Hi guys,

I have already talked about Izola and Portorož, 2 beautiful cities near the sea.
Now, I am going to show you a third city called Piran.
It is located along the coastline, only 4 km away from Portorož.
Piran is without a doubt the most visited city of the Slovenian coastline.
During the summer, the city is packed with tourists from all over the world.
Between 1723 and 1797, Piran was part of the Republic of Venice.
If you walk around in the city, you’ll notice that Piran looks a lot like Venice.

I could have talked about Piran before Portorož and Izola but the city is already well known
both by tourists visiting Slovenia and by Slovenians who like to go there during the week end.
The city does not need more publicity.
It is already one of the top 10 destinations in Slovenia (probably ranking between n°6 and n°8
after Ljubljana, Lake Bled, Lake Bohinj, Postojna Cave and the Triglav National Park).

All in all, Piran is worth visiting.
If it is wasn’t so touristy, I would put it in my top 5 places to visit in Slovenia.
If you don’t like the crowd, I recommend you to go there during the spring or after September…
Much less tourists and you’ll enjoy the city even more.

You can easily spend 4 hours walking around the city and discover what it has to offer.
Just walking along the narrow streets on our way up to the church and its bell tower is a real delight.
One great thing about Piran is that there are almost no cars in the old city.
All tourists visiting Piran must leave their cars outside the city, in a parking lot.
Only locals living in Piran (about 4000 people) are allowed to go inside with their cars.
Thefore, it is very easy to walk around and explore the city with your bike without having to worry about cars.

Go see the “Tartini Square“, near a little marina with fish boats.
This is the heart of the city. There are a lot of little shops and bars all around the square.
The city hall of Piran is also located on that Square.

After that, I recommend you to walk uphill toward the “St. George’s Parish Church“.
Walk around that church and take a good look of the city from above.
If you can, go to the top of the bell tower and you’ll have a fantastic 360° view over Piran.

Once you’re done with the church, I recommend you to walk towards the town wall of Piran.
Many parts of this old town wall still remain. You can even go to the top of the town wall and
walk along if you pay a small fee (2 €).

Of course, you can’t go visit Piran without spending time along the water.
There is a beautiful promenade along the water that is more than 1 kilometer long.
Along the last 500 meters of this promenade, you’ll see a lot restaurants, bars and Cafés.

Most of them serve good food and drinks but they are more expensive because this is the most touristy part
of the promenade. Therefore, you’ll pay at least 20% more if you choose to go eat and drink there.
If you want to drink in that area, I recommend you to go have a dring at “Punta Caffe“, almost at the end of the promenade.
They have a very large terrace just near the water. No better place (for me) to have drink alone or with friends.

If you want to eat well without paying too much, I do not recommend you to eat in one of the restaurants
at the end of the Promenade. I will not give names but you have to be aware that some of these restaurants
a much more expensive than others. If you are on a budget, it is not worth it.

As always, if you want to eat well for a reasonable price, you just have to ask locals.
They know the restaurants that are good and not too expensive.
The first time I went to Piran (in 2014), I went to eat at a fish restaurant called “Pri Mari“.
It is located a bit outside of the center, not far from the Bus station.

The food in this restaurant is really good. I went there once again in April 2019
and again, the food was excellent. I ate very well for only 15 €.
If you like fish and want to eat well for 15€/20€, I really recommend you this restaurant.

 

My tips for Piran:

1/ Go there by bus (from Izola or Portorož).
2/ Park your car outside the city, in the parking lot.
3/ Go see the St. George’s Parish Church.
4/ Go to the top of the church’s bell tower.
5/ Go see the town wall of Piran.
6/ Walk along the promenade, near the water.
7/ Go eat fish at the restaurant Pri Mari.