greece and croatia sight seeing ideas

[laurieb1227]

we are going on silver seas spirit in october to greece and croatia-we would love some ideas for

koper,split and corfu

[jpalbny]

We just spent a few days in Split with A&K. Split is worth spending the day but there are also some options further afield.

 

In the city, of course Diocletian's Palace is one of the major draws. Certainly worth the visit. The seaside promenade is beautiful as well. There are some nice restaurants with a sea view where you could stop for a bite. You can climb the hill on the Marjan Peninsula for a lookout over the city and the port, and there is a place to grab a cold drink there. Further into the Marjan Peninsula, there are a few old churches (we only made it to the close one).

 

If you have a chance to visit Krka National Park, go for it. The waterfalls are spectacular. Plitvice National Park is even prettier but it's further away and I am not sure that SS offers it as an excursion.

 

***

 

We did Corfu on our own 10 years ago by renting a car and driving over much of the island in a day. I blogged about that here, in posts #23-25.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/1585242-silver-wind-2217-athens-to-rome-june-4-2012-not-quite-live/

 

 

***

 

We haven't been to Koper yet. If it's anything like Ljubljana, you're in for a real treat! Everywhere that we went in Slovenia was beautiful.

[tsavorite]

Agree with JP about Split. The city is built into Diocletian’s palace, and is one of the most spectacular and interesting cities you will ever visit. You can definitely do it yourself. Or take a ship walking tour. If you are interested in art, the Mestrovic museum is a short taxi ride from the dock. Plenty to do in Corfu. Again the town is where mist things are located, so can be on your own or on a tour. Koper is a lovely little university town. The old Venetian city is right by the dock, so an easy wander. There is a clock tower to climb. The second time we visited, we did an interesting food tour along the coast and into the hills along the coast. There are also salt pans and a salt spa, and I think there were tours to both of those as well. 

[Fletcher]

Close to the centre of Split are the Roman remains of Salona - lots of stuff here, including a large amphitheatre.  A scenic ferry ride away is the Venetian town of Trogir, a World Heritage Site. From Split it is also possible to do a day-trip into Bosnia-Herzogovina to see the famous bridge at Mostar. 

[jpalbny]

1 hour ago, Fletcher said:

Close to the centre of Split are the Roman remains of Salona - lots of stuff here, including a large amphitheatre.  A scenic ferry ride away is the Venetian town of Trogir, a World Heritage Site. From Split it is also possible to do a day-trip into Bosnia-Herzogovina to see the famous bridge at Mostar. 

 

All the things that we wanted to do from Split, but didn't have the time! Oh well - hopefully next visit?

[DENIE]

In Split, we did a Tours by Locals tour that of course included the Diocletian Palace, but also Trogir (as noted by Fletcher).  Another vote for a stop here.  This was an amazing little "island city".  So much history!

[Kristal Blade]

We are also on this cruise,or similar. 
I thought we could pre book free excursions in each port. How do I go about that, please? I have opened a “My Silversea” account but when I check it the bookings box is not live.

Any assistance would be most welcome.

[Stumblefoot]

3 hours ago, Kristal Blade said:

We are also on this cruise,or similar. 
I thought we could pre book free excursions in each port. How do I go about that, please? I have opened a “My Silversea” account but when I check it the bookings box is not live.

Any assistance would be most welcome.

Too early to book excursions for an October voyage.

[dawntrdr]

If your cruise is the one that leaves Athens on October 23, 2022, you will be able to book excursions tomorrow April 26, which is 180 days before sailing date.  First time cruisers can book excursions 180 days before sailing.  People who have cruised on Silversea in the past are Venetian Society members and can book 210 days in advance.  

[Kristal Blade]

Thank you Dawntrdr,

I am leaving on 23 October. I will check back tomorrow.

[Dolcevita Diva]

On 4/22/2022 at 5:25 PM, jpalbny said:

We just spent a few days in Split with A&K. Split is worth spending the day but there are also s

 

In the city, of course Diocletian's Palace is one of the major draws. Certainly worth the visit. The seaside promenade is beautiful as well. There are some nice restaurants with a sea view where you could stop for a bite. You can climb the hill on the Marjan Peninsula for a lookout over the city and the port, and there is a place to grab a cold drink there. Further into the Marjan Peninsula, there are a few old churches (we only made it to the close one).

 

If you have a chance to visit Krka National Park, go for it. The waterfalls are spectacular. Plitvice National Park is even prettier but it's further away and I am not sure that SS offers it as an excursion.

 

***

JP - I'd value your thoughts on the following.

• My voyage offers excursions to Krka National Park from both Split and Sibenik (Sibenik seems to be slightly closer to the park), but the morning excursion to Krka from Sibenik is waitlisted.   Any comment on whether it would be better to aim for one of the morning excursions to Krka vs. afternoon (crowds, heat, etc.)?
•  Any recommendations on particular footwear for visiting the Plitvice or Krka? Did the boardwalks/trails get wet? 

