Rabac

Rabac was a fishing village in a bay below the mining town of Labin until the end of the nineteenth century, when its first hotel opened in 1889, and from the 1970s it grew into the main resort on the eastern Istrian coast - hotels along the bay, a promenade, and a run of white shingle beaches on either side which are the reason it works: the stone here is pale limestone, so the water reads bright turquoise in a way it does not on darker shores. Boats run from the harbour to Cres and along the coast. Labin, with its old town and galleries, is a short drive or a steep walk above.

History

Until the end of the 19th century Rabac was a small fishing village below Labin. The British explorer Richard Francis Burton visited it in 1876 and wrote about it in his book The Seaboard of Istria; around that time the Prohaska family built the first summer house here, and the first hotel, the Quarnaro, opened on 11 June 1889. The village grew into a resort town of villas and apartment buildings in the 1970s (Wikipedia, Rabac).

What's there

• White shingle beaches - the pale stone that gives the water its colour.
• A fishing village turned resort - its first hotel opened in 1889.
• A promenade round the bay - linking the beaches and hotels.
• Labin above - the old mining town on the hill.

When to go

June to September. Half a day.

Good to know

It is a purpose-built resort, not an old town - the character is hotels and promenade. It is very busy in July and August and parking is difficult. Beaches are shingle, not sand, and shoes help. Winter closes most of it.

Nearby

Labin is on the hill above; Pula is south-west.

Key facts