The northernmost town on the Croatian coast, closer to Trieste than to Pula. The old town fits on a peninsula barely two hundred metres across, and once a year the country's only ATP clay tournament fills it.
Checked: 25 August 2026
Umag is the first town you reach coming down from Slovenia, and Venice held it from 1269 for over five centuries, which is written all over the old town. It is a small place and honest about it: the coast here is not sandy, you swim from concrete platforms and gravel, and the ladder into the water is the normal way in. Half a day covers the town, the other half belongs to the coast or the courts.
- 09:00The market, before nine
The market runs in the morning and is best before nine, while the stalls are full and the sellers still have time to talk. Istria is known for olive oil and local producers sell theirs here, which is the one thing worth carrying home.
- 10:00The square, and five centuries of Venice
The old town sits on a peninsula barely two hundred metres wide, so the square of the first of May is at once the largest open space in it. Venice ruled here from 1269, and the buildings around have not forgotten.
- 11:00The museum in a wall tower
The town museum sits inside a tower of the former town wall, and the tower is the best exhibit: its narrow windows frame exactly what the watch used to keep an eye on.
- 14:00Into the water off the platforms
Pozioi is the town beach: concrete and gravel, a ladder down, and clear water once you are in. Expecting sand here leads to disappointment; expecting a swim before dinner does not.
- Ende JuliThe Croatia Open, once a year
Played in Umag since 1990, the country's only ATP clay court tournament. It runs at the end of July, when the town is fullest anyway, and shifts a whole week of the calendar. Worth knowing whether you want to be here for it or not.
Make Croatia Atlas a preferred source
One click and Google shows you our stories more often in Top Stories and in AI answers. It changes your own results only.
