Posted by Piran is undisputedly the most beautiful town on the short coast of Slovenia. The old town is one of the greatest sights Slovenia has to offer.
Book day trips in Slovenia onlineYou can book many great day trips within Slovenia by bus online. Many of these tickets are available on the well-known website Getyourguide.de. – Bus tours to the Postojna Caves: Click here – Tours to and from Lake Bled: Click here – Tours and bus trips Ljubljana: Click here |
Piran has a total of about 18,000 inhabitants. However, most of them live in the suburbs, such as the spa town of Portoroz.
The town itself has about 4,000 permanent residents. Piran and its surroundings are bilingual. All official signs, street names etc. are in Slovenian and Italian.
Piran orientation
From the town of Koper it is about 17 kilometres by road via Izola and Portoroz to Piran. The town lies on a peninsula in the Adriatic Sea. At the tip of the peninsula, to the far west of Piran, you will find the castle and church of Sant Clemenata.
Map of Piran and surroundings
The central and by far the most important square in the old town is Tartini Square (Tartinijev trg in Slovenian). Here are the town hall and other important buildings. A little outside in a northerly direction, you walk up a hill to St George’s Church. From the top you have a wonderful view of what we consider to be the most beautiful town in Slovenia.
Tours Coast Slovenia: Various day trips by bus to and from Piran, Portoroz and the short coast of Slovenia can be booked online at Getyourguide.
Piran is largely car-free. The bus stop is right by the sea at the entrance to the old town. Parking spaces are available.
Sights in the old town of Piran
Tartini Square: The heart of the town. Here are, among other things, the worth seeing town hall with tourist information, the house where Tartini was born and many other beautiful Venetian style houses.
Church of St. George: This is one of the most important churches in Slovenia. It is on a small hill above Tartini Square (see picture above). You can climb the steeple of the cathedral. The paintings inside the church are real art treasures. Particularly interesting and famous is a wood carving depicting Jesus on the cross. More about the church of St. George here.
Stroll through the alleys of the old town: This is a special experience in Piran and the highlight of a visit to the town. One often hears: Piran is the little Venice.
Book day tours Slovenia online
You can book many great day trips within Slovenia by bus online.
Many of these tickets are available on the well-known website Getyourguide.com
– Bus tours to the Postojna Caves: click here
– Tours to and from Lake Bled: click here
– Tours and bus trips Ljubljana: click here
The harbour with the fishing boats and yachts is also worth seeing.
Museums and exhibitions
In Piran, as in many tourist towns in Europe, there are several smaller museums. Three of these museums have the theme of the sea.
The Maritime Museum (also called Pomorski Muzej Sergej Mašera Piran in Slovenian) is the largest museum in Piran. On display are old pictures (motif mostly ships and/or the sea), ship models, old naval objects, underwater finds and much more. One room is dedicated solely to the neighbouring, famous Tartini town square of Piran. We have written a separate page about the Maritime Museum, click here.
We have also made a separate page about the worth seeing, private shell museum, almost directly at the central Tartini square, click here.
The third great museum on the subject of the sea is the Diving Museum.
Piran’s small aquarium shows fish from the Mediterranean.
Piran Overnight
If you have a choice, we think you should stay in Piran on the Adriatic coast in Slovenia. In the narrow streets of the old town you will find small hotels, room rentals and youth hostels in many houses. There is a wide choice, probably around 100 hotels, guesthouses and hostels in all. Among them are many private individuals who rent out 1-2 rooms or holiday flats.
Hostel recommendation: Among the simple, inexpensive accommodation in Piran, we would like to recommend the Hostel Val Piran. Here you can find simple rooms at a reasonable price. Bathroom and toilet are shared with other guests, but breakfast is very good. The location is ideal: Hostel Val is in the old town in an alley, only a few metres to the sea and 2-3 minutes walk to Tartini Square
Pension recommendation: If you are looking for a nice room with a few bathrooms, you will be in good hands at the PachaMama Pleasant Stay Piran pension, which is also very central. Many guests have reported very positively about the guesthouse with the long name. The small guesthouse has 12 rooms (single, double, triple and quadruple). The internet (WLAN) works excellently in the room.
