Split, Dubrovnik and the Splendours of Dalmatia Yacht Cruise On the MS Adriatic Sun

On arrival in this historic city, you will be escorted to the harbour and the superb four-star MS Adriatic Sun, your home for the next seven nights. The captain and crew will be on hand to welcome you and then, having settled into your comfortable cabin and surroundings, our adventure begins!

For the rest of the day, it’s time to relax and get to know your fellow passengers – there are just thirty-nine of you in total! Perhaps you’ll catch some ‘rays’ on the sun deck or take a stroll ashore. It’ll soon be time for dinner and the ship’s restaurant awaits. Perhaps later take an after-dinner stroll ashore in this most magical of cities.

As you rise refreshed in the morning and enjoy a leisurely breakfast, you’ll be so glad you chose this holiday. The MS Adriatic Sun, our home for the next week and every inch the private yacht, slips out of the harbour and out to sea. Split soon fades into the distance but we will of course return at the end of our cruise. It is impossible for large cruise liners to visit the charming and almost deserted hamlets accessible to our smaller yacht cruiser.

We will have time for a swim stop this morning before enjoying a delicious lunch on board, as stunning views of this spectacular coastline drift by and it’s not long before we arrive into the historic town of Korčula.

Ruled by the Venetians for 800 years, it is rather reminiscent of a much smaller Dubrovnik, with its host of tangled lanes so typical of medieval Mediterranean ports.

The town is a charming small fortress, celebrated for supplying timber for the wooden walls of Venice and its harbour was a major shelter for the Venetian fleet. You’ll find architectural gems at every turn in its narrow-cobbled streets. Famous for its artistic and musical traditions, Korcula has its own unique sword dance, the ‘moreska’, and a form of a-capella singing, but is much more famous as the birthplace of the explorer Marco Polo. His house can still be visited, as can the All Saints Museum with its glorious collection of Byzantine icons.

After our guided walking tour you are free to explore this beautiful town further. You take dinner at your leisure tonight.

The Dalmatian coastline is legendary: one of Europe’s most dramatic, extending for hundreds of miles, where steep limestone cliffs plunge into sapphire-blue waters. The mirror-like Adriatic is studded with countless islands, some tiny, some large, some inhabited, some not.

We arrive at Mljet, one of the most seductive of such islands, where the hillsides are clad in a green carpet of lush pine forests bringing that instantly recognisable Mediterranean aroma to the air. Nestling in picturesque coves are medieval fishing villages, refreshingly free from tasteless development, where the alleyways are simply pebbles set into the earth and overhead shutters sway precariously in the warm, gentle breezes. Life here continues much as it has for centuries.

This morning we go ashore to enjoy a tour of the stunning national park with a visit to the tiny islet of St Mary’s with its 12th-century former Benedictine monastery. With its colourful walls and altar carved from local stone you will already feel a long way from home in this most atmospheric of places – it’s easy to see why legend has it that the Greek hero Ulysses came here to contemplate.

After lunch on board, there will be the opportunity for a swim, then sit back, relax and enjoy the spectacular views as we cruise into the magical city of Dubrovnik.

During tonight’s dinner the ship will cruise alongside the ancient city walls before dropping anchor.

Awaking in this most magical of cities, after breakfast we take a guided tour of the old town, an independent city-state for much of its history, it has evolved differently to the rest of Croatia. The city threw off its Venetian shackles during medieval times founding a commercial empire trading with the eastern Mediterranean, France, Spain and later the Ottoman Empire.

As so often happened, the city began to reflect its resultant wealth and today this wonderfully Baroque city proudly nestles behind its huge imposing ramparts in a situation of outstanding natural beauty. The main avenue, lined by intimate cafés, is completely paved with gleaming marble, which dazzles in the sunlight and gives credence to the city’s description as the ‘Pearl of the Adriatic’.

You have the rest of the day to explore at your leisure. Throughout the city you will find a wonderful array of monasteries, beautifully decorated churches and civic buildings dating from the 14th century. This evening, enjoy another delicious dinner in one of the many traditional restaurants in this most beguiling of cities at your leisure.

