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ADRIATIC
THE ADRIATIC ADVENTURE
c/n ADRIATIC LOOP 2002 by ADVENTURELAND TRAVEL & TOURS
This 20-day tour will start in LJUBLJANA on Saturday, September 7 and end in VENICE on Thursday, September 26, 2002. A 50-passenger air-conditioned deluxe motorcoach will be used for transportation on the land portion. A private boat will be used for the cruise to the island of Hvar, and the well known Jadrollijnia ferry line will transport passengers and motorcoach across the Adriatic Sea from Croatia to Italy.
¨
The tour will cover four countries, Slovenia, Croatia, Italy and San Marino
¨ It will include a number of under-advertised, picturesque “Adriatic pearls”
such as Koper, Piran, Rovinj, Primošten, Cavtat, Vieste and Monteconero
¨ Highlights of the tour are six UNESCO protected World Heritage Sites,
namely Skocjan, Poreč, Plitvica, Trogir, Dubrovnik and Urbino, as well as
several other culturally interesting places such as Lipica, Pula, Opatija, Zadar,
the City of San Marino and Ravenna.
Participants will meet throughout Day 1 (September 7) in Ljubljana, at the Grand Hotel Union. This Hotel, which dates back to 1905, was recently refurbished and restored to its original Art Nouveau charm. Its guests include heads of State and diplomats, such as President Clinton and Madeleine Albright.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
On Day 2 (September 8) the motorcoach will take the participants to the small town of Lipica, where they will be able to watch the world-famous Lipizzaners perform complicated paces with riders en costume, a show that rivals that of the same elegant horses at the Spanish Riding School in Vienna. Before and after the Lipizzaners’ performance there will be time to visit the Slovenian capital.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
On Day 3 (September 9) participants will have a choice of visiting the world-famous Postojna Caves or the more captivating Scocjan Caves, the first UNESCO World Heritage Site of the tour, and, supposedly, Dante’s entrance to hell in his Divine Comedy. Following this karst adventure, the motorcoach will take the participants to the picture-postcard emerald-green Lake Bled, and, time permitting, also to the Soča Valley with its aquamarine river, by many considered the most beautiful river in Europe.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
On Day 4 (September 10) we will explore the entire Istrian Peninsula, starting at the old town of Koper with its splendid Pretorska Palača, and continuing south-west to visit the town of Piran, one of the shining pearls of the Slovenian Riviera, whose most famous son is the violinist-composer Giuseppe Tartini. The motorcoach will then proceed to the town of Poreč, the second UNESCO World Heritage Site of the tour, owing to the Euphrasius Basilica with its splendid mosaics dating from Byzantine times. Afterwards there will be a one-hour stopover for a stroll and lunch on the main street of the town, the Roman Decumanus, famous more for the antics of its barmen and waiters than the quality of the ice-cream – which is in fact quite good. After lunch we will resume visiting Croatian Istria, stopping at Rovinj, one of the finest jewels of the peninsula’s west coast, and proceeding on to Pula, whose main sights are well preserved Roman monuments dating from the second half of the 1st century B.C., chief among them the three-storied Roman Amphitheater, which is being used in the summer for the “Pula Opera Festival.” The motorcoach will then follow the eastern coast of the peninsula to reach Opatija for two overnights in one of its tastefully-renovated first class hotels of the Belle Epoque.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
On Day 5 (September 11) the participants will be able to relax and explore Opatjia, the “Austrian Nice” of a bygone era, the fashionable seaside resort of the Austro-Hungarian Empire, and choice destination of Europe’s aristocracy of the time.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
On Day 6 (September 12) the bus will take the participants through the town of Rijeka, and then south along the coast of the Kvarner Gulf (Quarnero) facing the Krk Island, the biggest of the Dalmatian Coast. At Senj the bus will leave the coastline to head inland toward Bosnia and discharge the participants at the Hotel Jezera for two overnights in the Plitvička Jezera National Park, the third UNESCO World Heritage Site of the tour.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
