ITINERARY
ITINERARY
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Old Bar & Bar Walking Tour
Bar’s homonymous old town is spotlighted on this day out. After a drive through the rolling countryside, towards the foothills of the Rumija Mountain, you’ll land in Stari Bar. The old town is a living museum, and highlights include the ruined castle of King Nikola, and the crumbling remains of a 14th-century church. Later on, you’ll drive towards Bar’s famous olive tree, which has been standing for more than 2,000 years. A call-in at a museum housed in the palace of King Nikola is on the cards, too. Step inside, and you’ll spot the Montenegrin crown jewels, as well as weapons, photos, and a library of 10,000 rare books collected by the king during his reign in the late 19th and early 20th centuries.
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Skadar Lake Cruise
This is your chance to spend the day cruising on Lake Skadar, the largest lake in the Balkans, which spans the Montenegro-Albania border. After a quick briefing, you’ll board an open-sided boat and head out through the lily pads and onto the open water. The route takes you past lakeside villages and islands that house Medieval churches and monasteries. Keep your eyes peeled while you’re onboard, too, because the lake is home to more than 260 species of birds, including the rare Dalmatian pelican. After you’ve made it back to dry land, it’s on to the nearby village of Virpazar, where you’ll be treated to lunch – fresh fish from the lake comes highly recommended.
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Podgorica - Montenegrin Capital & Wine Heritage
Today’s tour twins a trip to the capital city of Montenegro with a lesson in the production of the wine that this region is known for. You’ll stop off at a winery that belongs to Montenegro’s biggest producer of plonk, where you’ll spot some of the 11 million grapevines that are weaved throughout its 2,310 hectares. Delving down to the cellar, 100 feet underground, you’ll sample some local nibbles and a trio of the vineyard’s famous wines. Afterwards, it’s on to the country’s capital, Podgorica. Here, the tour turns towards the Cathedral of the Resurrection of Christ. Only finished in 2013, this huge holy site is famed for its stunning architectural design and artistic interiors.
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Korcula Island Tour
You’ll get the full flavour of Korcula on this tour. We’ll kick off with an hour-long scenic drive, passing by ancient settlements, vine-striped slopes, and silvery olive groves on our way to the western part of the island. Our first port of call is Vela Luka, a seaside town set in the middle of a sweeping bay. You’ll have some free time here to explore the town, or stop for a drink in one of the cafés that line up along the promenade. It’s on to the picturesque town of Blato next, where we’ll stop at Barilo. It’s a small, family-run ethnographic museum that showcases national costumes, traditional furnishings and local embroidery. After a good nose around, we’ll press on to our next stop – a local winery. Posip and Grk are the big names in the region, and you’ll get to sample both alongside platters of locally made cheeses.
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Leisurely Korcula
This coach trip lets you tick off all of Korčula’s best bits, without any of the hassle. From the port, you’ll drive past lush vineyards and olive groves to the smallest village on the island, Pupnat. En route, there’ll be stops at a couple of high-up viewpoints. One gives you widescreen views of Korčula Island’s namesake city, and you’ll be able to snap photos of Pupnat Bay’s sapphire-blue waters from the other. You’ll also detour through a few of the island’s timewarp villages, like Zrnovo, one of the oldest, where some houses look exactly as they did hundreds of years ago. The village of Lumbarda is your final stopping point. Here, you’ll have some free time to wander before refuelling with a snack and getting back on the bus to make the journey back to the ship.
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Croatian Vines & Wines
This tour shows off the best of Croatia’s Dalmatian Coast countryside, and introduces you to the wines this region has been producing for centuries. From Korčula, you’ll take a quick boat ride over the water to Orebic, before swapping for a coach and travelling to Trstenik. This picture-perfect seaside village is set deep in a valley of pine-cloaked hills, and is home to internationally-renowned wineries. You’ll stop by one of them to quaff samples of their produce. Afterwards, it’s back onto the coach for a short, scenic drive to another of the area’s countryside villages. Here, you’ll visit a second winery for another tasting session. Then, you’ll head into the estate’s traditional restaurant, or konoba, for an authentic Dalmatian lunch.
