Inside the 素晴らしい new 沿岸の Croatian 訴える手段/行楽地 that 誇るs Europe's longest infinity pool. Prefer the sea? It's warm enough here for swimming from June to the end of October

  • Juliet Rix?stays at the Petram 訴える手段/行楽地 and enjoys the panorama from its epic pool
  • It's 位置を示すd in Istria, a 半島 in Croatia's northwest
  • This area was once 支配するd by 古代の Rome, which?introduced vines and olives?
  • The 半島’s largest town, Pula, has a 井戸/弁護士席-保存するd gladiatorial 円形競技場?
  • READ MORE:?How 井戸/弁護士席 do YOU know your ワイン? Take our corking 質問(する)...

Beneath me spreads a verdant headland of tousled trees bounded by 有望な blue sea, with a tiny triangle sailing across it.

I swim a few more metres and this 静めるing panorama continues. And I swim some more and some more.

I am in Europe’s longest infinity pool, at 105m it's longer than pools at the Olympics, on the roof of the new Petram 訴える手段/行楽地 in the northwestern corner of Croatia.

It’s not the only swimming on 申し込む/申し出 at Croatian Istria’s 最新の 訴える手段/行楽地 完全にする with smart, unfussy apartment-rooms (where children and pets are welcome), tennis 法廷,裁判所s, a spa and a rooftop restaurant looking out across the 湾 of Trieste.

There’s a garden pool that’s nearly as big and just a three-minute walk (or a hotel buggy ride) away are the silky, (疑いを)晴らす waters of the Adriatic.

Juliet Rix checks in to the new Petram Resort, which is home to Europe's longest infinity pool (pictured), which measures?105 metres in length. The resort is located in Istria, a peninsula in Croatia's northwest

Juliet Rix checks in to the new Petram 訴える手段/行楽地, which is home to Europe's longest infinity pool (pictured), which 対策?105 metres in length. The 訴える手段/行楽地 is 位置を示すd in Istria, a 半島 in Croatia's northwest

The pool is 'longer than pools at the Olympics' and is situated on the roof of the hotel

The pool is 'longer than pools at the Olympics' and is 据えるd on the roof of the hotel

There are bathing 位置/汚点/見つけ出すs all along this rocky coast, and the sea is warm enough for swimming from June to the end of October.

‘People used to come here まず第一に/本来 to swim,’ says winemaker Moreno Coronica, as we sit a few minutes’ 運動 from Petram, surrounded by the red earth vineyards his family has cultivated for 世代s.

‘And then they might drink some ワイン but now it’s also a gastronomic 目的地.’

It is indeed, with Michelin- style menus at gastropub prices.

Almost everything here is bilingual. This area was 支配するd by Italy (古代の Rome, 中世 Venice, modern Rome) for about half of the last two millennia.

古代の Rome can take some credit for Istria’s culinary successes since they introduced the cultivation of vines and olives.

Colourful: Juliet says the region’s coastal scenic centres such as Rovinj (pictured) are well-worth a visit

Colourful: Juliet says the 地域’s 沿岸の scenic centres such as Rovinj (pictured) are 井戸/弁護士席-価値(がある) a visit?

Above, Petram's garden pool, which is just a three-minute walk away from the waters of the Adriatic

Above, Petram's garden pool, which is just a three-minute walk away from the waters of the Adriatic

Excellent olive oil graces almost every (米)棚上げする/(英)提議する, and I have fun learning how to taste it 適切に (前線 of the tongue, then suck 空気/公表する through your teeth and wait for the spice).

The Romans left a more solid 遺産/遺物, too - in the 半島’s largest town, Pula (1? hours from Petram), which is 支配するd by the arched honeyed-石/投石する ellipse of its 井戸/弁護士席-保存するd gladiatorial 円形競技場.

The 出発 of Italians when this area became part of 共産主義者 Yugoslavia in 1945 turned many places into ghost towns, but some have since 設立する a new 賃貸し(する) of life and they’re 同様に 価値(がある) a visit as the 地域’s 沿岸の scenic centres such as tourist favourite Rovinj.

When I arrive in Groznjan, Mozart wafts from the solid 石/投石する 中世 Kastel, now a concert hall. And tucked in the tiny streets of flower-decked historic houses are some 30 studio galleries. This colourful artists’ 植民地 is small, but not to be 急ぐd.

Juliet visits Motovun (pictured), Istria’s best-preserved Venetian fortified town

Juliet visits Motovun (pictured), Istria’s best-保存するd Venetian 防備を堅める/強化するd town

Above - the ruins of a Roman amphitheatre in Pula, the peninsula's largest town

Above - the 廃虚s of a Roman amphitheatre in Pula, the 半島's largest town

TRAVEL FACTS?

Juliet travelled with the Croatian Tourist Board and Petram 訴える手段/行楽地.

Apartments start from £160. Ryanair ( ryanair.com) London to Trieste from £31 return and Easyjet (easyjet.com) London to Pula from £67 return. More 詳細(に述べる)s: istra.hr/en.

宣伝

A couple of 丘の頂上s away perches Motovun. Up 277m and some 1,000 中世 石/投石する steps (don’t worry, there is also a road), this is Istria’s best-保存するd Venetian 防備を堅める/強化するd town.

I pass the Palladian Renaissance church and its 13th-century campanile, 初めは a 防御の watchtower said to have been shaken in 失望/欲求不満 by the town’s 伝説の largest 居住(者), 巨大(な) John, the 支配する of a nearby mural. I wander the city 塀で囲むs and enjoy 見解(をとる)s over the Motovun Forest, which used to 供給(する) Venetians with 支持を得ようと努めるd.

Today, it is 平等に valued - for truffles. I 会合,会う truffle hunter Nikola at the 辛勝する/優位 of the forest in Livade, self-布告するd ‘world centre of truffles’. 黒人/ボイコット truffles, he says, are year-一連の会議、交渉/完成する fungi that can be cultivated, but white are autumnal, only wild and wildly expensive. The priciest, a 1.5kg whopper, sold for £237,000 in 2007.

‘We may find nothing,’ says Nikola, as his dog Zara starts snuffling the ground. 即時に, Nikola is on his 膝s, his 長,率いる to hers, frantically digging.

Moments later, he sits 支援する, incredulous. In his palm is a sizeable white truffle. It is broken, halving its value, but will taste the same. But would I 支払う/賃金 through the nose for it in a London restaurant, without the fun of watching the dog nose it out?

I’d rather spend it on travelling to Istria, and have my truffle served along with history, music, art, ワイン, olive oil, 広範囲にわたる scenery and swimming.