Slovenia and Croatia

[gator50]

Anyone spent time traveling in Slovenia, and along the coast of Croatia.  What is your best memory!

[DENIE]

Though not a large cruise ship stop, our Celebrity cruise in 2019 stopped in Rijeka, Croatia, which is directly across the Adriatic Sea from Venice.  Out of the wonderful itinerary, this was the stop we probably had the most questions about, as they were still discovering tourism.  We had a most EXCELLENT private full day tour by a local guide, and spent most of the day on Island Krk, experiencing medieval villages, Roman ruins, scenic drives along the Adriatic, and even stopped a local winery where we were served by the winemaker himself.  Did not have any crowds to fight whatsoever.  A totally delightful day - would go back.

 

Oddly enough, we were so looking forward to Dubrovnik, however we had the worst possible day to experience it.  The views from Hill Srd are AMAZING, however the winds were 70 mph.  By the time we were trying to explore the village itself, it was a constant, driving rain with 40 mph winds (people were no longer being let off the ship).  Buildings, even the churches, had buckets trying to catch rain from the leaking roofs.  We definitely want to go back, just not on a day like this....

[Beagle5]

We did a 7 day Sail Croatia trip. Best stops were the smaller island towns of Hvar, Korcula, and Mljet.  You would sail in the morning, pull up at a remote bay for lunch and a swim off the back of the boat, then arrive in a small town for the afternoon and evening exploring.  

Split and Dubrovnik are fabulous, but very busy during the day.

[Host Jazzbeau]

If you want some ideas about possible itineraries in this area [even if you don't book this cruise line] take a look at Noble Caledonia's offerings on the Queen Eleganza and Princess Eleganza, which can get into the smallest and least crowded ports all along this coast:

https://www.noble-caledonia.co.uk/general_search.php?search_term=croatia

 

[the mice]

Independent land tour of both some years ago, so we had the benefit of overnights and fewer tourists at that time.   Split was delightful - our hotel was built into the walls of Diocletian's Palace.  During our several days in Dubrovnik we went to Lokrum (nature reserve) and Cavtat, both short boat rides away.  Both Slovenia (my grandmother's homeland) and Croatia have much to offer, and I would love to return to see more of both countries.

[Paulchili]

Dubrovnik & Split are great places to visit with a lot of history but tend to be very crowded in high season. We really enjoyed visiting islands of Hvar, Korcula and Krk.

Do you visit Montenegro? If so, do not miss the sailing into and out of Kotor.

In Slovenia we enjoyed visiting Lake Bled & Ljubljana,

[ToxM]

Land based trip memory. We were having a few days in a nice resort outside Dubrovnik. Flight was diverted from Dub to Split because of very high winds. Ended up on a coach transfer to Dubrovnik that took hours, but it was the coast road and was amazing and included a brief stop in Serbia on their sea access border.

 

This was a pic taken from the coach and is raw and unedited. 

 

Beautiful country.

 

 

[TERRIER1]

The coast is lovely. As said before, Dubrovnik can get very crowded with cruise ships in port. We elected to ferry out to Cavtat in the morning and early afternoon and then revisit Dubrovnik in the late afternoon when the cruise crowds departed. In Split we did our own tour of the town and Dioclitain's Palace. We did take a ship tour and visited the small towns on the coast. This was worth it since public transportation would not get us to the lovey towns of Trogir, Burni and Sibernk. Our cruise also stopped at Korcula which is another beautiful island off the coast.

 

Our ship docked in Koper Slovenia for the day and we took a private tour with another couple up to the caves of Postojna and Predjama Castle. The caves were excellent and the ride went through some lovely mountains. 

 

Enjoy.

[TrulyBlonde]

8 hours ago, Paulchili said:

Dubrovnik & Split are great places to visit with a lot of history but tend to be very crowded in high season. We really enjoyed visiting islands of Hvar, Korcula and Krk.

Do you visit Montenegro? If so, do not miss the sailing into and out of Kotor.