Day 7 (September 13) will be spent exploring -- on foot and by boat – a large park area that many consider the most beautiful in Europe. This spectacular creation of nature is the result of a continuous interaction of water, rock and plant life, going on since the last Ice Age. The sixteen lakes and ninety-two waterfalls create a true water pageant, made perfect by a luxuriant vegetation and dense forests of fir, beech, spruce and white pine.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
On Day 8 (September 14) we will be leaving the Park area and head back toward the Adriatic coast, going through more villages and low passes of inland Croatia. After a three-hour drive we will be in Zadar, a main cultural and economic center of Northern Dalmatia which has maintained the characteristic layout of a typical Roman town, in spite of numerous destructive misfortunes throughout centuries of history. After lunch we will visit the town of Sibenik and the nearby Krka National Park. We will then head south again along the Dalmatian coast, make a short stopover in Primošten, a most attractive, quaint little town resembling Istria’s Rovinj, and finally reach Split, where the participants will lodge for three nights in a 5-star hotel.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
The morning of Day 9 (September 15) will be dedicated to visiting the Diocletian’s Palace, an imposing complex of buildings and fortifications built between 295 and 305 B.C. by Emperor Diocletian, to be used as his retirement home. In the afternoon we will visit the nearby Trogir, the fourth UNESCO World Heritage Site of the tour and a true “living museum.” As art historian Bernard Berenson pointed out, Trogir holds “so much valuable art work in a small area, like no other city in the world.” To return to our base in Split, we will take the “Road of Castles” and make a short stopover at one of them, the Kaštel Gomilica. These castles were built in the 16th century to ward off the expanding Ottoman Empire and served to defend the crops as well as the various dwellings that serfs and tenants soon started building around these fortresses and fortified towers.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
On Day 10 (September 16) we will cruise on private boats to the island of Hvar, one of the most beautiful and most visited of the islands of the Adriatic. The allure of this island derives from its luxuriant, subtropical vegetation consisting of maquis and brilliant patches of rosemary, lavender, sage and thyme, the stylish and ornate architecture of its main town, Hvar, the rich and multi-faceted cultural and historical heritage, and the ideal climate that has earned the island the attribute of “Croatian Madeira.”
Meals included: buffet breakfast
On Day 11 (September 17) we leave Split and continue to head south. Along the scenic coastal road we will go through the town of Omiš -- where the ruins of a fortress can be seen perched on the foothills of the Mosor mountains – and the Makarska Riviera, where the barren Biokovo Mountains descend steeply to the coast, forming a dramatic backdrop to one of the most beautiful stretches of beach of the entire Adriatic. The scenic coastal road eventually passes by the Bacinska Lakes and the Neretva Delta, formed by the confluence of its numerous tributaries; it then goes through a two and half-mile stretch of Bosnia-Herzegovina territory, the only access of that country to the Adriatic Sea (there are no border formalities). Continuing on the southern course, we will eventually reach Dubrovnik, and, ten miles south of it, Cavtat, where the tour will overnight in the luxurious 5-star Croatian Hotel.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
Most of Day 12 (September 18) will be spent in Dubrovnik, the fifth UNESCO World Heritage Site of the tour. There will be plenty of time for the classical two-hour walking tour along the city wall during the morning hours, followed by a stroll on the Stradum (also known as Placa), Dubrovnik’s pleasant pedestrian promenade. After a lunch in the restaurant-row street Prijeko, which runs parallel and north of the Stradum, there will be time to visit the most important sites of the historic city center. Around 8pm the motorcach will pick up the participants at the Ploče vrata, the northeastern gate of the old town, for a run to the hotel (to pick up the luggage). The motorcoach with passengers must be at the harbor at 9pm for the boarding of the international car-ferry of the Croatian Line Jadrolinija, which sails promptly at 11pm. The participants will be accommodated in cabins with shower for the nine-hour trip to Bari, Italy.
