Pula Airport to Motovun
About 55 km inland; there is effectively no public transport, so this is a hire car or a private transfer.
A walled hill town standing above the Mirna valley, reached by a road that spirals up to it, with a rampart walk right around the top and truffle woods on the valley floor below.
Every way to get there
Our verdict: for Motovun, a private transfer is the easiest door-to-door option (from €70). Travelling light on a budget? The bus is cheapest (from €12) but slower, with a change in the city.
What it costs for your group
The bus is charged per person, while a taxi or private transfer is one price for the whole car — so the more of you there are, the better door-to-door value looks.
| Group | Bus (per person) | Private transfer | Best value |
|---|---|---|---|
| Solo · 1 traveller | €12 | €70 | Bus |
| Couple · 2 travellers | €24 | €70 | Bus |
| Family of 4 · 4 travellers | €48 | €70 | Bus |
Which option should you choose?
| If your priority is… | Our pick | Why |
|---|---|---|
| Lowest price | Bus | From €12, though slower with a change in the city. |
| Speed & comfort | Private transfer | Door-to-door, fixed price, a driver waiting for you. |
| A group of 3–4 | Transfer or taxi | One flat fare splits cheaper than several bus tickets. |
| A late-night arrival | Transfer or taxi | Both run 24/7 when buses and the tram have stopped. |
By transport mode
Car rental
The one Istrian destination where a car is not optional. It also opens up Grožnjan, Oprtalj and the truffle village of Livade, none of which has a service worth the name.
Where to catch it: An hour inland through the Istrian interior. Cars park below the walls in tiered lots; the last stretch up to the gate is on foot.
Best for travellers who want to explorePrivate transfer
If you are staying inside the walls, arrange the arrival with your host — luggage goes up the last stretch on foot or in a small hotel vehicle.
Where to catch it: Drivers take you to the upper car park; residents' permits govern the last two hundred metres.
Best for families, groups & late arrivalsBus / shuttle
Technically possible and practically not worth attempting. The timetable is built for schoolchildren and there is no evening return.
Where to catch it: Into Pula, then a coach to Pazin, then an infrequent local service towards Motovun that does not run at weekends.
Best for solo & budget travellersTaxi
If you go by taxi, agree the return with the same driver before they leave. The truffle season runs September to January and the valley restaurants book out on autumn weekends.
Where to catch it: Available by negotiation. There is no rank in Motovun for the return.
Best for small groups in a hurryMotovun & Pula in photos
Buying tickets in Pula
Pula's buses run on an unusual clock: departures are set at roughly 30 minutes after each scheduled arrival rather than at fixed times, so the coach you want is tied to your flight number. Two companies operate them, Brioni and FILS. The city shuttle into Pula bus station costs about €6 and takes 20 minutes. The Rovinj service — the one most arrivals need, since Rovinj takes more visitors than Pula does — is €15 booked online and €18 from the driver, about an hour to the Rovinj bus terminal. Booking online saves three euros and, more usefully, guarantees a seat when two flights land together in August. Everywhere else in Istria means changing at Pula or Rovinj onto an Autotrans coastal coach: Poreč about 90 minutes in total, Umag closer to three hours with two changes. The interior — Motovun, Grožnjan, the truffle villages — has no service worth the name.
Taxi scams & safety in Pula
This is a small, seasonal airport with few of the usual problems: fares are published, the coaches are run by established companies, and the taxi rank is straightforward. The thing to plan around is geography rather than money. Istria's old towns — Rovinj, Poreč, Motovun, Grožnjan — are all closed to vehicles, so whatever you arrive in stops at a car park or a gate, and Rovinj in particular is steep, cobbled and stepped once you are inside. Ask your accommodation where cars actually reach before choosing between a €15 coach and a €60 taxi; sometimes the answer makes the coach just as good. Two contractual points: Cape Kamenjak's tracks are unpaved and most rental agreements are unhappy about them, and if you plan to cross into Slovenia from Umag — twenty minutes away — that must be declared to the rental company rather than assumed. Note also that Trieste and Ljubljana airports are closer to northern Istria than Pula is.
Getting from PUL to Motovun
Motovun stands on a hill above the Mirna valley with a road that spirals up to it, walls you can walk right around, and truffle woods on the valley floor below. It is the emblematic Istrian hill town and it is also the clearest case in this guide for hiring a car: there is effectively no public transport, and the route that technically exists is built for schoolchildren.
The public option, and why not to take it
Airport shuttle into Pula, coach to Pazin, then an infrequent local service towards Motovun that does not run at weekends and has no evening return. Two and a half hours if the connections work. It is possible and it is not sensible.
The car, then
An hour inland from the airport, €25–55 a day. Cars park in tiered lots below the walls and the last stretch to the gate is on foot up a ramp — steeper than it looks and cobbled. If you are staying inside the walls, tell your host when you will arrive; luggage goes up in a small hotel vehicle or on foot.
The truffles
The Motovun forest on the valley floor produces white truffles in autumn and black ones through much of the year. Istria's white truffles are among the best in Europe — the largest ever found came from near here in 1999 and made the record books. The season runs roughly September to January and the valley restaurants book out on autumn weekends.
Livade, at the bottom
A small village at the foot of the hill that is effectively the truffle capital — the dealers are based here, there is a festival in autumn, and the restaurant that put Istrian truffles on the international map is on its main street. Fifteen minutes down from Motovun.
Walking the walls
The circuit around the ramparts is short — fifteen minutes — and looks out over the whole Mirna valley, the vineyards and the forest. There is an inner gate with a Venetian lion and a cistern in the square, and the whole town is perhaps three hundred metres across.
The film festival
Held every July since 1999, screening independent and art-house films in the square and on the walls. It is small, well regarded and completely fills the town — accommodation for those five days needs booking months out.
The other hill towns
Grožnjan, twenty minutes north-west, is an artists' colony with galleries in nearly every house and a summer music school. Oprtalj is quieter still. Buzet, up the valley, calls itself the city of truffles and has a considerably larger old town. Each is a short drive and none is on a useful bus.
The Parenzana passes below
The old narrow-gauge railway runs through the valley here, and the section around Motovun — tunnels, viaducts, a steady gradient — is among the best cycling on the route. Bikes can be hired in Livade and Buzet.
Where the wine is
The slopes around Motovun and towards Buje grow Malvazija and Teran, and a number of the estates take visitors. Several are down unmarked lanes; the wine roads are signposted but the individual cellars often are not, so a phone call ahead is normal.
Staying up here
There are a handful of small hotels and rooms inside the walls, and agriturismo properties scattered on the surrounding hills. Motovun empties of day visitors by evening and the view from the ramparts at dusk, with mist forming in the valley, is the reason to stay rather than pass through.
If you go by taxi
€80–110 from the airport by negotiation, and there is no rank in Motovun for the return. Agree the return with the same driver before they leave, or you will be arranging a car from a town of five hundred people.
The Mirna valley itself
Flat, green and often filled with mist in the early morning — which is what produces the photographs of Motovun apparently floating above a white sea. The valley was marshy until it was drained, and the forest that produces the truffles occupies the low ground beside the river.
