Castles to Coast Self-Guided Walk

Arrive at your hotel in hilltop Motovun. Stay: Comfortable Hotel.

The Kaldir Valley below Motovun is well known locally for fruit, and your ascent through orchards of apples, peaches, cherries and plums passes country shrines and tiny hamlets. A high ridge affords excellent views east to Mt Vojak and west to the sea. Picnic amid olive groves; look out for honey buzzards and listen to lesser spotted woodpecker rattling the pines as you descend back into the valley. Stroll along the castle sentry's walkway around the ancient city walls before dining out in the village. Stay: Comfortable Hotel (B).

Today's shorter option starts with a transfer (10 mins) to Livade; the longer option departs from the hotel with a steady descent through vines before reaching Livade from where a panoramic walking track (originally a railway abandoned in 1935) leads over aqueducts and bridges. Then it's on through apple orchards and smreka bushes - the berries are used to make local raki - to reach the artists' village of Groznjan. Time to relax, soak up the atmosphere and enjoy the views as far as Slovenia's Julian Alps and Venice whilst waiting for your transfer back to Motovun (20 mins). Walking distance either 20km/12. 5mi/5hr or 25km/16mi/6hr Comfortable Hotel (B).

After a transfer (10 mins) to the ghost village of Bartolici, a winding ascent on a forest trail sprinkled with green-winged orchid leads you high above the clear Mirna River. Church bells chime across valleys of beech from pointed steeples that crown every hilltop. Blue rock thrush flit between branches as you ascend an amazing stone-slab trail used since the Middle Ages by traders and travellers, before descending to Buzet, a Roman settlement on a hilltop with intact 18th century Venetian fortifications. Stay: Comfortable Hotel (B).

High above Buzet, a limestone escarpment runs east to west above shady oak woods peppered with smallholdings. Chickens scatter as you pass through villages leading up onto the ridge for uninterrupted views back to Motovun. You follow the escarpment edge across wind-scoured limestone as Buzet floats on a blanket of cloud below, and paragliders launch themselves into the sky. A descent past country churches and tumbledown villages leads back to the hotel. Stay: Comfortable Hotel (B).

Mt Vojak, Istria's highest peak, towers 1401m over the east coast in Ucka Nature Park, a haven for many protected flowers and plants. After a transfer (40 mins), you zigzag to the summit for 360° views of Croatia's islands and Alpine peaks in Slovenia, Italy and Switzerland. Look out for orange fire lily, amethyst sea holly and bee orchids on the descent. It's then a short transfer (20 mins) to Opatija, where your waterfront hotel in a converted 9th century villa awaits. Stay: Comfortable Hotel (B).

The Adriatic Riviera was a playground for the social elite in the 19th century. Impressive villas with opulent gardens rich in local and exotic plants line the waterfront with views over to the Velebit mountains. A panoramic walkway leads along the sea between yachting marinas and swimming platforms, pretty coves, sea cliffs and azure bays for 6km into Lovran. Enjoy lunch (payable locally) on the waterside with a view over to Cres Island, then either catch the local bus back or stroll home above the waves. Walking distance either 6km/4mi/2hr or 12km/7. 5mi/4hr Comfortable Hotel (B).

The tour ends in Opatija (B).