DATES: TBC (15 DAYS/NIGHTS ) AND 

 

COSTS PER PERSON 15-day tour: tbc€   based on 2 people sharing a car and hotel bedroom

 

 

 

The price is in euros due to the uncertainty of predicting sterling to euros conversion rates

The costs, per person, are based on two people per car sharing a hotel bedroom and include the following:

• Accommodation in 4-star or 3-star stylish hotels,  ( 15 nights )
• 3-course dinners ( 15 nights )
• Breakfast daily
• Rally plate
• DK Eyewitness guide book, Croatia
• Comprehensive road books with daily itineraries, detailed route notes
• Highlighted  Michelin maps of  Croatia and Italy north-west
• Return DFDS ferry from Dover to Calais with priority boarding and premium lounge access, 15-day tour only ( return ferry ticket Calais to Dover is open-ended)
• Services of a Tour Director throughout the tour

NOT INCLUDED ARE THE FOLLOWING:

• Lunches, snacks, coffees etc.
• Drinks with dinner including bottled water and coffee
• Entry to places of interest eg. museums, gardens, villas etc.
• Lake ferries
• Autoroute tolls or toll bridge tolls

SUMMARY DESCRIPTION

A 15-day tour, or a 12-day tour, starts with an afternoon ferry crossing from Dover to Calais where we travel to nearby Tilques to spend our first night in a chateau hotel. On day 2 we travel south-east mainly on motorways to Beaune, then on Day 3, we arrive on Lake Annecy where our hotel is in, arguably, the prettiest village on the lake. On day 4 we drive east on the motorway across the mountains into Italy then to Desenzano del Garda on Lake Garda where our hotel is located. Participants on the 11-day tour join us on Lake Garda
The following day, our 1st day in Croatia, we drive east from Lake Garda to the Croatian border and our tour of Croatia starts here
Our first day is spent in Istria, a triangular peninsula, and indeed our first night is spent in Porec on the Istrian coast. On the morning of our second day in Croatia, we explore local hilltop villages on the Istrian Peninsula then we drive back to Pula on the coast which is well known for its magnificent monuments from the Roman era including the sixth largest Roman amphitheatre existing today. Our second night is spent on the island of Krk, the largest of the Adriatic islands. On our third day, we enter Dalmatia, the most visited region of Croatia and travel down the coastline visiting Zadar to Trogir which is actually a small island and one of the jewels of the Dalmatian coast with many splendid monuments some dating back to Roman times. In 1997 Trogir was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Our hotel tonight is in Trogir which gives you plenty of time to explore the old town.
On our fourth day, we visit the Krka national park near Sibenik and take a boat ride from Skradin to visit the magnificent lakes and waterfalls ending up on another island, Hvar, where we stay for 2 nights in the charming harbour town which gives the island its name and where one of Europe's first theatres was built. The following day we relax around Hvar.
On our 6th day, we leave the island of Hvar by car ferry and drive down the coast to Ploce where we take another ferry to Trpanj on the Peljesac peninsula famous for its oyster farms and vineyards. We then drive across to Orebic where we visit the Franciscan Monastery which was founded in the 15th century. Our hotel is in the pretty town of Orebic. The following day we take the car ferry to the nearby island of Korcula and drive around this pretty island before returning to Orebic. We then leave Orebic and drive to Mali Ston our afternoon coffee stop. Mali Ston is joined to its neighbour, Ston, by an impressive 3 miles of massive walls along the hillside with 41 towers seven bastions and two forts making it one of the most interesting defence structures in the Adriatic or even the world! We then leave the peninsula and drive down the coast to Dubrovnik, "the jewel in the Adriatic crown" where we spend the next three nights. The next day we explore Dubrovnik on foot.
On our 9th day in Croatia, we drive south across the border into the independent country of Montenegro where we visit another UNESCO World Heritage site, Kotor, before arriving in the new jet-set destination of Port Montenegro where some of the world's most expensive yachts are moored in the newly created marina. We return to our hotel in Dubrovnik late afternoon.
On our 10th day in Croatia, we leave Dubrovnik and take the motorways north-west through the mountains to Rijeka where we spent our final night in Croatia.  The next day we leave Croatia and drive back to Lake Como

