---
title: "Things to do in Motovun Croatia: A Truffle-tastic Medieval Hilltop Town"
url: https://stacklist.com/card/01ea6852-5ea3-4bb0-b570-a559d569ad86
source_url: "https://www.adventuresnsunsets.com/things-to-do-in-motovun-croatia-truffles-wine/"
stack: https://stacklist.com/c/travel/stack/8fdab988-0574-4c28-85fc-a8f1c64c89fe
summary: "Motovun is a medieval walled town in Croatia's Istrian peninsula known for its fairytale-like architecture, scenic countryside views, and exceptional food and wine culture. The guide covers getting there, activities like truffle hunting and exploring the old town, dining options, and nearby destinations to visit."
tags: "motovun, istria, croatia, travel-guide, food-wine, medieval-town"
key_entities: "Motovun (location), Croatia (location), Istria (location), Pula (location), Rijeka (location), Grožnjan (location), Poreč (location), Zagreb (location), Tuscany (location), Sixt Croatia (organization), Motovun Film Festival (organization), truffle-hunting (concept), wine-culture (concept)"
classification: "reference"
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---

# Things to do in Motovun Croatia: A Truffle-tastic Medieval Hilltop Town

I’m embarrassed that it took me five summers in the country to make it to Motovun Croatia . This little Medieval town is truly like that of a fairytale. It has a walled fort, perched in an almost spiral-like formation around the top of a hill, smack-dab in the middle of the Istrian countryside in Croatia’s Northwest, and there are lots of things to do in Motovun . If you haven’t visited Istria, you are truly missing out on part of the heart of Croatia and a truly different personality of the country, which is ordinarily known for its warm, clear water and island-dotted Dalmatian coast. But, Istria presents a totally different side to Croatia (apart from the Zagreb area, which is a third side to the country – read my Zagreb post for more). It’s easy to compare Istria to Tuscany, and with great reason. The luscious green hills seem to endlessly roll into the distance, with small colorful settlements perched on forested hills here and there, getting smaller and smaller up to the horizon. Motovun Croatia is truly the best expression of Istria – with the most scenic little town overlooking the beautiful countryside, and a food and wine culture to truly rival its Italian counterpart. There are lots of things to do in Motovun – and most of them do involve food and wine, but who’s complaining?! Contents show 1 Motovun Croatia – Getting There 1.1 Getting to Motovun Croatia By Air 1.2 Getting to Motovun By Car 1.3 Motovun By Bus 1.4 Motovun Day Tours 1.5 Currency in Motovun Croatia 1.6 How Long to Spend in Motovun 2 Things to do in Motovun Croatia 2.1 Truffle Hunting Tour 2.2 Explore Old Town + Sample Oil, Wine, Truffle, and More 2.3 Cuisine/Wine to Look Out For: 2.4 Walk the Old Town Walls 2.5 Motovun Cultural Education Center (Small Museum) 2.6 Motovun Film Festival 3 Where to Eat in Motovun 3.1 Fakin Winery/Fakin Restaurant 3.2 Zigante Restaurant 3.3 Pod Voltom 4 Where to Stay in Motovun Croatia 5 Best Photo Spots in Motovun 6 Where to Travel from Motovun 6.1 Grožnjan 6.2 Poreč 6.3 Pula 6.4 Krk 6.5 Rijeka 6.6 Slovenia 7 More Croatia Info Motovun Croatia – Getting There Here are the best ways to get to Motovun. Planning to visit other parts of Croatia? Check out the other 21 best places to visit in Croatia . Getting to Motovun Croatia By Air As I said, Motovun is right in the middle of the rectangular Istrian peninsula. It’s about an hour north of Pula, a much larger coastal town on the southern tip of the peninsula. Pula is the nearest large airport that is internationally and easily accessible. Check flights to Pula here ! Rijeka is about an hour east of Motovun, and also has an airport you can fly into. Getting to Motovun By Car This is the preferred option and the way that I got to Motovun on my Balkans road trip this year. You can rent cars the most cheaply at Sixt Croatia (which allows you to cross borders), or you can compare rates of all companies on rentalcars.com if you are staying only in Croatia. I think Sixt still had the best deals though, and they have offices in all main cities – Split, Zagreb, Pula, Rijeka, etc. Motovun By Bus Pula and Rijeka are accessible by bus from pretty much all of Croatia. However, Motovun is a bit more difficult. You can get a bus connection Pazin from either city, and Motovun is another 20km away by taxi. This is why a rental car is preferable! Motovun Day Tours Your final option getting to Motovun Croatia would be to take a day tour. There are lots of bus tours through Istria from Pula, Rovinj, and other places in Istria that will visit Motovun, Grožnjan, the coastal town of Poreč, and more. I recommend this tour here from Pula or Medulin. You can also check out this one day tour that leaves from Rovinj. Motovun Croatia from afar Currency in Motovun Croatia In Croatia, the currency is the kuna. It does vary, but you’re looking at about 6-7 kuna to the USD, 5 to the AUD, and about 8 to the GBP. Some places accept euros, but most don’t. It would be wise to withdraw/exchange some kuna if you can. How Long to Spend in Motovun It’s really tiny, so 1-2 nights would be totally fine here to do all the things I have mentioned below! A day tour would also be plenty if you’re short on time. Things to do in Motovun Croatia Here are the activities and