Hum and Pazin Day Trip from Rovinj

Hum has fifty-two residents. Pazin, half an hour away, has around four thousand and is the administrative capital of Istria. Between them sits a gorge that swallows a river, a castle that gave Jules Verne a novel, and seven kilometres of road lined with stone monuments to an alphabet almost nobody can read any more.

This is the inland Istria that the coastal resorts do not advertise, and it is an hour from Rovinj.

Hum, the smallest town in the world

Hum calls itself the smallest town in the world — a title held by tradition rather than any official record, since Guinness has no such category. Fifty-two people live in the wider settlement, around twenty to thirty of them inside the walls. It sits at 349 metres and was first written down in 1102, as Hulm. Two streets, one gate, a bell tower of 1552. Walking the whole place takes about fifteen minutes, and that is the point rather than a complaint.

The road in is the real attraction. The Glagolitic Alley runs the seven kilometres between Roč and Hum: eleven monuments, ten in stone and one in copper, placed between 1977 and 1985 to mark the history of the Glagolitic alphabet. The eleventh is the copper gate of Hum itself, so the Alley ends at the door you walk through. Hum also makes biska, a mistletoe brandy, sold in the konoba by the gate.

Pazin, the castle and the hole in the ground

Pazin is a working town of about four thousand people in the middle of Istria, and it is the county’s administrative seat. Nobody goes there for the shopping. They go for what is underneath it.

The Pazin abyss — Pazinska jama — is a ponor: the point where a river reaches a cliff and disappears into the karst instead of carrying on along the surface. The gorge falls roughly a hundred metres and the castle sits directly on its edge. It was first explored in 1893 by the French speleologist Édouard-Alfred Martel, and it is still the best example of karst hydrography anywhere in Istria. The gorge and the castle together gave Jules Verne the setting for Mathias Sandorf in 1885 — a book he wrote without ever visiting.

Pazin Castle holds the Ethnographic Museum of Istria and the Pazin Town Museum, both on one ticket. There is also a zipline strung across the gorge and a guided caving tour that goes down into it; both need booking, and both are seasonal.

How long to allow

Hum takes half an hour to see and an hour if you eat. Pazin takes two: the castle and museum, the viewpoint over the gorge, and the walk down into it if it is open. The Glagolitic Alley adds twenty minutes of stopping on the way between them.

Together with the driving that is a five to six hour day from Rovinj, and it is the least crowded day trip in Istria by some distance. If you have already done Motovun and want the interior without the coach parties, this is the one.

When to go

Spring and autumn. The interior is green, the temperature is bearable and everything is open. Hum in particular is a different place in May than in August — the stone holds heat and there is very little shade.

Hum elects its town prefect once a year in an old ceremony that draws a crowd far larger than the town; if you want to see it, ask locally for the date before planning around it, as it moves.

In winter a number of places in Hum close and the zipline does not run. The castle museum keeps shorter hours from November.

Getting there from Rovinj

There is no sensible bus to either. Pazin is on the rail line that crosses Istria, but the service is sparse and the station is a walk from the castle; Hum has effectively nothing.

By car it is roughly an hour to Pazin and a little more to Hum, on roads that are good but winding for the last stretch. The two sit about twenty-five minutes apart.

This is a trip where a driver earns their money: the interior roads are quiet but unfamiliar, the signage is thin, and the distances between the things worth stopping at are exactly the sort that make a self-drive day feel longer than it is. We run it as a private day trip from Rovinj with the stops built in.

What to eat

Inland Istria eats heavier than the coast and better in cold weather. Look for maneštra, a thick bean and vegetable soup that is the regional staple, and ombolo — pork loin, usually with sauerkraut or potatoes. Game appears on menus through autumn and winter.

Hum has one konoba by the gate and it is small. If you want lunch there rather than in Pazin, it is worth calling ahead, particularly out of season.

Practical notes

• Hum is car-free inside the walls, though the walk from the parking is short and flat by Istrian standards.
• The viewpoints over the Pazin abyss have railings but the drop is a hundred metres. Keep hold of children.
• The zipline is seasonal, weather-dependent and must be booked. Do not build the day around it without confirming.
• Castle and museum hours shorten sharply out of season.
• Both towns are cash-friendly rather than card-first. Carry some.

Travel time from Rovinj: about 1 hour to Pazin, about 1 hour 20 to Hum.

Plan your transfer

• Istria private tours — the inland circuit
• Rovinj to Motovun transfer — the other inland route
• Motovun — truffles and the hill-town walls
• Private day trips from Rovinj