Day 1 

Dover-Calais afternoon ferry then Dunkirk-Tilques, ( 20 miles)

Our tour starts with a 2.00 pm DFDS ferry crossing from Dover to Calais, see photos below:

You will have priority boarding so will be first to board and disembark and once on the ferry you have access to the Premium lounge where there are complimentary beverages and snacks.

Arriving in Calais, we then drive 20 miles south to our charming hotel, Chateau Tilques, in Tilques near St.Omer, see photos below:

Tonight we celebrate the start of our tour with drinks in the hotel's bar before dinner in the restaurant.

Day 2 

Tilques to Beaune ( 360 miles including 350 miles on motorways )

We leave Tilques and take the motorway south-east for 300 miles to our hotel in Beaune. Tonight dinner is in the hotel's restaurant

Day 3 

Beaune to Talloires, Lake Annecy,  ( 150 miles including 35 miles on motorways )

We take the motorway south-east then take a scenic mountain road south-east to Lake Annecy where our hotel is located in Talloires, arguably the prettiest village on Lake Annecy, see photos below:

Our hotel is a converted abbey

Tonight's dinner is in the hotel's restaurant

Day 4 

Talloires to Desenzano del Garda, Lake Garda  ( 280 miles including 250 miles on motorways )

We leave Lake Annecy and drive east into Italy  to Lake Garda where our hotel is located in Desenzano del Garda at the bottom of the lake, see photos below:

Day 5 

Desenzano Del Garda to Porec, Croatia,  ( 235 miles including 190 miles on motorways )

We leave Desenzano del Garda and take the Italian autostradas ( motorways) east towards Venice and on to Trieste then across the Slovenian border into Croatia. Here we drive down the west coast of the triangular Istrian peninsula to Porec where our hotel is located overlooking the harbour, see photos below:

In the town you can visit the Basilica of Euphrasius a 6th-century Byzantine church masterpiece, see photos below:

Day 6 

Porec to Krk ( 145 miles)

We leave Porec and drive east into the mountains where there are several hilltop villages. We continue to Motovun a fortified hilltop village and our morning coffee stop, see photos below:

After coffee, we return to the coast then head south to our lunch stop, Pula ( Pola), well known for its magnificent Roman monuments including the spectacular amphitheatre one of the six largest in the world.

After exploring the town we drive north up the scenic eastern shoreline to Rijeka then Kraljevica where we then take the toll bridge to the island of Krk then drive to the capital Krk where our hotel tonight is on the harbour front of this pretty town: see photos below:

Dinner, tonight, is in the hotel's restaurant overlooking the harbour, see the photo below:

Day 7 

Krk to Trogir, (215 miles)

We leave Krk and drive north across the island to Voz where we drive across the toll bridge back to Kraljevica on the mainland. Then we take the scenic coast road south to Senj our morning coffee stop before continuing down the coast road to Zadar, our lunch stop. We then carry on down the coast to Trogir where our hotel is located. Trogir is a small island linked to the mainland by a bridge and regarded as one of the jewels of the Dalmatian coast with many ancient monuments. In 1997 Trogir was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage site, see photos below:

Day 8 

Trogir to Hvar via the Krk National Park, ( 125 miles)

Leaving Trogir we drive down the coast to Split, our morning coffee stop, where we explore this fascinating ancient town. We then leave Split and drive on the motorway north-west to Skradin in the Krka National Park, see photos below:

Here we take a boat trip on the lake into the canyon to view the magnificent Roski Slap and Skradinski Buk waterfalls, see photos below:

After lunch, we drive back to Split and catch the afternoon car ferry to the island of Hvar where our hotel tonight is in a bay next to the charming harbour of Hvar. Dinner, tonight, is in the hotel's restaurant.