places to visit in Motovun you can’t miss. Truffle Hunting Tour Perhaps the most popular/famous/well-known things to do in Motovun involve truffles, and more specifically, hunting them. What is a truffle, you may ask? Well, they’re pretty much the most expensive fungus ever to grow underground. Truffles are a delicious delicacy, and are found all over the place here and taste amazing on basically anything. An important Motovun fact is that the LARGEST TRUFFLE EVER FOUND was found here – well, in the Motovun forest at the base of the main hill. That has brought the region even more fame, and it’s best known for the truffles found in the extremely prolific forest outside the town. So, what does truffle hunting entail? Sadly, humans can’t really find truffles themselves. Our sense of smell isn’t strong enough. You need specially trained dogs to run through the extremely dense forest, following their noses towards them! How does one find a dog to go truffle hunting with? Well, you sign up for a tour of course! There are a few main truffle brands in town, and some of them run their own truffle hunting and tasting tours. This is the most cultural and immersive thing to do in the area, and what I most highly recommend to do in Motovun. The thing is, most of the companies who run these tours require booking in advance. That’s because tourism has not quite reached Motovun as much as the rest of Croatia yet, as business is not so booming that you can show up and get on a tour just like that. Try checking out Truffle Hunting Croatia for local tours, and Karlic Tartufi /  Miro Tartufi for family-led tours. Send them an email ahead of time, and you should have no problem getting on a tour. But, if you want to save trouble and book in advance on Viator and have hotel pick-up included on a top-rated tour with local experts, book this tour here. Explore Old Town + Sample Oil, Wine, Truffle, and More To get to the hilltop town, you must drive or take a bus from the bottom. Public busses regularly run up and down from the base of the Motovun hill, which has a large parking lot as the hill can’t accommodate too many cars or any tour busses. Tickets for this bus are about 20kn, and they run all day. Once you get to the top of the hill, you’ll have arrived at the main street of the tiny walled town. There’s basically only one street, so it’ll be hard to get lost! As you walk upwards towards the top, you’ll pass loads of small tasting rooms and stands (among other tiny souvenir shops), which will be selling the main products of Motovun: wine, rakija (a Croatian spirit), olive oils, and different kinds of truffle paste and truffle-flavored things. Pop into as many of these shops as you like – you might even (read: probably will) find something you’d like to take back to your accommodation or back home as a gift for friends and family. We found some wine to bring back for dinner, and I brought a variety pack of truffle paste for my family! Oh, and did I mention the views?! The views from the old town are unbelievable and very photo-worthy. With the medieval buildings in the foreground and rolling hills in the back, you can’t go wrong. Cuisine/Wine to Look Out For: Karlic and Zigante  are two of the main truffle brands that are widely known and loved, so you can’t go wrong sampling/buying these. Malvazija and Teran are two types of grape/wine that are local to this area. Make sure to try some! Fakin is a winery close to town where you can try wine, and also has a sampling shop and restaurant in town. walking the Motovun walls Walk the Old Town Walls Like many old Croatian (and European in general) towns, Motovun has a set of main city walls, and you can walk on top of them. Just past the main square of town, you’ll come to a gate that leads to the walls. If you go inside and pay a small fee of 25kn, you’ll receive a ticket to walk around the top of the walls. Unfortunately, it’s no Dubrovnik , but the Motovun walls are beautiful and full of character just the same. You’ll get the best views in town and get to look back out over the small town you just explored on the way up. You’ll see all the forests where the truffle hunting takes place, and even more colorful towns in the distance. Motovun Cultural Education Center (Small Museum) At the base of the hill, you’ll find a small museum within a courtyard of a hotel. Here, you can learn a little bit more about how the old town walls of Motovun were built many centuries ago. You’ll learn more about the fact that it was part of the Venetian empire for centuries (hence why you’ll hear some Italian even in Motovun Croatia!) and how they also discovered more ancient Roman (read: VERY old) ruins here. Some ruins are on display in the museum, and some are in one of the main archways of the town. You can’t miss it! Motovun Film Festival Motovun is also famous for its annual film festival which shows independent and small films from across Europe. It’s extremely popular, and draws travelers from near and far as one of the best things to do in Motovun. Make sure to be aware of this as you travel to Motovun Croatia. If you plan your travel dates to visit the film festival (which is usually late July/early August), you should book far in advance because it will be crowded. Or, plan to avoid the crowds and choose different dates. They even put up a campground at the base of the hill for the festival! Fakin wine and the sunset in Motovun