Croatia Trip May/Jun 2026 - Part 2 Novigrad, Istria

Novigrad was a pleasant place to stay for the next three nights and easy walking distance from the campsite, perfect as our first full day in Croatia was definitely to be a no driving day! We had originally booked a pitch beside the sea but the pitch proved too difficult to get into due to the pine trees in the way, so we asked to move to this pitch which was far easier to get in and out of and was huge! Cheaper too and we could still see the sea, which had a gorgeous colour.

After doing very little in the morning after lunch we wandered into Novigrad to have a look around. It proved to be a nice little town, with a scenic harbour full of small fishing vessels and a good amount of restaurants dotted about.

The building colours were gorgeous, all shades of orange and terracotta with yellow, green and blue thrown in for good measure!

This building had a lovely porch area with painted arches, not quite trompe l'oeil but close....

....and on the side of the building, these pretty painted window surrounds, and the top windows with either painted glass or decals, I'm not sure as I can see reflections in the glass in the upper windows. It gives the impression of being an old decoration though.

This building is the Rigo Palace, built in 1770 in the Baroque style.

A closer look at the lovely carved stonework and the carved faces. The metal framework looks like it is holding up the arched stonework as it looks a bit crumbly in places!

Above and below, colourful umbrellas have been used cleverly, providing a bit of much needed shade during the hot months and really brightening up the streets joyously.

This is Sts Pelagius' and Maximus' Parish Church, also a colourful building. The church has undergone many transformations over the centuries and is currently a Neoclassicist façade that was finalised in 1935, whilst the campanile dates from 1874, again a replacement for an earlier one.

And our walk brought us back to the harbour again. I love looking at boats and there was plenty here to stop and have a look at for a little while.

From the waterfront we took the little tourist train back to the campsite, and later in the evening took it again back into the town for dinner. Afterwards we walked back along the sea front, a gentle stroll of about 15 minutes. For dinner I had fish which was delicious, Gilthead Bream which was served quite commonly in the restaurants we went to. Fish seems to be always served with a potato and chard mix which I found too salty. I asked for chips after that whenever I had fish! Keith tried out a Croatian delicacy, Ćevapčići, which are small skinless sausages. My brother had a rolled stuffed pork dish - this was one of the best meals we had! It took K the whole holiday before he could get his tongue around the pronounciation of Ćevapčići (sevap-chichi - easy once you know how)! 😀

PS. We had rain! A thunderstorm dropped real rain, a whole 24mm, which is almost an inch if that's how you measure. After two months of dry, very hot weather, that was most surprising but very much appreciated. Of course we really need far more than that and I am back to watering (some of) my plants again. Roll on the next thunderstorm!