Guide to Labin

'With plenty of history and an art scene to rival some of Europe's big cities, little Labin is one of Croatia's best-kept secrets.'

You've heard the phrase appearances can be deceiving – well nowhere fits the bill quite like Labin. All cobbled streets, pastel-coloured houses and Venetian flourishes, it looks too pretty to have been involved in the mining industry. But in actual fact this hilltop town used to be the coal mining capital of Istria, right up until it began to subside in the 1970s. Fast forward a few decades: mining has been abandoned and the town's been restored to its former glory. Today it's like visiting an open-air museum. You've got the old town that was wrapped in chunky walls back in the 15th-century. Inside you'll find grand Venetian palaces and lots of over-the-top baroque buildings. It's not forgotten its coal mining past though. The town museum is home to a model mine, complete with dimly-lit tunnels and low-level beams. Bringing things up to date, Labin's got a great art scene. As well as a gallery and an exhibition dedicated to a local-born collaborator of Martin Luther King, it's got festivals galore - the Labin Festival and the International Sculpture Symposium to name a couple. And while Labin's not exactly a shopper's paradise, there are plenty of art and craft shops sprinkled round the town. Add to the mix a couple of excellent restaurants – where locally-sourced truffles top the menu – and views out over Rabac, and it's easy to see why Labin is so popular with the locals. This is one of Croatia's lesser-known lovelies, but with all this to celebrate, it won't remain a secret for long.

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