Umag

Umag is the last Croatian town before the Slovenian border and has a small Venetian core on a low peninsula surrounded by a much larger resort and marina development. Its name travels because of tennis: the Croatia Open has been played on clay here since 1990 and has drawn most of the leading clay court players of the last three decades, filling the town for a week in July. Outside that, it is a working coastal town with a long seafront, a wide spread of accommodation, and the olive oil and malvazija country of northern Istria immediately inland.

Background

The Italian and Venetian name of the town is Umago. It already existed in Roman times, and the first written mention comes in the 7th century from an anonymous citizen of Ravenna. Its history is bound up with Sipar, a settlement whose ruins lie four kilometres to the north on a slender cape. The bell tower of the parish church, dedicated to the Assumption of the Virgin Mary and St. Peregrine, dates from the 15th century, and St. Peregrine is the town's patron saint. The municipality covers 82.2 km2 and had 12,699 people in 2021, 6,751 of them in the town. Tourism, farming, fishing and hospitality support the economy, and a tomato factory's closure in 2023 ended local tomato growing.

Source: Wikipedia, "Umag"

Highlights

• A clay court tournament since 1990 - the Croatia Open each July.
• A small Venetian core - on the peninsula inside the resort town.
• A long developed seafront - marina, hotels and campsites.
• Northern Istrian wine and oil country - directly inland.

When to go

June to September; July for the tennis. Half a day.

Good to know

This is a resort town, and much of it is modern development rather than old core. It is very busy in July and August. Beaches are rock and concrete platforms. The tournament week fills accommodation across the whole area.

Nearby

Novigrad is south; Buje is inland to the east.

Key facts