Day 9 

Hvar, local excursion ( no driving today)

A day spent relaxing around Hvar

Day 10 

Hvar to Orebic  ( 135 miles  )

We leave Hvar and drive east towards Sucuraj stopping for a coffee at the pretty little port of Jelsa. After Jelsa, we drive to the ferry terminal of Sucuraj and catch the 20-minute ferry to Drvenik. Upon arriving in Drvenik we head south-east along the coast road to Gradac which boasts the longest beach in the eastern Adriatic. Continuing along the coast towards Dubrovnik we take the car ferry at Ploce to Trpanj on the Peljesac peninsula famous for its oyster farms and red wine. We then drive across this picturesque peninsula to Orebic our lunch stop where we visit the nearby Franjevacki Samostan, ( Franciscan Monastery), which overlooks the bay of Orebic, see photos below

Our hotel is located just outside the town, see photos below:

Day 11 

Orebec to Dubrovnik, ( 70 miles)

Today we catch the car ferry to the nearby island of Korcula and explore the island, see photos below:

Late afternoon we return to Orebic

We leave Orebic and return towards Ston taking a scenic minor road visiting Trstenik and Juliana, two quiet fishing villages, see photos below:

We then follow a scenic minor coast road to nearby Julanja, another sleepy fishing village, stopping on the way to admire the stunning coastal views, see photos below:

After Juljanja we drive to Mali Ston our afternoon coffee stop. The defensive walls above Mali Ston and its neighbour Ston were begun in the 14th century on Dubrovnik's orders. There are more than 3 miles of walls incorporating 41 towers, seven bastions and two forts representing one of the most interesting defensive structures in the Adriatic.

We then drive back to the mainland then take the coast road south down to Dubrovnik, a UNESCO World Heritage site, where our hotel for the next three nights is based.

Day 12    

A day exploring Dubrovnik

After breakfast at our hotel, we walk into Dubrovnik and enjoy lunch in this attractive town. From Autumn of 1991 to May 1992 Dubrovnik was bombarded by Yugoslav troops and over 2,000 bombs and missiles fell on the walled city damaging over half the buildings which, thankfully due to assistance from UNESCO and the European Union, have since been restored to their former glory, see photos below:

Dinner, tonight, is in the hotel's restaurant.

 

Day 13    

  Dubrovnik to Montenegro return ( 135 miles)

Today we enjoy an excursion to Montenegro. Because our motor insurance isn't valid in Montenegro we will probably use hire cars or a minibus with a driver. We leave Dubrovnik and drive 20 miles along the coast to the Montenegro border and along the coastline. We continue to Kotor a UNESCO World Heritage site and our lunch stop. After visiting Kotor we drive 12 miles to Montenegro Port at Tivat our afternoon coffee stop. The old naval port of Montenegro has been developed as a very upmarket marina and billions of Euros have been invested by wealthy Russians and others. In the afternoon we return to our hotel in Dubrovnik. Dinner, tonight, is in the hotel's restaurant.

Day 14    

Dubrovnik to Rijeka, ( 360 miles including 230 on motorways)

We leave Dubrovnik and head north towards Split then a few miles after the Peljesac peninsula we turn inland to take the A1 motorway north-west towards Zagreb then, near Karlovac, we turn west onto the A6 to Rijeka where our hotel is situated. Tonight, our last night in Croatia, there is a celebratory dinner in the hotel's restaurant.

 

Day 15  

Rijeka to  Lake Como ( 315 miles including 265 miles on motorways )

After breakfast, we leave Porec and drive up the peninsula coastline and across the border into Slovenia and then into Italy where we drive west to Lake Como where our hotel is located. This is the last night of the tour

Day 16   

After breakfast participants make their own way home