Buzet Ascent

Buzet is the second of Istria's great hilltop town climbs and serves as the region's unofficial cycling capital. The old town sits on a hillside above the modern town at 150m — the approach from the Mirna valley is 3.5km at 6% average with a 13% wall on the final approach to the medieval gate. Unlike Motovun's isolated hilltop drama, Buzet feels embedded in the surrounding limestone hills and truffle oak forest, with the approach road running through the active hunting and truffle-harvesting landscape. The town itself is the cultural heart of Istrian truffle production — fresh truffle shavings on scrambled eggs in the hilltop café is a cycling post-ride ritual worth the entire trip.