Buzet to Pag

Ably assisted by Lila, an expert labrador, Michael Portillo hunts for truffles in the Istrian countryside near the hilltop town of Buzet. His railway adventure through the Balkan countries of Croatia and Bosnia and Herzegovina then continues on the fashionable tourist coast at Opatija, which he reaches in style in the driver’s cab of a brand new electric train.

In Rijeka, Michael discovers the history of a bizarre military coup led by an Italian poet in the aftermath of the First World War. He finishes on the moonscape island of Pag, where he helps to make the salty cheese for which the island is famed.