Croatia Intensive tour with time in Italy.

Welcome to smaller-ship-cruising on the Adriatic Sea!

Let's just jump right in. The solo travel group was loaded with 16 people for this cruise on the Azamara Quest in April 2025. I added a few days to the front end and back end of the cruise to enjoy more time in Italy. I arrived in Venice for Easter Weekend and learned quickly this area is a hot spot for holiday travelers, plus it's a "Jubilee Year" for the Christian Pilgrimages bringing people from near and far to receive Holy blessings.

Venice, Italy

Here are some photographs of Venice. I took a watercolor painting lesson with a well-regarded artist, Nicola Tenderini. He has a website and gallery in the Dorsoduro area of Venice (links embedded.) After the painting class, I toured the Basilica of St. Mark's and Doge's Palace. Truly spectacular works of art and a beautiful start to vacation. The following day was Easter Sunday and decided to go back to the Basilica to attend Mass. I didn't understand much as was in Italian. Another incredible experience to witness Easter Mass at such a historical locale. In the photos, the "golden altar" is draped in a red cloth, hidden from view. The guide said the special altar is brought out for Easter Mass each year. Luckily, I was able to see it at the Mass despite the crowd. Photos and video to follow. I also ventured out for some evening photography in Venice. Most photos are in the Rialto Bridge area where there are many shops and restaurants. The arched entry way is the fish market building.

Quick visit to Florence, Italy

Just a couple hours on the high-speed train had me in Florence in no time. Just a quick overnight side trip to see a new city. Great hotel (Rivoli Boutique Hotel) within a short-ish walk to the Duomo Cathedral. Sadly, the tour operator didn't show for the Duomo tour! Guess that means another trip to Florence some day! Great food and a beautiful sunset at Piazzale Michangelo with a few hundred friends for photos. The next morning was a museum tour of the Accademia to see Michael Angelo's DAVID and other great works. Next a nice lunch and a lovely complimentary hour at the Spa at Rivoli before heading back to Venice to meet the other travelers for our cruise.

Let the Cruise begin....

Azamara Cruises - I had never heard of them before this trip. Their ships are smaller luxury vessels and the Quest held about 680 passengers and 1200 crew members. The food was fantastic with a culinary team from around the world. The lineup of ports focused on Croatia and one port in Montenegro. I'll give a quick summary and please reach out if you want more information - or - if I can help you book a cruise!

The first port: Opatija, Croatia

Opatija is a very small port and averages less than 10 ships in port per year. Our ship was small and we still had to tender in/out of port. It would seem they rely on tourism when they can and the locals all seemed very friendly. The town is very walkable and has a promenade and gardens adjacent to the port. I didn't do any excursions here and just struck out on my own. My research revealed that Nikola Tesla lived here for a long time when he was younger; therefore, Opatija was one of the first towns to have electricity and services from power. The town itself seemed vibrant with flowers, clean streets, a fresh market in the center of town, along with hotels and restaurants.

Zadar, Croatia

Zadar ended up being one of my favorite ports. We did a Solo Travelers Group Tour to Plitvice National Park - it was amazing. First, I'll say that Plitvice Waterfalls are in a class of their own. We hiked down into the falls - quite literally. In total we hiked over 6 miles and mostly in the rain. It was cold and muddy, but this old gal made it just fine. Maybe a little slower than the group, but I'm proud of myself for this accomplishment. In the photos you can see the elevated walkway just above the water. This was the trail. Just inches above the rushing water! Amazing experience!

Also in the Port of Zadar there is a Sea Organ. It activates the notes/octaves of an organ with the waves from the sea. I'll share a video and click HERE for more information. In addition to the Sea Organ, there is another feature at the port called "Salutations to the Sun" or "Sun Greetings." It's a large circle with solar powered features that come on at dusk. It basically is a light show powered by the sun. I have a video of that as well.

The people of Zadar were amazing. As the cruise ship departure time got closer, people came out to see the ship off and enjoy the light show. They cheered and waved their cell phone lights at us. You can hear the three long horn blows from the ship. And just as we were leaving, the Salutations to the Sun light show began. It was pretty cool to see all that from the balcony.