Hotel recommendation: If you would like to reside directly on Tartini Square and enjoy the unique flair of what is probably the most beautiful old town square in Slovenia, you could find your holiday happiness at Hotel Tartini. The 3-star hotel, which is very well known in Piran, has almost 50 rooms. There is no better location.
One should bear in mind with all accommodation in the old part of Piran that you cannot drive directly to the hotel by car. Piran is largely free of cars.
Tours Coast Slovenia: Various day trips by bus to and from Piran, Portoroz and the short coast of Slovenia can be booked online at Getyourguide.
Piran Restaurants
Of course, in such a touristic city as Piran there are a large number of restaurants. Most of them offer Slovenian and Italian dishes. Because of the close border with Italy and the many Italian tourists, there are more pizzerias in Piran than elsewhere in Slovenia. The prices are not too high, probably because of the great competition. In high season, the restaurants in Piran are often full. In low season, the staff usually have much more time and the food often tastes even better.
There is a good selection of restaurants on the waterfront on the south side of the city, west of Tartini Square, in Presernova Nabreznje Street mentioned above.
It tastes good in this street at the Pavel restaurant. On the one hand, there are the typical dishes of the former Yugoslavia such as Ćevapčići with side dishes for 8 euros. On the other hand, you can also try the typical Mediterranean cuisine, like grilled octopus for 8.50 euros. The excellent spaghetti can be found, as usual in Italy, among the starters. If you have a little more money to spare, you can try seafood salad, smoked salmon or scampi soup among the great starters from the sea.
Just a few metres further, in the same street along the sea, you come across Tratoria Ivo. The fish dishes with a view of the sea, such as the delicious fish platter for 2, are an experience at Ivo in Piran. You will also find meat dishes from different regions, from Wiener Schnitzel to Pljeskavica. At the Ivo restaurant, the starters from the sea, such as octopus salad, sea bass carpaccio or fish soup, are a highlight.
A little further on is the Pizzeria and Spaghetteria Riva. There are many pasta dishes and pizzas between about 5.50 and 10 euros. Typical Balkan cuisine and good soups can also be found on the menu at Riva in Piran.
One of our favourite restaurants in Piran is the Pirate on the seashore from Tartini Square out of town in the direction of Portoroz. If you have a few euros to spare, you should definitely try the various mussels as an appetiser. There are “blue mussels”, scallops, mussels or, our recommendation, a mixed mussel plate. The fish tastes excellent at the Piran Pirate. A simple sardine dish can be had for as little as 6.50 euros.
Real Balkan cuisine for fans of meat dishes is available at the inexpensive Bosnian restaurant Sarajevo ’84 near the Piran bus station. A large plate of 10 Ćevapčići costs only 6.90 euros. The giga-plate “Piatto Sarajevo ’84”, for under 20 euros, is enough for more than 2 people.
Buses Piran
The city of Piran does not have a train station. The only way to reach the town on the Mediterranean in Slovenia by public transport is by bus.
Smaller buses run directly from the central Tartini Square, connecting Piran with the holiday resort of Portorož. Depending on the season, these city buses run several times an hour.
The larger buses stop at a small bus station at the entrance to the old town directly by the sea in the direction of Portorož. From here it is about a 5-minute walk to the centre.
During the day there are 2-3 buses per hour to and from Koper. In Koper you can change to other buses or trains to destinations further away. The fare to Koper is 3.10 one-way at the end of 2019, and the journey time is about 45 minutes. These buses stop on the way at some stops in Portoroz and in Izola.
At least one bus per day runs directly from Piran to Trieste in Italy (not on Sunday and public holidays). There are also a few direct buses to the capital of Slovenia, Ljubljana.
You can only use the ticket machine at the bus station in Piran if you have a special Slovenian plastic card. If you are a tourist, it is best to buy tickets from the driver.
You can also walk from Piran to Portoroz. The easiest way is on the road. Most of it runs along the sea (3-4 km).