Aquarium Piran

What makes it special

The tanks hold the marine life of the northern Adriatic, the sea outside the door. Around 140 species live here, and fish are the most numerous, with sea urchins, sponges, squid and octopuses alongside them.

There are 25 tanks, each small enough that you stand close to the glass and look into one at a time rather than past a single big window. An octopus or a sea urchin is easier to study at arm's length than across a hall.

Look down as well as ahead: the remains of the 11th-century Church of St Nicholas can be seen here, on the spot where the church stood long before the building above it.

Local hobbyists opened the aquarium in 1964 in part of Piran's old fishing school, and the building still sits beside the fishing harbour.

Visiting

The way round the tanks is simple, in a single building on the harbour. Ask for the family ticket if you are visiting with children, then work along the tanks one by one at your own pace.

Twice a week, at feeding time, staff take visitors behind the scenes to help prepare the animals' food and see how the tanks are run. Few aquariums open their back rooms like this. Ask at the desk when you arrive which days the feeds fall on.

Tips

Pair the aquarium with time on the water. Glass-bottomed boat tours and scuba diving both run nearby, and seeing the animals up close first tells you what to look for once you are out on the sea.

Keep the aquarium for a day of wind or rain, when the boats stay in harbour. It is indoors in the centre of town, so it fits between other stops.