Adriatic

[mskaufman]

Kotor, Zadar, Koper - Any advice on these ports.  Are any DIY right off the ship?

[John Bull]

Kotor

Your ship might berth at the pier, or it might lay off-shore & you'll be tendered to the same pier. It's just a few paces to the port gate, then a subway under the main road and you're in the attractive old town.

There are ho-ho buses just inside the port - they take the coast road up the east shore to Perast, where you can take a boat trip across to the tiny man-made island with the little chapel of Our Lady of the Rocks (interesting history) and the adjacent even smaller natural island of St George.

There's also a fairly infrequent local bus service, broadly similar route to Perast

In the subway outside the port gate you can book an inexpensive boat trip to those islands from Kotor, but numbers are limited - decide soonest.

Other boat rips too.

Or just make it a lazy day in town.

It's a long and attractive sail-in / sail-out, be sure not to miss it. Ship passes quite close to the afore-mentioned islands.

 

Koper

Another attractive old town, very convenient to the cruise berth.

 

Zadar

We've driven within a few miles of the place on a road trip, but not into town. Attractive coastal scenery, you could rent a car & drive the quiet coast road north, or south as far as Trogir 

You might be offered an excursion to Krka National Park - we were unimpressed. A great place for locals to take the family out for the day but not worthy of an excursion from Zadar. A pleasant enough little boat ride from Skradin to an attractive waterfall with an easy path up the side, but swimming is no longer permitted. Boat trip on the lake above the waterfall involves an early start & won't fit your hours in port. 

 

JB 🙂

 

[mskaufman]

Thanks JB

[edinburgher]

On 10/2/2023 at 2:11 AM, mskaufman said:

Kotor, Zadar, Koper - Any advice on these ports.  Are any DIY right off the ship?

Kotor is lovely and perfect for an enjoyable stroll around this pretty town.  And as mentioned above, the sail in and out is spectacular so be up on deck a good hour or 90 mins before scheduled arrival time. Tthere is a steep, very steep, hill you can climb or go along to even tinier Perast and take the short ride over to our Lady of the Rocks.The boatmen wait at the edge of the sea alongside the road so you cannot miss them. It might be useful for you to read past threads about each of the ports you are asking about as there are tps and info to be found. The easiest way to find them is to go to the empty search box under your user name on the GENERAL "Other Med Ports" forum, not an individual thread and insert the name of one of your ports before hitting the little spy glass.  All previous threads containing that word will appear ready for you to choose which yo read.  Same method will work for your other ports too.  As an example, here are the results for Kotor;

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=kotor&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149

 

i am not convinced that a boat trip is necessary as some will sail the same route either in part or in full you will arrive and depart along so if tempted, check the details carefully.  If you see the word BOKA (another name, probably the official one, for the Bay of Kotor) you will be doing it twice  already..

 

Ships don't always dock or tender into Zadar, you may be out at the cargo port and shuttle in.  Zadar is very different from Kotor but again, there are usually shorex on offer.  SEARCH results for Zadar here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=zadar&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149

 

Koper itself doesn't offer much to occupy your time (maybe an hour or so) so I personally recommend you look at a tour or go along to Piran,.but there are usually tours on offer to Lake Bled or Ljubljana or a combo visiting both and both are attractive destinations.. Another option is to visit teeny tiny Piran, a really picturesque little town not far from Koper.  Results for Koper;

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=koper&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149

 

And for Piran   (there will be some crossover with Koper):

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/search/?q=piran&quick=1&type=forums_topic&nodes=149

 

Hoping you find at least some of the above info useful.

 

We love the Adriatic itineraries.and did a few to cover as many of the ports as possible.  Enjoy.

Edited October 7, 2023 by edinburgher

[cruisemom42]

Our ship docked right in Zadar, next to the “water organ”. From there it is an easy walk to the center of tiny Zadar. There are several beautiful and unusual old churches that can be visited - be aware they are very strict about no bare shoulders or knees. One girl in shorts on our walking tour was not allowed to enter.

 

There is also a Roman forum of which not much remains and a small archaeological museum. Finally there are a couple of blocks of stores and restaurants. The gelato was delicious, and there’s also a local specialty of liqueur made from maraschino cherries to be tasted and perhaps purchased. 
 

In summary, not large, not too touristy, and a satisfying day for independent explorers.

[edinburgher]

5 hours ago, cruisemom42 said:

our ship docked right in Zadar, next to the “water organ”.

Ours docked at the commercial port although the shuttle bus dropped us off and picked up only a few steps from the Sea Organ, so as mentioned above,a  very easy stroll to the centre