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Krka National Park & Zadar
You’ll spy manmade and natural treasures on this tour, which encompasses both the waterfall-splashed countryside and the old world town of Zadar. The day starts with a scenic drive to Krka National Park. A 2-hour visit will give you plenty of time to explore at your own speed. Skradinski Buk is one of the must-sees. It’s a voluminous pool of steps and ledges that create waterfalls and cascades. The largest of the lot plunges down a 45-metre drop. You’ll also have the chance to drop by one of the old watermills and the pocket-sized ethnographic museum. Afterwards, we’ll head back to Zadar, one of the oldest towns on the Dalmatian Coast. A walking tour of the walled Old City will lead you around a jumble of Croatian monuments, the imposing Church of St Donatus, a 14th-century university, and Venetian-style buildings with terracotta roofs. A visit to the Museum of Antique Glass is included, which houses over 2,000 ancient artefacts.
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Plitvice National Park
The Plitvice Lakes National Park lives up to its UNESCO World Heritage Site status. Over thousands of years, the bright turquoise waters skimming over the limestone and chalk riverbeds have created a series of natural dams. The result is a collection of waterfalls, caves and lakes embedded among thick forests. You’ll get almost 3 hours at leisure here, so you can explore the park at your own pace – and since it’s the largest national park in Croatia, there’s plenty to see. Aside from the much-photographed falls, you’ll find clusters of lakes, wide river canyons and forest-blanketed mountain slopes. Wildlife-wise, everything from butterflies to brown bears roam the forests, plus it’s home to over 1,000 different species of plants.
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Zadar by Foot
Zadar is one of the oldest towns on the Dalmatian Coast, having passed through the hands of the Romans, Crusaders, Croatians and Venetians. As you’ll see on this walking tour, it’s the last two who visibly made their mark – a mix of Croatian and Venetian architecture makes for a scene of pastel-pale buildings with terracotta roofs. The Old City is separated from its modern counterpart thanks to its spot on a protruding tongue of land. Your guide will lead you around this ancient part of town, which is still clutched by well-preserved walls. A jumble of Croatian monuments, archives, museums and libraries can be found here. Unsurprisingly, it’s also home to Croatia’s first university. A few more firsts were conjured up within its walls – the first Croatian novel and the first Croatian-language newspapers. Other highlights include the imposing Church of St. Donatus and the artefact-filled Museum of Antique Glass. After the tour, you’ll have the chance to explore the city in your own time before heading back to the ship.
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Gondola & St Mark's - Full Day
Of course, no visit to Venice is complete without a gondola ride. Take our privately chartered launch to the heart of the city for one of Venice's most talked about experiences. Your gondolier will guide you through the maze of canals. After your ride, time’s your own to see the sights of this fabulous floating city. Visit St Mark's Square, the Bridge of Sighs and the Rialto Bridge. Or explore the quaint narrow back streets packed with shops, cafés and bars, before returning to the ship.
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Gondola & St Mark's - Half Day
Of course, no visit to Venice is complete without a gondola ride. Take our privately chartered launch to the heart of the city for one of Venice's most talked about experiences. Your gondolier will guide you through the maze of canals. After your ride, time’s your own to see the sights of this fabulous floating city. Visit St Mark's Square, the Bridge of Sighs and the Rialto Bridge. Or explore the quaint narrow back streets packed with shops, cafés and bars, before returning to the ship.
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Venice On Your Own - Full Day
The easiest way to reach St Mark’s Square is by motor launch. Take our privately chartered launch, direct from the ship to the heart of Venice. Once there, time’s your own to see the famous sights of this fabulous, floating city. Tick off a list of attractions like the Doge's Palace, the Bridge of Sighs or the Rialto Bridge. Or simply explore the narrow streets, enjoy a little shopping and watch the world wander by from a pavement café in St Mark's Square.
