We were headed to Rovinj, Croatia, however road tripping is different with a baby. Your car is full to the brim and when you look over your shoulder into the boot (because you are sitting in the back trying to keep Tiny Human entertained) soft toys stare back at you. It takes you twice as long to pack and loading the car is like a real life game of Tetris. The pram goes on the bottom, followed by the suitcase…wait, that doesn’t work. Unload and start again.

But it’s worth it. Once we got packed and on the road we got excited about having 10 days away. Rovinj is located in Istria, a peninsula in the north of Croatia where we could be beside the sea. Because let’s be honest, I missed it already. Plus, it was the Tiny Human’s first non-citizen country (well technically we were going through Slovenia but that doesn’t really count). It was 5.5hrs to Rovinj according to the Navi, but with the Tiny Human we managed it in 7. But even without her it probably would have taken that long because she slept anyway.

Rovinj is SO pretty and not at all what I had expected. It has such an Italian influence, which makes sense as we are so close. Our Airbnb was perfect and came complete with a balcony where I could enjoy my alcohol free shandy (living on the edge) and a 10 min walk into town.

The first day we focused our efforts on the old town, which was actually an island until they joined it to the mainland.

Also, this is how I dress to travel now…baby toys and nappy bag…

It is a travel writers dream to write about – narrow cobbled streets made smooth by thousands of feet over hundreds of years (but still terrible for prams!), a harbour filled with fishing boats, and colourfully painted houses with gorgeous wooden shutters. It was hard not to spend most of the day in a cafe watching the world go by. But these days Tiny Human demands continuous movement, so coffee time was limited. She is good for my step count though.

If you want to while away a few days being near the ocean and just wandering, this is the place for you. It is pretty touristy though and was difficult to find good coffee – though not for the lack of restaurants selling coffee. We manage to find the cutest cafe in the world where Tiny Human charmed everyone.

Tour groups squeeze past you during the middle of the day but if you go early you have the place to yourself. Many of the shops don’t even open till 10am or 11am which is lovely for us as Tiny Human is a morning person…. You can meander to your hearts content. Be warned though, the cobble stones are hell on pram wheels!

We did a day trip up the coast to Poreč and Novigrad, stopping for coffee and ice-cream respectively. Elmar swam in Poreč but it was a little chilly for the Tiny Human and myself. And while Poreč was nice, I preferred Novigrad, a much smaller but cuter town where you could lie by the crystal clear ocean and soak up the sun.