Overnight: on board the Jadrolijnia ferry-boat
Cafeteria open for breakfast before arrival (not included)
On Day 13 (September 19) both participants and motorcoach will debark around 8 am and promptly head south to the town of ALBEROBELLO to view the unique and somewhat mysterious trulli, limestone dwellings with pyramidal or conical roofs which were probably built in the 14th century using a mortarless, prehistoric construction technique. After an early lunch in Alberobello, we will head north toward the Gargano Peninsula, the “Spur of Italy,” to reach our final destination of the day, the town of VIESTE, where we will spend two nights at the 5-star Hotel Pizzomunno.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
Day 14 (September 20) will be a day of rest and leisure, with a choice of exploring the town of Vieste or hiring a boat to cruise along coves, small promontories, green covered faraglioni, and rocky, whitish cliffs stretching out to the unpolluted, deep blue-emerald sea water.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
On Day 15 (September 21) we leave the Gargano peninsula and ride along the Adriatic coast in the direction of Pescara, where we turn inland to reach the town of Loreto Aprutino with its 9th century Chiola Castle where the group will overnight after a farewell dinner in medieval style.
Meals included: buffet breakfast + dinner and medieval show at hotel
On Day 16 (September 22) the tour will resume the northerly direction on the Adriatic coastline, and stop at the town of Loreto for lunch and a visit of the Basilica, which contains the legend-shrouded “Holy House” of Nazareth. The tour will proceed north on a very scenic coastline, and reach the top of Monteconero, where the participants will be lodged overnight in a 11th century Benedictine Monastery recently converted into a hotel.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
Most of Day 17 (September 23) will be spent in the hinterland of the Marche region. We will reach the Frasassi Caves on time for the 10:30am one-hour guided tour. The “Grotte di Frasassi” are Italy’s largest and most famous complex of caves. The section open to the general public includes the awesome “Grotta Grande del Vento” (the great cave of the wind) which is Europe’s largest single cavern, so vast that the Milan Cathedral would fit comfortably inside. The tour will then proceed to the nearby town of Fabriano, noted for its paper mills dated from 1276. After lunch at Fabriano the motorcoach will take the participants through mostly mountainous, scenic roads in the direction of the Adriatic Sea. After another stretch of coastline, the motorcoach will return to the Marche’s hinterland to reach the Republic of San Marino, the oldest independent republic of Europe. The participants will lodge at the 4-star Grand Hotel San Marino for the last three nights of the tour. Because of its small size, the participants will have enough time to explore the town and do some shopping between the trips to other cities.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
Day 18 (September 24) will be spent mostly in the town of Urbino, the sixth UNESCO World Heritage Site. The cradle of a splendid Renaissance civilization, Urbino remains one of Italy’s most significant and fascinating towns from a cultural, artistic and historical viewpoint. A profound sense of continuity with the past exudes from Urbino, not only because the testimonies to its fame and splendor have survived unaltered, but also because the town has remained a cultured center of great prestige which attracts students, scholars and artists from all over Italy and abroad.
Meals included: buffet breakfast + farewell dinner at the “Hosteria de’ mirecul”
Most of Day 19 (September 25) will be dedicated to visiting Ravenna, another historically and artistically important town near the Adriatic Sea which, at one time, was the capital of the Western Roman Empire, and, at another time, the seat of the Byzantine dominion in Italy. In 1820-21 Ravenna was the residence of Lord Byron, the colorful English poet and satirist. Presently Ravenna is best known for its vast patrimony of art treasures, especially its incomparable mosaics which have made it famous all over the world.
Meals included: buffet breakfast
On Day 20 (September 26), the last day of the land portion of the tour, the motorcoach will leave Ravenna for Venice, where the participants will have a choice of boarding a plane for home, taking a train for other destinations in Europe, or simply extending their Adriatic tour by visiting or re-visiting on their own the “Queen of the Adriatic.” |
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