One core villa, three more as you need them
Prašćari is a small hamlet of old Istrian houses in the municipality of Višnjan, roughly a dozen kilometers inland from the west coast. Four of its buildings were rebuilt one by one into separate villas — Catalpa, Cipresso, Castagno and Moro — keeping the original stonework, low doorways and beamed ceilings, and adding underfloor heating, air conditioning and full kitchens behind them. The rest of the hamlet is other people's private houses, not part of the venue. Between the four villas there are 15 bedrooms, 16 bathrooms and four swimming pools.
Catalpa is the villa every retreat here is built around — the largest of the four, with its own pool, kitchen and dining for 12. Cipresso, Castagno and Moro sit alongside it and are added on top as your group grows, so a retreat for 12 books just Catalpa, and a retreat for 30 books all four. Whichever villas you take are exclusively yours for the week — no reception, no other party at the next table, no shared pool with strangers.
Green Yogi Traveler is a licensed Croatian travel agency — when you bring your group here, we handle the accommodation, transfers, meals and day-to-day logistics, so you can focus on your retreat.
At a glance
Amenities
- Four pools, heating available on request
- Wood-beamed yoga & Pilates studio
- Covered porches seating 8–16 per villa
- Outdoor fire pit, BBQ and garden lounge
- Four full kitchens and three fireplaces
- A/C, WiFi, laundry and shaded parking
Exterior
Four villas, room by room
Each villa is a separate house with its own kitchen, living space and pool, so a group can be split by teacher, by couple, or by whoever wants the quiet end of the grounds. Catalpa is booked as standard; Cipresso, Castagno and Moro are added on as your numbers require. Below is the exact bed and bathroom layout of all 15 bedrooms — useful when you are working out single-occupancy pricing or who shares with whom.
Villa Catalpa
6 bedrooms · 6 bathrooms · sleeps 12 Core villaCatalpa is the villa every retreat here books — the largest of the four and the natural hub: a dining table for 12, three sofas and five armchairs around a fireplace, a kitchen with two dishwashers, and the biggest pool at 14.5 × 5 m with 14 sun beds. Outside there is a covered porch seating 14–16 with an open BBQ fireplace, a fire pit with lounge chairs, and shaded parking for eight cars. Groups of 12 or fewer can retreat here on their own.
Villa Cipresso
4 bedrooms · 4 bathrooms · sleeps 8 Optional add-onAdded alongside Catalpa once a group grows past 12. The twin-bed villa, and the one that solves most room-sharing problems: all four bedrooms hold two single beds rather than a double, so eight guests can share without anyone sharing a bed. It stands slightly apart from the others with its own 14 × 4 m pool area, a dining room for 10 with a fireplace, and a separate TV room in the semi-basement.
Villa Castagno
3 bedrooms · 4 bathrooms · sleeps 6 Optional add-onA further add-on once Catalpa (and usually Cipresso) are full. A smaller house beside its own 11 × 3 m pool, with a long built-in sofa around the fireplace and a dining table for six to eight. Its covered porch seats 8–10 and has a gas barbecue — the easiest spot on the grounds for a relaxed group lunch.
Villa Moro
2 bedrooms · 2 bathrooms · sleeps 4 Optional add-onThe last villa added, once a retreat has grown to fill the other three. The smallest house, with a 6 × 2.5 m plunge pool, a balcony over the fields and a covered porch. Two bedrooms and a single open living-dining room with a fireplace make it the obvious choice for the retreat leader, a co-teacher, or a couple who booked late.
A separate staff house on the estate holds four further bedrooms — used for a chef, assistant or driver rather than counted in your guest numbers. Pool heating is available at all the larger pools for an extra charge, which is worth adding for retreats in May or October.
Yoga space
Practice happens in a spacious 100m² (1,076 sq ft) beamed room, wide enough to lay out mats for a full group and shaded through the middle of the day — so a class can run at any hour without fighting the heat or the weather. Groups that prefer to be outside use the covered porches and the lawn beside the main pool for sunrise or sunset sessions, and the same room doubles as the workshop, sharing-circle and massage space in the evenings.
