After Izola yesterday we had another big day cycling to Piran – also a Venetian town that was set up next to the productive salt marshes – making the town very rich.

We took a route directly from our campsite through olive terraces then down a very steep hill to the salt marshes area of Strunjan. We could see Piran in the distance.

Salt is still made by the traditional methods here. There was an information centre explaining everything and also about the natural environment.

It is also a nature reserve.

We then continued finding the Parenzana cycle route – nice and flat along an old railway line. It goes through the Valeta tunnel that is 550 m long.

We turned off to go down the steep slope into Portoroz, a seaside village. As we were now quite hot we stopped off in a cafe to have ice cream.

After chilling out we got back on the bikes and cycled the flat route to Piran passing lots of sunbathing and swimming tourists and then old salt warehouses.

We stopped briefly to have a look at the lovely clear water.

We then continued to Piran and locked up the bikes. We were right next to the big Tartini Square that used to be the harbour – filled in relatively recently in the 1800s.

Tartini was the famous composer and violinist from Piran and is much celebrated here.

The 1st May square had a cafe on top of a large water reservoir built in the 1800s at a time of drought. Water from rooftops is piped into the reservoir through statues on columns.

We wandered through the narrow streets very reminiscent of Venice. There were many city gates that we came across.

We came to the point that had an old chapel and sculptures.

There was also a very busy bathing area that was too busy for us. We went back into the streets to a cafe serving interesting beers for a cool down.

We then bought bureks for lunch from a bakery and went back towards Portoroz to a nice quiet bathing area to eat them. We then had a wavy but cooling dip. Glenn was very relaxed! Thanks to Lisa for the pics.

We then went back up the hill in town to see the most prominent church and bell tower.

We first came across St Francisco’s monastery that had cool white cloisters and chapel.

Sean and Glenn couldn’t resist sitting in an olive tree root throne that was 500 years old – very Games of Thrones!

We then climbed higher finding a part of the old city walls and getting a good view of the clear water below.

We found the church of St George with the large Venetian bell tower.

The views of Piran from the church terrace were stunning.

We then walked down the steep streets checking out the tiny shops on the way.

We then got back on our bikes and found the Parenzana cycle route again and went back through the long tunnel.

The boys went ahead to do some shopping in Izola town while Lisa and I went straight back to the campsite. We found a shortcut that gave us a much decreased uphill climb back to the site. We were happy!

On arriving at the campsite we were all very hot and tired so enjoyed a cool shower and easy bbq for dinner. There was no problem sleeping that night.