Escorted Croatia holidays and small-ship cruises
Croatia is a long, thin country with a deeply indented coast and more than a thousand islands off it, and the interest runs the whole length. Istria in the north feels Venetian, all hill towns above vineyards and oak woods. Dalmatia in the south gives you Roman Split, walled Trogir and Dubrovnik, and the islands of Brač, Hvar and Korčula.
Our Croatian holidays fly out from the UK, then travel either by coach from a hotel base on the coast or aboard a small ship that ties up in a different harbour each evening. An English-speaking tour manager travels with the group throughout.
Frequently Asked Questions About Our Croatia Tours
Not overland from the UK – the drive down through Europe would take up too much of the holiday. Our Croatian tours fly out and back, and coaches are used at the destination for airport transfers and excursions, which is the comfortable way to cover Istria or the Makarska coast. Other itineraries use a small ship as the base instead. Ask us which arrangements apply to the departure you are looking at.
It depends how much you like unpacking. The hotel-based holidays give you a fixed room for the week, with day excursions out and back – our Istrian tour works this way, as does the coastal holiday split between T&uccaron;cepi and Bol. The small-ship itineraries wake up in a new harbour most days, with swim stops and islands you cannot easily reach otherwise. Both include guided walks and a tour manager.
More than you might expect, because the interest is in the old towns and they are not flat. Split, Trogir, Korčula and Dubrovnik are cobbled or paved with polished limestone, with steps and slopes; Motovun sits on a hill. Guided walks are unhurried and there is usually the option to sit one out. Boarding a small ship means a gangway. Tell us about any concerns and we will be straight with you about a particular itinerary.
Yes, and a good number of our travellers come on their own. Prices are quoted per person sharing a twin or double, so a single room or cabin carries a supplement: on Croatia's Coastal Charms it is £385, and on the small-ship itineraries a supplement applies that we will confirm when you enquire. Single cabins on small ships are limited, so it pays to book early. Ask us for the figure on your chosen departure.
Return flights and transfers, accommodation, the guided tours and entrance fees listed on the itinerary, and a tour manager throughout. Meals vary by tour: the Istrian holiday includes breakfast and evening meals, the coastal holiday includes breakfast plus a first-night dinner at each hotel, and the small-ship itineraries include daily breakfast, three-course lunches and a captain's dinner. Tastings named in the itinerary are included. The tour page lists the details for each departure.
Yes. Alongside our scheduled Open Group departures, any of these itineraries can run as a Private Group for a garden club, U3A branch, church group or a set of friends travelling together. You have the tour to yourselves, and we can adjust the pace, the excursions and the length of stay within reason. Get in touch with rough numbers and the time of year you have in mind and we will put together a quote.
Istria and the truffle country
Istria is Croatia's heart-shaped peninsula, and much of it looks and tastes Italian. Motovun sits on a hill above the Mirna valley, walled and small enough to walk round in twenty minutes, with the truffle woods spread out below. Poreč has the sixth-century mosaics of the Euphrasian Basilica; Rovinj is a tumble of shuttered houses on a headland below its campanile; Pula has a Roman amphitheatre from the first century that still holds concerts.
Our Istrian touring works from a comfortable hotel base, with guided walks in the old towns and time set aside for tastings. Istria produces some of the most respected olive oils in Europe and, in autumn, the white truffle. One of our land-and-cruise itineraries includes a truffle dinner in the Motovun area and a wine tasting at the Roxanich cellars near Motovun before continuing south to Split.
Dalmatia, Split and the walled cities
Split grew up inside a palace. Diocletian, a Roman emperor who was born locally and abdicated in AD 305, built his retirement quarters here, and the town simply moved in when Rome fell away. The result is a working city centre inside imperial walls, with a cathedral in the emperor's mausoleum and cafes in the cellars.
Further along, Trogir crowds onto a small island connected by two bridges, and Zadar has the Sea Organ, a set of pipes beneath the marble waterfront that the swell plays. Dubrovnik's circuit of walls runs close to two kilometres and is the finest walk in the country if the legs are willing.
Between the towns is the Krka river, its travertine falls at their fullest in spring, and the bare limestone archipelago of the Kornati islands, protected as a national park and almost entirely uninhabited.
What small-ship cruising is like
Several of our Croatian holidays use a small ship rather than a hotel, and it suits this coast better than anything else. The distances between islands are short, so the sailing is usually done in the morning while you are having breakfast on deck, leaving the rest of the day for a guided walk ashore or an anchored swim stop off a beach with no road to it.
Cabin accommodation, daily breakfast and three-course lunches are included, along with a captain's dinner, an olive oil and wine tasting on board and a tour manager who travels with the group. Itineraries take in Hvar, Korčula, Mljet, Vis, the Blue Cave at Biševo and Ston on the Pelješac peninsula.
Fares are quoted per person sharing a twin or double cabin, on the basis of 25 passengers travelling. Single supplements apply.
Croatian food, wine and olive oil
The cooking changes as you go south. Istria leans towards the Italian side of the Adriatic: hand-cut pasta, wild asparagus in spring, truffle shaved over almost anything in autumn, and Malvazija as the everyday white. Dalmatia is simpler and more maritime, with grilled fish, lamb or octopus cooked slowly under a peka lid buried in embers, and Swiss chard with potatoes alongside almost every plate.
Wine is worth paying attention to. The steep south-facing slopes of Pelješac produce Plavac Mali, a big red related to Zinfandel, while Korčula has the white Grk from a village with sandy vineyards. Ston, at the neck of the peninsula, has grown oysters in its bay and harvested sea salt from the same pans since medieval times.
Our itineraries include tastings and a number of set meals, with the rest left free so you can pick a harbour table yourself.