Inland Istria, Croatia
Istria is Croatia's northernmost peninsula, and the half of it that most visitors miss is the inland half — oak forest, vineyards and small walled towns on top of hills, with the Adriatic close enough for an afternoon swim. For a retreat that matters practically: your group can be at a beach, a Roman amphitheatre or a truffle forest inside an hour, then back at the villa for evening practice. Below are the excursions we most often build into a week here.
Truffle hunting in the Motovun forest
Istria is one of the few places in Europe where both white and black truffles grow. Groups walk the oak woods with a hunter and their dogs, then eat lunch that is all about truffles.
Motovun and the hill towns
Walled towns sitting on top of their own hills, with views down the Mirna valley. Easy to combine two in an afternoon.
Family winery visit
Istria grows two grapes you will not have met before — Malvazija and Teran. Small family producers nearby will host a whole retreat group for a tasting with local cheese and oil, indoors or out.
Getting your group there
Pula (PUY) is the closest airport, about 30–45 minutes by road. Rijeka (RJK) and Trieste (TRS), just over the Italian border, are each around an hour away and usually offer more international connections — Trieste in particular suits guests flying in from further afield. Venice is a longer but perfectly workable transfer for a group arriving together. Send us the flight numbers once your guests have booked and we arrange the transfers.
Catering at the villas
Meals here are cooked on site rather than brought in. We bring a private chef into the villa kitchens for the length of your retreat, and the menu is agreed with you in advance rather than handed to you — which is the part that matters when half your group is vegan and two people cannot eat gluten.
Istria makes this easy to do well. Olive oil, truffles, wild asparagus in spring, fish from the coast an hour away, and vegetables from the growers around Višnjan all turn up within a few kilometers of the kitchen door. Breakfast usually goes out on the pergola terrace, lunch is light and often outdoors, and dinner runs long at the big table indoors or under the covered porch. Coffee, tea and fruit stay out all day.
Questions retreat leaders ask about this venue
Do we have to book all four villas?
No. Villa Catalpa is the core villa every retreat here books — 6 bedrooms, sleeping up to 12, with its own pool, kitchen and dining room. Cipresso, Castagno and Moro are added on top of it as your group grows past 12, so a retreat for 30 books all four and a retreat for 10 just books Catalpa on its own.
How many people can this Istria retreat venue sleep?
Up to 30 guests across 15 bedrooms and 20 beds if all four villas are booked. Because four of the bedrooms hold twin beds and several others take a sofa bed or extra guest bed, the villas you book can be arranged as shared rooms or as a smaller single-occupancy retreat — the layout flexes to how you price your program.
Is it a private, exclusive-use venue?
Yes, for whichever villas you book — no other guests are ever booked into them alongside your group. The wider hamlet of Prašćari has other houses that are private homes, not part of the venue and not something your retreat has access to.
Is there a dedicated yoga space?
Yes — an indoor studio under an exposed wood-beam ceiling, used for both yoga and Pilates. Mat practice also works well on the covered porches and lawns in warm weather, which gives you a weather-proof plan A and an outdoor plan B.
Which airport is closest to Villas Prašćari?
Pula (PUY) is the nearest, roughly 30 to 45 minutes away by road. Rijeka (RJK) and Trieste (TRS) in Italy are each around an hour out and often carry more long-haul connections. We arrange group transfers from whichever your guests fly into.
Are meals included, and can you cater special diets?
Meals are arranged for your group rather than bundled into a fixed package. We bring in a private chef who cooks from the villa kitchens, and menus are built around your group's requirements — vegan, vegetarian, gluten-free and allergy needs are all standard requests for us.
When is the best time of year to run a retreat in inland Istria?
May, June, September and early October give the most comfortable practice weather and the quietest roads for excursions. July and August are hot and busy on the coast, which suits a pool-centred retreat but makes day trips harder. The pools can be heated on request, which extends the shoulder season at both ends.
What does Green Yogi Traveler handle if we book this venue?
We contract the venue, arrange the chef and all meals, book airport transfers, and organize excursions, guides and any extras such as massage. You run the teaching and look after your guests; we run everything behind it as a licensed Croatian travel agency. If you are still weighing up destinations, our Create Your Retreat page walks through how we work with retreat leaders, and Retreat Venues lists the other properties we hold.
Ready to bring your group here?
Tell us your group size and the weeks you are considering, and we'll come back with availability at Villas Prašćari and a full costing.
