Adriatic Sea cruise

[Member]

The MSC Opera has a 12-days sailing to this region from Venice to Trieste in mid-September to explore Ancona, Bari, Gythion, Piraeus, Corfu, Kotor & Split. Besides Venice and Piraeus, the rest are all new to us, particularly Kotor where I heard they filmed the new "Casino Royale" there. Your insight to these ports are much appreciated.

[franu]

When I visited Kotor a few years ago, I was quite pleasantly surprised. It is a walled city with very charming buildings and shops. I was quite surprised to find that most apartment windows had air conditioners and/or satellite dishes. Some people had taken excursions into the mountains and to the beaches. Fellow cruisers had decided to return there for a beach holiday.

 

Things and food were less expensive here than the other places in the Adriatic. We really liked it. I would love to return some day.

Fran

[Member]

Our ship will dock at Kotor from 8:00am to 5:00pm. If it is near the town centre, we'll just either explore the city our own or hire a taxi to venture out a bit.

[edinburgher]

We are also doing an Adriatic/Black Sea in October. We have Venice, Piraeus, Corfu and Split in common with you.

 

We went to Corfu once before, only exploring Corfu Town. This time we will head out of town, possibly on a taxi tour. Its a very green island, in part because it rains a lot there. It was so heavy when we docked it was hard to see anything and we had to wait until it went off before leaving the ship. Its supposed to be pretty....if the sun is shining!

 

Split looks interesting too. Out of town theres possibilities of visiting the ruins at Solin, or to Trogir, apparently one of the most beautiful places in Croatia. Your ship may have excursions to either or a joint one to both as they are close to Split. We hope to head to Trogir.

[Member]

Yes our ship offers a 5-hrs tour to both Solin AND Trogir for US$65. Will this be too short a tour? Also from Trieste it has an 8-hrs. tour to Ljubljana. Comment?

[edinburgher]

I have no idea as it will be our first time there.

 

Its likely our ship will also have a joint excursion. Both places are close to each other and to Split. We read up on both, looking online and in a guide book and decided we would rather go independantly to Trogir and skip the ruins. Trogir gets incredible reviews and we decided we would prefer to have more time there and not be tied to a group as it looks like a photographers dream. There are pictures of it online and in guide books.

 

 

Next time you are near a library or bookstore look to see whats said about both. And search the internet. Theres lots of info on both.

[edinburgher]

Trieste. Sorry, no idea. We have never been there and its on on our itinerary. Have you tried SEARCH or SEARCH THIS FORUM using the word Trieste? Any previous posts and replies will come up in the results and you can read through them.

[Floflegs]

Split is a lovely town to do on your own as the ship docks close to the town.

Trieste is also easy to explore on your own and has lots of Roman history.

[Member]

From Trieste, we're thinking of going on a full-day tour to Ljubljana, Slovenia. But if Trieste is worth to explore, then we could go there as a post-cruise visit for 2 nights. Has anyone been to Ljubljana?

[Floflegs]

I haven't been to Ljubljana itself but have been to the postonja caves which are super and also to the place where they bredd and train the horses for the Spanish riding school. It is a very long time ago as it was before the war which split Yugoslavia. As far as I remember Ljubljana is just a big city and I think it is quite a way from Trieste. We went from Umag, where we were staying, to the caves and horses

[Member]

According to others, the train ride from Trieste takes double the 2-hr. time of the bus ride due to many more stops and getting further north first. The city itself seems quick medival and well preserved though.

[dcdee]

We stopped in Ljubljana two years ago for two nights before a two week driving trip thru Croatia. It has a rather compact Old Town which is pretty but not remarkable. The sights I recall particularly are the Triple Bridge, a couple of pretty churches, the Dragon Bridge and a castle perched on a hill overlooking the city. The highlights of the Old Town can probably be covered in half a day.

 

I have not been to Trieste but from articles and photos I have seen, it has as much to recommend it as Ljubljana does. Everyone's tastes are different but I'd stay in Trieste to explore there and avoid the travel time to/from Ljubljana.

 

What might be worth the trip, though you don't indicate that it's included in the ship's tour, is a visit to Bled, which is a small town in a beautiful lake setting about 20 miles north of Ljubljana.

[Member]

Good suggestion.

[Member]

From Trieste, some suggest to spend some time in Zagreb, Croatia. It looks a bit like Prague, or is it?

[nadji]

I've been to Trieste several times, just walk around experience the people the food and the wine. If you's like to go for a drive south along the coast you will reach Maxamillion's castle which is beautiful perched on a cliff. If you go further down you will reach several beautiful beaches and towns such as Duino. The people in Trieste are very warm and welcoming! Hope this helps.