1. Day – Arrival

We meet today in Dubrovnik - the city of a unique political and cultural history (the Dubrovnik Republic, the Statute from 1272), of world-famous cultural heritage and beauty (inscribed on the List of World Heritage Sites by UNESCO). Dubrovnik is one of the most attractive and famous cities of the Mediterranean. The sightseeing of Dubrovnik and its monuments requires several days. However, already a walk through Stradun, through narrow streets and small squares, monumental ramparts and fortresses, provides enough opportunities to experience the millennial beauty of its shell-shaped urban core, centuries of building, stone-cutting, carving and engraving, the history of the Duke's Palace, libraries, the oldest pharmacy in the south of Europe, etc.

We will have a welcome dinner together tonight!

2. Day – Sea kayak around city walls of Dubrovnik

Today we will discover Dubrovnik from a different “angle”. We will have a guided Sea Kayaking tour around city walls of Dubrovnik and visit cave Betina. The magnificent walls rising from the sea and the view of the old harbor will make an unforgettable effect on you. Easy rowing in kayaks and the tour round the old walls are an excellent opportunity to get to know the city of Dubrovnik from the sea.

Optional: in the late afternoon we will have a guided walk of the old town.

Activities: Sea Kayak tour 12km
Duration: 3-4 h
 (Sit on top single sea kayak; the tour starts between the fortresses Bokar and Lovrijenac below the Pile Gate of  the old town of Dubrovnik . After going round the walls you sunbathe on the beach in the cave Betina which is very close to the city.)

3. Day – National Park Mljet

We board a ferry today to Island Mljet. . Island Mljet is unique among Dalmatian islands, covered with  thick pine and oak forests! The legend says that both Odysseus and Saint Paul were shipwrecked here and spent some quality time here…. On Mljet island, we will visit the Benedictine monastery and St. Mary's Church built in 12th century by the Benedictines from Monte Gargano, Italy. It is located on the islet in the middle of the great lake where we will have lunch together today.
We will have  bike fitting today in the afternoon and suggest a test ride. Dinner is on your own tonight in one of the many family run konobas!

Activities: visit to Benedictine monastery, bike fitting and test ride

4. Day Odysseus cave and Ston-longest fortified walls in Europe

Today we will bike to the oldest village on the Island. In the past it was the most important place on the island. Inhabitants were growing wine grapes, cutting trees and exporting them all over Croatia and Italy…it was never a tourist place. We will walk through its labyrinth of narrow and steep streets, and quiet and abandoned houses. Some of them are empty and locked like this for years, when their owners left the island….After a short sightseeing we continue through the olive groves, bush and karsts area to visit the secret Odyssey’s cave. A story says that Odysseus was sailing back home from his adventures and found  shelter here after surviving a shipwreck. Odysseus swam into the cave for shelter and there the nymph Calypso, daughter of Poseidon, God of the sea, waited for him. Amazed by the beauty of the nature and in love with Calypso, Odysseus stayed on the island for 7 years. The sea exit from the cave is really small and nowadays local fisherman keep and maintain their boats and nets during the winter. . We take the ferry and continue our ride along Peljesac peninsula to Ston, passing the famous Ston Salt works which made The Dubrovnik Republic rich in the past, independent and important. Ston and Mali Ston, well known for  the longest fortified city walls in Europe and famous for its oysters and mussels from the famous oyster beds which we highly recommend to try. Dinner on your own tonight



Activities: -  Bike ride 30 km;  Pomena – Babino polje,   Walk  to Odysseus cave, continue to bike to Sobra, visit Salt works

5. Day Peljesac  and Marco Polo’s home

After a walk along the longest fortified walls in Europe  we travel  through Peljesac peninsula, home of Croatian best known red wines Dingac and Postup, made from the Plavac Mali vines, close cousin to Zinfandel of California, and Primitivo from Calabria.  We will pass through vineyards of Dingac located on the south side of Peljesac. This is a very special and important place for wine makers. After a bike ride visit to a local winery for wine tasting and lunch.  In Orebic, a place where rich ancient Croatian seamen built amazing houses, we will embark ferry for Korcula Island. Town Korcula’s historical centre is built on a small peninsula which narrows the passage between the island and the mainland to a bare 1270 meters. The very possibility to control the navigation routes of galleys and sailing boats along the eastern coast of the Adriatic at this place was the reason for the foundation of the small town-fortress that impressed many a medieval writer and travel writers, and it deterred, by its fortification, many invaders.

Activities: walk Ston walls,  bike ride Trstenik- Potomje aprox 14 km : visit an vinery and have a lunch 

6. Day Island Hvar

Today we have free time in the morning to explore or drink coffee in Korcula town, before taking the boat to Hvar Island. Ancient Greeks settled the island of Hvar in the 4th century BC. We will explore the island’s Hvar north side by bike. This is the last day on the bikes!

We start the ride in Stari Grad, literally Old Town, and the oldest settlement on the island, and one of the first on all the Adriatic islands. The town’s architecture is a complex of Greek walls, Roman Mosaics, the complex of streets built in the Middle Ages and above all Tvrdalj - the Renaissance fortified castle with a fish-pond and park constructed by the Croatian poet Petar Hektorović (author of Ribanje i ribarsko prigovaranje - "Fishing and Fishermen's Narrations"). The first part of ride today is relatively flat and takes us through lavender and rosemary fields, quiet stone built villages, and along the narrow “fjord” between Vrboska and Jelsa
Our second destination, Vrboska, is an adorable small harbour famous for its fortified church. Unique in all of Croatia, the church is a result of a strange but necessary alliance between the church and the need for fortification from invaders. . From here we ride the flat and scenic road on the edge of the “fjord” filled with small coves perfect for a cooling dip (don't forget your swimsuit!). We bike to Jelsa, for many years a simple fishing port.
Dinner together today!
Activities: bike ride: 20 – km,  

7. Day  Sea Kayak tour Pakleni Otoci and Hvar town

Explore beautiful town Hvar; with its seven century-old walls and fortifications,  that became powerful in the Middle Ages being an important port for the Venetian Republic . There is an impressive collection of Venetian architecture, including the central square, which is  entirely paved with marble and is the largest in Dalmatia; the 17th-century Venetian arsenal, which houses a beautiful theater and the 15th-century Franciscan monastery whose gardens overlook the sea and contain a 300-year-old cypress, Venetian loggia, old Piazza and the oldest municipal Theatre in Europe. Today  we set off to the group of small islands called the Pakleni. The origin of the name goes back to old days when the islands were the main source of rosin for local shipbuilders. Today, just like then, the islands are covered with thick pine woods providing refreshing shade even during the hottest summer days. Besides the well-known beach of Palmizana, the route through narrow straits and along the islands reveals to you small hidden pebble beaches where you can enjoy the privilege of having, at least temporarily, a beach of your own..  

Dinner on your own
Activities: Sea kayak 3 -4 hours

8.Day Split and its interior

 
We catch a ferry to Split this morning and have a guided walking tour  of Diocletian’s palace. After check into hotel free time for lunch in Split and then  we continue to river Cetina. Following the river stream in a canoe we arrive in one of the forgotten villages of the ancient Republic of Poljica, where we will meet the typical local culture and  have our farewell dinner in a rustic hamlet!



Activities: Guided sightseeing of Split, river canoe

9.Day End of tour

Breakfast,  End of tour

Thank you for joining us and we hope you liked discovering Dalmatia in a different and unique way.