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Crossing The Italian Border - Ljubljana
With its grand architecture and thriving café culture, Ljubljana is Slovenia’s answer to Prague. On this tour, we’ll whisk you over the Italian border and take you on a two-hour walking tour through this charm-packed city. Ljubljana’s origins are as ancient as they come – it’s said that the mythical Greek hero, Jason, founded the place after stealing the Golden Fleece. These days, it’s the Baroque Old Town that gets all the attention. It’s nestled on the right bank of the Ljubljanica River, at the foot of forested Castle Hill. You’ll have a chance to duck inside Ljubljana Cathedral, with its peaches and cream exterior, before having a look at the burnished insides of the Church of the Annunciation. You’ll also wander past a dragon-topped bridge and the fruit stalls of the Central Market. Afterwards, you’ll have plenty of free time to dig around the Old Town or kick back in one of the city’s ubiquitous coffee shops.
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Maximillian's Miramare & City Drive
This tour matchmakes a city drive with a trip to the fairytale Miramare Castle. First off, you’ll explore the palace-peppered streets and canals of Trieste from the comfort of the coach. At Trieste Cathedral, you’ll get the chance to hop out and have a peek inside. Byzantine mosaics glitter on its domes and iron chandeliers dangle from the cavernous ceiling. After a half-hour or so, we’ll drive on to Miramare Castle. Overlooking the sea, it was once the 19th-century home of Archduke Maximilian of Hasburg, who later became Emperor of Mexico. Highlights include Maximilian’s chambers, the throne room and the music room, plus the surrounding flower-filled gardens.
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A Taste of Trieste
This day out pairs a sightseeing tour of Trieste with a taste of the olive oil and wine produced in the area. From the port, you’ll take a short stroll into the heart of Trieste, through the cobbled, café-lined squares this part of Italy does best. After you’ve got a feel for the city’s piazzas and cathedrals, you’ll hop onboard a bus for a drive through the Carso district. This region of picturesque highland extends across the border into Slovenia, and is separated from the sea by huge white cliffs. Thanks to its position on the globe, the area has a microclimate that lets plant and animal life thrive, creating a lovely contrast to the ruggedness of its coastline. Later on, you’ll visit a nearby factory that uses locally-sourced produce to bottle their own wines and olive oils, which you’ll get to sample alongside some tasty breads and cheeses.
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Walking Split
What better way to explore the picturesque city of Split than on foot! Split, Dalmatia’s largest city, has a lot to offer the visitor, from cultural and historical monuments to a rich choice of shops and elegant sea-front cafes. You will walk with your guide from the pier towards the old part of Split, where you will find the impressive 3rd century Diocletian’s Palace. Here you will visit the cellars, the Peristyle, the Golden and Silver Gates, the Cathedral (Mausoleum of Emperor Diocletian), the Temple of Jupiter and other interesting and historic sights. Following that you will walk around the ‘heart’ of the Old Town and finally you will be given free time to shop and take pictures. Just so you know... At the end of your tour you can choose to stay in the city centre if you wish to do so OR walk back to the ship with your guide.
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Krka Waterfalls
Join us as we drive through the Dalmatian countryside, making our way to the Krka National Park. Here, you’ll see the cascades of the Krka Waterfalls. Your guide will give you a short introduction to the park before you make your own way through this slice of paradise. Explore this wonderful haven and have a short stop at the falls. If time permits, you can take a dip near the falls - don’t forget your swimming gear. Then enjoy a snack box - included in the price - by the falls and afterwards go on a boat trip down the river to take in the tranquil scenery, before making your way back to the ship by coach.
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Salona & Trogir
If you have been to Split before, why not venture out of the city and see other places of interest the beautiful Croatian coast has to offer? On this lovely tour you will discover the Roman settlement of Salona, which supported a population of 60,000 in ancient times. Here you will walk with your guide around the ruins and take in the stunning views of the surrounding area before proceeding to Trogir. Trogir, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is an impressive, fortified, Medieval town, built on an island, connected to the mainland by a bridge. You will visit the 13th century Cathedral and then you will be given free time to explore on your own, wander around the quaint, narrow streets, view the fashionable and very picturesque marina or do some shopping in the many souvenir shops!
