Adriatic Affair

[cruisefanX2]

Anyone able to offer suggestions on some of the ports of call, specifically Koper, Rijeka, Korcula and Durres?

Is there enough of interest in the towns themselves? Are they easily accessed from the ship (i.e. no long walks, buses, taxis)? Would you recommend any of the excursions on offer?

Thanks

[oscarshep]

Hi,

I can only comment on Koper as it`s the only port of call I`ve done from your list but it`s a nice wee town without a long walk but that`s subjective of course. We were on Majesty and the ship berthed 200 yards from the edge of town. There is a lift from port level up to the start of the town if needed but only a short, few hundred yards walk and gentle incline to where the lift rises to.

Some lovely old houses to see and squares to wander around and a modern marina and promenade. I would say at the furthest point away from the ship you would be able to get back onboard within 15 minutes, without rushing.

There are a few `hilly` bits within the town but nothing too steep and you`ll end up looking at so much you just slowly meander around at a gentle pace.

We did one excursion to a nearby beach (don`t remember the name of the place) and it was a 30 minute drive on the coach, good for sightseeing, but the beach was man made, small and the water full of weeds ! So, not recommended. Hopefully you`ll get more feedback from others on other excursions but Koper is a nice old town in it`s own right.

[Pensioncruiser]

Korcula is a lovely port to just walk round,our favourite on this cruise not hard going, Koper we have tickets for the HOHO bus but again a nice port and the trip to Ljubljana is great just a long way don't know about the others as we have not visited them yet. When do you go we go in 2 weeks?

[kate52]

Koper is nice but very small- you've seen the old town in half an hour. The HOHO trip to Piran is lovely and so easy to do- kiosk and coach right at the dockside.

 

Korcula is beautiful- or it would have been if it hadn't been pouring down and blowing a gale!

A bit hilly but manageable. Very scenic, nice walks, marco polo house/ museum, really nice shops!

 

Rijeka was a bit disappointing, not a lot to see, and the museum we had planned to visit was closed! We should have made a bit more effort to get up to Trsat where the castle is, but there wasn't a lot of tourist info around.

 

Durres was just what we expected! Very different to everywhere else, but we enjoyed it. Some begging was a little assertive- felt we needed to keep our wits about us. There is modern/ ancient/ opulent/ poor all within 100 yards of the ship.

[edinburgher]

If it isn't too late, but might be useful for others anyway.

 

Koper. We were there last summer and this.

Last summer we did the Ljubljana/Lake Bled shorex. You could also do Ljubljana without Lake Bled. Lovely trip, both places scenic and I can highly recommend it. Back in Koper before reboarding we had a quick half hour walking around the town. It is very small. Returning again this year on a similar but different itinerary we took the public bus to Piran which is highly recommended on C.C. and gave us the idea to go there. Beautiful town ideal for strolling and enjoying a drink. Cost only E12-40 total for both of us return trip on the local (frequent even on a Sunday) buses so not necessary to take the HOHO. Koper tourist office will e-mail you map with the bus stop marked on it and the timetable. There is also loads of info on Koper, Piran etc on CC if you go to the Ports of Call/Europe/Other thread and search eg Koper/Piran. And Tripadvisor. And WikiTravel and even the CC Search Cruise Critic box on the home page.

 

Durres. Thomson had a good variety of shorex and there isn't much in Durres itself so we booked the Kruja/Tirana shorex. Long day but we enjoyed it a lot. Very different from other European countries which makes it even more interesting. Again, lots of info on CC and Tripadvisor. Also Elite Travel Albania have a lot of info on Durres itself. On their website go to Services and choose Durres.

 

Rijeka. There were Tourist Info people at the dock with maps and info, also samples of local wine, musicians and some girls in national costume. We had done our research before we got there and had already printed off our maps and timetables. We enjoyed this port. We bought a four zone bus ticket (only 60K for two of us) and first went up to Kastav. We could have opted instead for Opatija as it is also in the same zone 4 but we did not have time for both. Returning into Rijeka we switched buses and headed up to Trsat Castle. This is where it all happens in Rijeka so it is a "must". Lovely area, busy, touristy. Again, nice spot for drink. Coming back down into Rijeka we wandered around the centre visiting some of the highlights on the map before returning to the ship. Bus ticket zones depend on where you are going. The Rijeka Tourist info website is very good, and again, Tripadvisor, WikiTravel etc.

 

I see you are relatively new to CC. The info is all out there, you only need to look for it. And CC is a huge site but time spent exploring it and learning how best to use it will be time well spent.

 

Enjoy.

[Pensioncruiser]

Hi edinbuger thanks for the info have done Adriatic a few times now but never Durres or Rijeka , so useful report , like the idea Trsat and would look at taking a taxi , is it far from the port? We go in week on Thursday so a bit excited at the moment.😁

[edinburgher]

Durres I would recommend you look at shorex rather than DIY in Durres or from the port to elsewhere.

 

Rijeka. If you go to the Rijeka Tourist info site, go to "useful info" then get "maps". At the foot of the page is a pdf city map with highlights indicated, also a pdf for the area around the castle. These were being given out at the port but we didn't know that so printed off ourselves. You can pre-plan if you look before you go.

 

You will see the port very close to the town centre. Max 10 mins slowish stroll across a couple of bridges.

 

For Kastav (which we went to first) we got on the bus at the actual bus station closest to the port. Bought our day tickets there too so I don't know where the closest #8 stop is. Bus timetables, fares and routes online.

 

There are over 500 steps up to the castle. Do not attempt to walk these or the road as it is very very steep and further than you expect. I have no idea about taxis because we took bus #8 to the castle area. There is more than just the castle there. You will see the area on the map. There are also walks. The bus was ridiculously cheap but we had a 4 zone day pass so I cannot remember single rides prices. Must be even cheaper for single rides or a zone 1 Rijeka only day ticket depending if you do more than 2 rides. Can buy from the driver and remember to validate your ticket onboard the bus. The #8 was very frequent, every few minutes. Returning from Kastav the driver stopped at a place we could switch to the #8. It was central and a main transport hub with the bus stops all together. We got off at the same stop after coming back down from the castle as it was really central for the town centre sightseeing. We walked back to the ship. At the castle area there are 2 stops. Get off at the first one. Most people will get off there. When finished, you get back on at the same stop as there is a one way system.

[edinburgher]

I should have mentioned that at Rijeka when returning to the ship we saw a port shuttle bus which ran to a nearby bridge. We had not seen it when we left the ship, nor was it in the Thomson port info nor mentioned by the destinations staff nor announced.

 

Back onboard, when we asked we were told that Thomson had no knowledge that it would be there, that there was only one bus, and it was supposedly only for those with mobility issues.

 

Not sure how much of the above was accurate.

[Pensioncruiser]

Thanks for all that will probably check out before we go but most useful.