Sunny Porec, Croatia

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The hotel staff were very helpful and the rooms adequate. Ours was fairly small but this was because we had the sea view--the rooms without the view were larger. The hotel also issues you with a boat ticket across to St. Nicholas Islan, which is great for swimming or just strolling amongst the trees and lizards.

The hotel has a bar and large seating area on the street which is great in the evenings for a few cold beers. The prices are reasonable and the staff friendly. Overall, this hotel does what it's supposed to and more and I'd gladly go back.

For a quick lunch, this is the place to go for quality fresh pizza.

The city was once walled, and although you can see some of the walls on the north side of the city, mostly all that remain are a couple of Venetian towers, mainly the pentagonal tower, the round tower, and the northeast tower. They are easy to come across as you wonder the streets.

The streets are cobbled and almost traffic-free, so walking is great but sensible shoes are required if you're not to break your ankle. A walk around the town taking it all in at a leisurely pace will probably take a couple of hours.

We made a beeline for the Rialto bridge, stopping only to buy a baguette on the way. The Rialto was very well signposted, and although busy we were able to take some photos before wandering back into the mash of little streets and bridges. Venice is superb in that at each turn you are confronted with another scenic view. We returned to St. Mark's Square via an ice-cream shop for a look at the Bridge of Sighs and then on along the Grande Canal away from the crowds. We'd decided to take a water taxi from St. Mark's Square back to the boat as this meant for 7 euros we had a trip all the way up the Grande Canal and down another one, a superb taxi ride and worth every euro.

Now having completed the major sights of Venice we collapsed back on to the boat for our ride back to Porec.

The day trip is quite expensive (440 kuna) but well worth it if all you want to do is say you've been to Venice and then impress friends with a mountain of photos. I'd recommend it as Venice isn't somewhere I'd like to spend a lot of time - simply too many tourists!

We picked up some more people from resorts a bit further out of town and then travelled down the coast. Croatia is home to the largest nudist camp and beach area in Europe, and interestingly this boat trip takes you straight past all of it. It is a little disconcerting having naked people in boats and on jet skis come flying past but it's interesting to see ths sights!

Once past this distraction, you head down the fjord with its caves in the cliffs--it's very pretty. You cruise past the oyster beds, providing the finest oysters in Europe, and on to the town at the end of the fjord. Sadly, most of it was shut when we arrived and we later discovered this was because they were expecting a visit from the President of Croatia who in his swimming trunks happily waved to us from his boat on the way back out of the fjord.

Then it was on to Rovinj - the next main town down the coast. It's supposed to be more popular than Porec but I can't see why--it's not as pretty and is dirtier and far more touristy. However, it's a nice place to go and has a pleasant old town with an impressive church.

After an hour or so here, it's back on the boat as we head back to Porec. It's great to spend a day on the sea and this is a pleasant leisurely trip to do that. The boat staff are really helpful and have drinks for sale on board. The toilet facilities are good although dark.