Dalmatian Island Explorer

This is a splendid and leisurely Adriatic cruise itinerary through the islands, islets and reefs of the Dalmatian coast. With its unique natural beauty matched with masterful architecture, each island and port has its own place in history, perhaps as a site of a battle, home to a fascinating church or palace, or inspiration for poets or artists. The influence of the Venetians who long ruled this coastline is prevalent in much of the fine architecture. This cruise offers five recognized UNESCO World Heritage sites: Dubrovnik, Split, Sibenik, Trogir and Kotor.

In its golden years Dubrovnik (ancient Ragusa) was a significant economic and cultural centre, rivalling Venice for supremacy. Facing the Adriatic from its well-known fortified walls it is today a unique open-air museum with a multitude of museums, galleries, treasuries, churches and fine palaces. On the island of Mljet the 12thcentury monastery of St Mary lies on a picturesque salt lake in the Mljet National Park. On the nearby island of Korcula, considered to be the birthplace of Marco Polo, is the 13th-century cathedral of St Mark, an architectural masterpiece with styles from Gothic to Renaissance. Sibenik is a gloriously medieval fortified town with impressive waterfall cascades close by in the Krka National Park.

Trogir is one of the jewels of Dalmatia with narrow intertwining streets. Split was first settled when, at the end of the 3rd-century AD, the Roman emperor Diocletian, a local man (and the only Emperor to retire!), built a palace which now forms an old town area like no other. The many historical and cultural buildings include his mausoleum, the cathedral of St Dominus, the peristyle and temple of Jupiter, all adjoining an elegant waterfront area.

The remote island of Vis has Venetian Gothic buildings and a Renaissance church. The charming isle of Hvar reveals palaces, monasteries and churches with a blissful absence of cars. The energetic can walk up through the backstreets to the castle.

Just a short distance south of Dubrovnik lies Montenegro, Europe’s newest independent nation (and peopled by the second tallest nation in the world!) Kotor, surrounded by an impressive city wall and dominated by dramatic cliffs and a castle, lies on a secluded part of the Gulf of Kotor.