Croatian shore excursions

[pennypony28]

Hi everybody, can anyone tell me if we need to book excursions for Venice, rovina, Trieste,split,zadar,Dubrovnik or can we DIY ourselves, in other words can we walk off the ship or do we need to be bused to these places.

[crystaltips99]

Hi Pennypony28

 

I've not been to all of your ports but I'll help where i can.

 

Venice - definitely DIY-able if you are okay with a bit of walking, you can get the express vaporetto from the cruise ship dock direct to St Marks Square, or you can walk to the people mover which takes you to the Grand Canal, where you can get the normal vaporetto to St Marks. I've done both, you see more of Venice the second way but the first way is quicker and has less walking. In St Marks Square you have the Basilica, the Doges Palace and the Campanile which easily fill the morning, after that I walked to the Rialto Bridge (an easy walk and signposted but involved steps and bridges) and got the vaporetto and people mover back from there.

 

Split - when I went there you could walk to town from the dock, took less than 10 minutes I would say, then you can look around the old town and grab lunch or a drink in the main square (which had good free wifi when I was there)

 

Dubrovnik - I got the local bus from the port to the Pile Gate (cost 1.5 kuna I think) but I believe you can get a taxi for about 10 euros which would be cost effective for a small group. The entrance to walk the walls is at the Pile Gate, and you can walk to the cable car station from the old town, but both involve plenty of steps - the old town itself is very flat though and has shops, museums and cafes

 

Zadar - when I was there the ship docked a little way from the centre but there were shuttle buses, you had to buy a ticket but it was reasonable as I recall. Its an easy walk around the town from where the shuttle drops off, and there's enough to see to fill a morning, for sure.

 

Hope this helps!

[jenny wren]

Just to add to above...

 

Trieste - you can walk ashore and into the town...if you have a look before you leave the ship you will see a large square across the road which runs along the quayside so just cross that square and the town is there.

 

Rovinj - was a tender port when we went on Emerald and the tender took you right into town.

 

Lovely itinerary :)

[pennypony28]

Many thanks for your prompt replies, crystaltips99 and jenny wren - both very helpful, I have never heard about the people walker but will certainly give that a try

 

pennypony28