply
  4. Pauliina / PauMau

    June 10, 2016 at 10:25 pm

    Beautiful pics! I have heard that both Slovenia and Croatia are really nice places, hope to see them both someday.

    Reply
  5. Michele {Malaysian Meanders}

    June 12, 2016 at 12:22 pm

    I’ve never really considered visiting Piran, but I think this post made me fall in love with the idea. It’s so picturesque. I love the city walls, the beauty of the water, and sunset’s glow on the buildings. What a gorgeous place. Thanks for introducing me to it.

    Reply
  6. Cat | For Two, Please

    June 13, 2016 at 3:02 pm

    Wow, that sunset is gorgeous! I loved that old town feel too 🙂 Thanks for sharing 🙂

    Reply
  7. Nancie

    June 15, 2016 at 7:23 am

    Hi Jan! What a beautiful town. I don’t blame you for wanting to stay the night. All your photos are gorgeous, and love the mermaid on the rocks. Good to know about the 1 Euro! Thanks for hosting this week. I’m late as usual. Listening to and marking 100 final English presenations this week! Thanks for hosting this week. #TPThursday

    Reply
    • Jan

      June 15, 2016 at 10:39 am

      I think you are amazing having such a busy job and running a blog!

      Reply
  8. Uros G. - Travel Slovenia

    July 15, 2016 at 5:59 am

    What an awesome trip and great photo collection to match. Thank you for presenting Piran in such a wonderful way!

    Reply

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  1. Hvar Town on Croatias Glamour Island of the same name says:
    June 17, 2016 at 8:36 am

    […] with Piran’s Tartini Sauare, St. Stephen’s square was once part of the harbour, being filled in and paved in […]

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