In Slovenia we enjoyed visiting Lake Bled & Ljubljana,

+1...This, especially Kotor and Lake Bled

[avalong]

Sailing into Kotor.

[Harters]

My companion in life had a long weekend in Dubrovnik, with colleagues. They had a nice time. That said, their idea of a good long weekend usually involved lots of beer and minimal sightseeing.

[DENIE]

9 hours ago, TERRIER1 said:

The coast is lovely. As said before, Dubrovnik can get very crowded with cruise ships in port. We elected to ferry out to Cavtat in the morning and early afternoon and then revisit Dubrovnik in the late afternoon when the cruise crowds departed. In Split we did our own tour of the town and Dioclitain's Palace. We did take a ship tour and visited the small towns on the coast. This was worth it since public transportation would not get us to the lovey towns of Trogir, Burni and Sibernk. Our cruise also stopped at Korcula which is another beautiful island off the coast.

 

Our ship docked in Koper Slovenia for the day and we took a private tour with another couple up to the caves of Postojna and Predjama Castle. The caves were excellent and the ride went through some lovely mountains. 

 

Enjoy.

Another vote for any excursion that includes Trogir.  We did a private tour that included not only the Diocletian Palace, but a couple hours in the delightful village of Trogir.  Wish we would have had more time there.   

Edited May 25, 2021 by DENIE

[the mice]

And another vote for Trogir.   Since ours was a land trip, we took a bus from Split and spent a half day there.   

Like ToxM commented above, we traveled from Split to Dubrovnik via bus along the coast road.  Beautiful scenery and fun border crossings of the 10-12 mile sea access stretch for Bosnia-Herzegovina, including a coffee stop within that area.   

And, Ljubljana and Lake Bled in Slovenia are lovely, although much more popular now than when we were there years ago.   Unfortunately, we had some rain while at Lake Bled, so missed hiking up to the Castle viewpoint.

Ooohh, all this is making me want to go back again.

[edgee]

On 5/24/2021 at 8:28 PM, Beagle5 said:

We did a 7 day Sail Croatia trip. Best stops were the smaller island towns of Hvar, Korcula, and Mljet.  You would sail in the morning, pull up at a remote bay for lunch and a swim off the back of the boat, then arrive in a small town for the afternoon and evening exploring.  

Split and Dubrovnik are fabulous, but very busy during the day.

Your comment about Korcula is encouraging to me. Was sad to get an email from Oceania saying that due to berthing issues, Korcula is being substituted for Dubrovnik on my Rome to Istanbul cruise in 2022.  Had always wanted to see Dubrovnik, but sure we will have a great cruise!

[CintiPam]

As a history and art buff, our day in Split, visiting the amazing Diocletian’s Palace and the fascinating sculptor Mestrovic’s art museum with lunch between those two guided visits at an excellent restaurant overlooking the harbor.

 

Edited May 28, 2021 by CintiPam

[TERRIER1]

On 5/26/2021 at 1:14 PM, edgee said:

Your comment about Korcula is encouraging to me. Was sad to get an email from Oceania saying that due to berthing issues, Korcula is being substituted for Dubrovnik on my Rome to Istanbul cruise in 2022.  Had always wanted to see Dubrovnik, but sure we will have a great cruise!

Korcula is a lovely island. We went on a private tour with some others up into the mountains and then to a winery. The old town is very nice as well and there is swimming if you want. If Oceania is having a berthing issue then you can assume Dubrovnik will be overrun with tourists that day and would not have made for an enjoyable experience. We have been to Dubrovnik twice on cruises. The first time was early in the season and it was delightful and not crowded. The second time was in season and it was so overrun with tourists we left and took the ferry to Cavtat until later in the day when the cruise ships departed.  Fortunately for us our ship didn't leave until later in the evening so we had plenty of time to enjoy an uncrowded Dubrovnik.

[avalong]

I will be looking into the ferry to Cavtat! Thanks!

 

You know what I love about this thread? It's normal. We need more like this.