Over breakfast this morning we say our fond farewells to Dubrovnik as the mighty walls of the old city slowly fade away into the hazy horizon. One of the huge delights of taking this kind of cruise, is that our ship can sail between the smaller islands, normally inaccessible to the larger cruise liners, so you can experience fabulous coastal views in a much more intimate way. Sit back and relax over lunch on board and absorb the stunning coastal spectacle before you, as the sun glints on the crystal-clear waters.

As we glide on past these truly beautiful seascapes, undiscovered beaches with secret coves and tiny traditional hamlets, unchanged for decades, we arrive at the pretty little seaside village of Trstenik on the Peljesac Peninsula. Nestled at the foot of the rolling hills behind, this picturesque, secluded spot is famed for its wine production where generations of families have produced excellent wines for hundreds of years.

Alternatively, we’ll moor in the picturesque village of Lumbarda on the historic island of Korčula, with its glorious stretches of beach, backed by olive groves and fragrant pine forests.

We remain moored overnight, so take dinner at your leisure in this charming spot, where you can really feel like you are getting away from it all!

After breakfast, you can take to the deck to see the spectacular coastland sliding by as this morning we cruise northwards. There will also be the opportunity for a swim stop here in one of the world’s most beautiful stretches of water.

We lunch on board before disembarking this afternoon into the delightful and bewitching little town of Hvar in this enchanting archipelago.

Wandering here is pure joy and remarkably, it’s so compact and cosy, the streets don’t even have names. With its freshwater springs, the island is unusually green, its hillsides boasting spectacular pine forests.

Elsewhere you’ll find olive groves, orchards and vineyards, the aromatic pleasures of the island exemplified by the delicate fragrance of abundant lavender fields. Hvar has been inhabited since Neolithic times; later, the ancient Greeks founded a colony here, and during the 14th century, as the Venetian Empire extended its influence, it became a major naval base. Also on the island’s northern shores are some distinctive fortified 16th century buildings, built to repel pirates and assaults by the Ottoman Empire.

After exploring Hvar’s agricultural, historical and cultural splendours on our guided walking tour, you will transfer to Stari Grad to re-join your ship. The ship remains moored in Stari Grad overnight for the opportunity to dine at leisure where you wish.

This morning’s cruise brings us to Brač, the largest of the islands on this dramatic stretch of coastland; a typically Mediterranean landscape where its spectacular beaches give way to high pine forested uplands, and where a rich harvest of vines, olives and orange trees crowd the fertile valleys. Once dependent on its grape harvest, the island also relied heavily on the export of its stone – a mixture of marble and limestone – used in the construction of Diocletian’s Palace but also of buildings as diverse as the White House in Washington to Berlin’s Reichstag and closer to home, the high altar in Liverpool’s cathedral.

We head to the picturesque town of Bol, and you might like to take the opportunity for a swim from the stunning beach, aptly named Golden Horn beach.

During lunch back on board we cruise back into historic Split, principally famous for a single building, the Emperor Diocletian’s huge palace, one of the greatest structures of the Roman Empire. No expense was spared in its construction - the best Italian marble, with columns and sphinxes from Egypt.

But what makes this palace so astonishing is that during medieval times it was fully integrated into the town’s fabric with a jumble of buildings grafted onto and inside it. This means, for example, the temple of Jupiter became a baptistry. It’s all the more fascinating that today 3,000 people still live here. You will find surprises at every turn: there are tall medieval buildings lining the streets but buttressed by unmistakably Roman columns! We have a guided walking tour of this fascinating complex which has recently been used as the setting of the TV spectacular ‘Game of Thrones.'

By the time you have breathed in the atmosphere and history of this glorious part of the coast, it’s time to relax back on board as the Chef presents the Captain’s Dinner – a delicious selection of Croatian and Mediterranean specialities. Later the bar waits for a digestif and the chance to reflect on treasured memories of this wonderful journey with newly made friends.