Split, Croatia

A few of us from the group did a guided Ultimate Tour of Split on a Riksa. I didn't know what a Riksa was - it's a bicycle that a driver pedals and hauls people around in the cart. In this case it was an e-bike with a cart, so I didn't feel too guilty about being bicycled around and the driver had the electrified pedal assist. We had 2 amazing ladies guiding us. They each were a wealth of information with Split's extensive history and current events. They were in school and working as many hours as possible to make a difference. Split has a school of tourism, and I'd say these two ladies will be making a difference for future generations. I found and booked this tour through Viator and you can request Mounass and Roza to be your guides! They even treated us to a cold beverage at our stop on the beach! We covered several miles in and around Split including Diocletian's Palace. I finally got my feet in the Adriatic Sea and also picked up some sea glass. The back story on the ginormous wizard and his foot - supposedly you rub his big toe for luck (that's why it's shiny.) After the tour we had free time to shop, get a beverage, and linger around Split. Split is another fortified area and includes the old stone fortress built back in the 8th century (some of it still standing.) The town was about 3/4 mile from the ship. Later that evening we enjoyed a "White Party" with all things white, including dancing.

Dubrovnik, Croatia

This was a repeat port for me having visited in 2023. I stayed on the ship and took advantage of having the pool to myself most of the day. I did venture into the Walled City of Dubrovnik in the late afternoon after the crowds dissipated. These were some of my favorite photos of the trip! Back on the ship, we had a Cultural night with Croatian dancers and local food for dinner.

Kotor, Montenegro

Kotor was another favorite port! There was a lot of hype around the entrance to the port itself. The Captain said it was the fjord of the Adriatic surrounded by mountains. Our ship was much smaller than others and was able to dock right in the town. Other ships had to anchor a ways out and use tender boats to get to the port. The city was old! It is fortified from prior wars all the back to the 9th and 10th centuries. The city center is "walled" similar to Split and Dubrovnik. We toured inside the Walls and then went up to the top of one mountain by way of a chair lift. The views were incredible! We climbed 4,300 feet in elevation in 11 minutes. And burr! Another interesting fact, Kotor is known for its stray cats. We saw several! There's also a cat museum and a volunteer group that feeds the cats and manages spay/neuter clinics and ensures cardboard boxes are distributed so the cats have somewhere to sleep. People leave out food and water for the kitties as well. And the cats were just hanging out, but there weren't dozens and dozens (in my mind that's what I imagined.)

Last port - Sibenik (pronounced she-BEN-ick)

Several of us from the group took an excursion to Roca Family Farm - which ended up being a pig farm and vineyard. GREAT food with all things pork and an amazing cherry Grappa. The Roka Family were very hospitable and we had a great time sampling their soup, prosciutto, and sausages. I also had the pleasure of meeting a semi-famous person sitting at our table: former Carolina Tarheels Football Coach, Greg Davis. He coached with Mack Brown back in the day. You never know who you'll meet on a cruise. There was another well-known person - or maybe a look-alike - we couldn't tell. See if you can figure out who it is in the photo collage.

Cruise is over - back to Venice for a few days

The cruise ended with almost everyone in our travel group suffering with a respiratory illness - no fun! I was glad to have a few more days to recover before flying home. We stayed in Lido (a barrier island) with much less people. It was a nice change. Another great hotel stay, this time on Lido (Panorama Hotel). On a free day, I explored the islands of Murano (known for glass blowing) and Burano (known for lace making). The islands were really neat and well worth the effort to visit if you're in the area of Venice. Burano is also known for it's colorful houses as well. Great photo opportunities! The hotel was adjacent to the public water taxi station which made it convenient to escape the crowds of Venice (proper) and still have access to the great restaurants and shops.

That's a wrap!

Headed back to Asheville and back to work the next morning. This one took me a bit to bounce back as the respiratory situation lasted way longer than normal. Another great trip in the books and one new country explored (Montenegro!) I learned some things and gained more confidence in myself regarding International travel. At this point, I'm booking travel FOR OTHERS to enjoy travel. I don't have anything booked for myself at this time! If you need a trip planned or booked, hit me up! My email is lisa.hale@fora.travel or you can find me at FORA TRAVEL.

If you've read this far - thank you! Here are some odd/funny/random pictures from the trip. Also, if you found Joe Biden's look-alike, did you think it looked like him? This man stared off into space for a good 10 minutes at the pool one day - no kidding! The other man that stood out to me was with the group of dancers - there was a man with the longest eyebrows I've ever seen on a person. Once I saw his eyebrows, I couldn't see anything else. No bloopers to share from this trip and the only wildlife I saw was a big worm on the waterfall hike.