Rovinj, Croatia

Rovinj is a fishing port of roughly 14,000 people on the west coast of Istria, Croatia. It began as an island settlement until 1763, when the narrow channel separating it from the mainland was filled in. The hilltop Old Town rises above the harbor to the baroque Church of Saint Euphemia, consecrated in 1736 and topped by a 60-metre campanile that ranks as the tallest in Istria. The town is backed by the protected Zlatni Rt forest park and fronted by an archipelago of 22 islands. What waits on those shores is best discovered by water.