Thanks in advance!

Edited April 25, 2022 by Dolcevita Diva

[jpalbny]

34 minutes ago, Dolcevita Diva said:

JP - I'd value your thoughts on the following.

• My voyage offers excursions to Krka National Park from both Split and Sibenik (Sibenik seems to be slightly closer to the park), but the morning excursion to Krka from Sibenik is waitlisted.   Any comment on whether it would be better to aim for one of the morning excursions to Krka vs. afternoon (crowds, heat, etc.)?
•  Any recommendations on particular footwear for visiting the Plitvice or Krka? Did the boardwalks/trails get wet? 

Thanks in advance!

 

Hi - we went to Krka in the morning with our guides so we got there about 10AM. It was fairly empty at that time (but it was April, so early in the season). We actually were the only ones on the boat at the bottom of the park, leading to the lower exit. That was surprising!

 

The lighting on the falls was great in the morning, so that's another potential reason to go earlier.

 

For both parks we just wore sneakers/trainers. The boardwalks are fine for that kind of footwear.

 

From what I heard from our guides, the water levels are highest in the Spring due to snowmelt and the associated runoff. So it should be lower now. We only saw a little bit of water on a bit of one boardwalk at Plitvice (which was covered with a ramp), and I don't remember any issue with water on the boardwalk at Krka - which was REALLY pumping (pictures below). The water was spilling over its banks in places, but it stayed off the boardwalks.

 

 

 

These were taken between 10-11 AM. Lighting was pretty good. We had a cloudy day in Plitvice so I can't say whether the angle of the sun makes for better pictures at a certain time of day. Here is some examples of the boardwalk in Plitvice. Notice: not many railings! Fine when it was empty like we had it. Might get a little scary when it's packed.

 

 

[Dolcevita Diva]

1 hour ago, jpalbny said:

 

Hi - we went to Krka in the morning with our guides so we got there about 10AM. It was fairly empty at that time (but it was April, so early in the season). We actually were the only ones on the boat at the bottom of the park, leading to the lower exit. That was surprising!

 

The lighting on the falls was great in the morning, so that's another potential reason to go earlier.

 

For both parks we just wore sneakers/trainers. The boardwalks are fine for that kind of footwear.

 

From what I heard from our guides, the water levels are highest in the Spring due to snowmelt and the associated runoff. So it should be lower now. We only saw a little bit of water on a bit of one boardwalk at Plitvice (which was covered with a ramp), and I don't remember any issue with water on the boardwalk at Krka - which was REALLY pumping (pictures below). The water was spilling over its banks in places, but it stayed off the boardwalks.

 

These were taken between 10-11 AM. Lighting was pretty good. We had a cloudy day in Plitvice so I can't say whether the angle of the sun makes for better pictures at a certain time of day. Here is some examples of the boardwalk in Plitvice. Notice: not many railings! Fine when it was empty like we had it. Might get a little scary when it's packed.

 

 

 JP  - Thanks so much, this is super helpful!  And love seeing your pictures again 🙂

Edited April 25, 2022 by Dolcevita Diva

[lylabelle1]

We stayed in Croatia for a few weeks (got dental work done there, super nice and soooooo much cheaper) and we LOVED Split!  We went all over Croatia and really enjoyed our walk through Diocletian's Palace and learning about it.     If you are a Game of Thrones fan there are a few walking tours that also take you to do different places that you might not usually visit (Diocletian's Palace is the dragons lair).

 

Make sure you taste their Olive oil!   I know it sounds strange, but we went to an Olive Oil tasting and discovered Olive Oil in america is total crap.  Real olive oil has a peppery taste and adds flavor to food.  The tasting was one of our favorite last minute excursions  - but it was in Pula, which isn't where you will be.  But you can get the oil all over.  

 

Plitvice is a great hiking location with beautiful waterfalls. TIP - take the tram to the TOP and hike down.  We didn't know this so we got our tickets and just started hiking from there and hiked uphill all day only to discover the bus at the top when we finished our hike takes you back to the base - and that we should have started that way. 

 

Krka was pretty spectacular with some really expansive beautiful falls (I'll attach one of my pics of where we swam).  Much smaller than Plitvice and we were able to spend a few hours at the big falls swimming, which was amazing.  Sometimes I see stuff where they started banning swimming but I still see pics of people swimming, so I'm not 100% sure you will get to or not.  But it is a lovely place to relax no matter what - this area of Krka also has some food stalls and places to stop for lunch and relax. 

 

We loved Croatia and look forward to Greece, but I think it will be next year.  If NCL will ever pick up their phone (on hold 57 minutes now).