The Best Bars in Pula, Croatia

For more than 20 years Rock Caffe has been the place to hang out over a beer and enjoy live music from (usually covers) bands wedged onto a small stage. Despite its name, this is undoubtedly a bar, complete with an imposing wooden counter. Posters of local artists and large monochrome prints of icons like Jim Morrison, David Bowie and Frank Zappa add to a distinctly grunge-rock vibe. It’s barely a stone’s throw from the great amphitheatre.

Who’d have thought you could have a James Joyce moment in Pula? The writer taught English here in the early 1900s in a mansion beside the monumental Roman Arch of the Sergii, originally a city gate. Uliks (or Ulysses) nestles in the arch’s shadow, with a statue of Joyce to commemorate the writer’s stay. A rather plain terrace belies the faintly art nouveau interior blended with nautical knick-knacks. All your favourite Irish beverages are here but no one minds if you just want a G&T, an esoteric liqueur or a humble coffee.

Occupying a former bank premises in an Italianate mansion, Cvajner feels more like a cafe but also serves a decent array of mainly European beers. Lofty ceilings and walls painted to resemble part-restored frescoes lend the impression of an airy if not eccentric art gallery. Its downtown location – in a square alongside the former Roman forum near the harbour – is ideal and if the terrace’s blazing sunshine gets too much, you can always retreat to the hall-like interior, where light streams in through tall, arched windows.

Standing in the shadow of Pula’s great amphitheatre, this workaday bar-cafe boasts an informal terrace across the road, which directly overlooks the spectacular arena. Rather like the balcony in a theatre, it offers expansive vistas of the monument’s bleached oval court, an aerial view framed by millennia-old pillars. It’s satisfyingly unpretentious, the sort of place you might linger on a warm, sunny afternoon far longer than planned.

It’s a wine bar. It’s a beer bar. It’s also a tapas bar with a restaurant. In the old town a block back from Pula’s marina and harbour, Boca might initially coax you in for a drink but many punters succumb to a meal of tapas, cheese and charcuterie platters. Knowledgeable staff can guide you through a range of Istrian wines and there’s occasional live music – often jazz – to help animate proceedings. It’s small and often busy so expect to wait for tables or book in advance.

Set in a rocky inlet on Pula’s southern fringes, La Playa’s relatively tranquil setting is the main draw. Trees frame the limpid Adriatic while a pergola shades a mix of high tables, stools, deckchairs and low-slung chairs with stripey cushions arranged on terraces. It’s all very low-key and relaxed, and plenty of punters swim at the pebbly beach alongside. There’s often live music and DJs on summer evenings.