Where to Eat in Motovun One of the main and most important things to do in the truffle capital is to EAT, of course – and eat well. There are a few top-rated restaurants in Motovun, all of which will meet all of your truffle-rich desires. Here are my faves: Fakin Winery/Fakin Restaurant Fakin Winery is located just about a 5 minute drive from the base of Motovun Hill, right next to a lovely airbnb I stayed in once. You can visit the winery at any time for a tasting if you are so inclined in trying some Istrian Wine. However, once in town, you’ll notice the Fakin restaurant along the main cobblestone road with a perfect view out over the Valley. This is where Fakin wine and Motovun food come together! I recommend sharing a few white and black truffle-inspired dishes at sunset, and watching the sun disappear over the hills in the distance. Zigante Restaurant This is another top-rated restaurant just outside of Motovun. If you don’t mind a short drive/adventure to another small town, you won’t be disappointed. Pod Voltom Situated within the old town walls, Pod Voltom will present you with an incredible view and even more incredible food. Make sure, again, to try plenty of truffle. The meat is to-die-for also. You can also do a food + wine tour of Motovun + Istria from Trieste if you’re specifically into the cuisine!  Where to Stay in Motovun Croatia We stayed a bit out of the city in Motovun, in an Airbnb right next to the Fakin winery tasting rooms (which seemed too big of a coincidence to pass up)! If you have a car, Motovun could be a great place to stay a bit farther outside the city in an apartment or villa with a pool/view and to have a bit more of a getaway and look out over hills or vineyards. However, if not, there are plenty of options right amongst it all in the city. Here are some options: Vacation Rental: 4BR Villa with a private pool among the vineyards is awesome for a remote location for groups. For something small, quaint, and central, rent this studio with a view. Hotel: Hotel Kastel is the BEST hotel around, its a cute boutique spot in a good location Best Photo Spots in Motovun Although photos are great from the top of the hill itself, some of the best photos that capture the essence of Motovun are actually from a bit farther away. There are lots of vineyards near the main road heading south from Motovun. Pull over behind one to get a glimpse of the colorful hilltop fortress behind grape vines. There’s a wonderful viewpoint of Motovun from the town of Vižinada (pictured in vertical pin image below) if you are driving out towards Slovenia. Where to Travel from Motovun There are lots of other places to see in Istria! Here are a few places you could take a bus or road trip from Motovun. Grožnjan You can also visit Grožnjan, which is known as a sort of mini-Motovun as Korcula is known as a Mini-Dubrovnik. Grožnjan is a similar hilltop fortressed medieval town, yet, you guessed it, smaller! Poreč Poreč is a gorgeous Istrian walled town on the water. It’s not extremely close to Motovun but would be worth checking out if you’ve got spare time and a car. If you don’t, this tour visits Poreč, Grožnjan, and Motovun all in one day. Pula As I mentioned above, Pula is one of the larger Istrian cities along the southern coast. It’s known for having an extremely well-preserved ancient Roman coliseum and very lively streets on a summer night. Krk Krk is Croatia’s largest island, but actually evades the general tourist route. It’s gorgeous and far less busy than other places in the country. Check out what to do in Krk here! Rijeka If you’re heading south, Rijeka could also be a great stopover city. It’s quite a large and hilly coastal city with a lovely old town and accommodations. Slovenia We went straight into Slovenia from Motovun on our Balkans Road Trip. You can drive or bus straight to the capital, Ljubljana, or you can stop off at Predjama castle and/or the Postojna caves along the way for some extra iconic Slovenian points of interest. If you aren’t quite done with the coast but want to head north, Piran is a beach town on the only tiny snippet of Slovenia that reaches the coast. Check out my freestyle Slovenia itinerary here. Well, I can’t possibly think of more to say about Motovun Croatia. Do you have any questions?! Drop them below, and don’t forget to Pin! More Croatia Info I have DOZENS of articles about this lovely country. Here are some you may be interested in, or I have guides to most main destinations in Dalmatia too. What to know while Planning a Trip to Croatia Day Trips from Split Things to Do in Zadar Croatia What to Know About Croatia Sailing Tours KimmConn Website Passionate, full-time travel blogger with over 230k on social media and 150kMPV blog. Extraordinary photographer with two DSLR's + a drone with a love for capturing candid moments, epic drone shots, and magical compositions. I'm a natural-born content creator originally from California, but I've been on the road for 9 years living, working, traveling, blogging, and photographing my way around the world. I recommend the most amazingly adventurous and unique + boutique travel experiences/stays and helpful products to my audience and write comprehensive guides on my website that have helped millions of travelers so far. I love to inspire people to plan their dream trips, and many readers have given feedback as such. 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