Since this new two-week route is definitely the highlight of our cruises we can name it the "Royal route". We will visit UNESCO enlisted towns of Trogir, Split, and Dubrovnik, "forbidden islands" of Vis and Lastovo and "the land of Black Hills" Monte Negro, which has been an independent state since May 2006. During a whole day trip by bus we will enjoy the heights of mountain Lovcen over Kotorski bay, visit the old royal town Cetnje and walk around the old town center of Budva. Don't forget your passports!
Saturday
Boarding in Trogir between 11:30 and 13:00 hours and shortly after we release our ropes. We stop in one of bays on Ciovo island where we have a chance to take our first swimming break. We sail further towards Makarska Riviera known for its beautiful pebbled beaches which stretch like a row of shiny white pearls separated by small rocks. We stay the night in Omis, Brela, Baska Voda or Makarska. In the evening guests that arrive later by plane will be taken from the airport to Omis or Makarska Riviera.
Sunday
We pass near the island of Brac and Hvar and sail towards Peljesac, famous for its excellent red wine. After swimming break in one of Peljesac bay, we head towards the island of Korcula. Korcula has one of the most beautiful old towns in Dalmatia and is often called "Little Dubrovnik" due to its fortification walls. The island was called "Black Island" in the Antique due to its pine forests which are spread across it. We will spend the night in birthplace of a famous seaman Marko Polo.
Monday
Our journey continues southwards, we will take swimming break in Elafite islands before we pass unique features of Dubrovnik and will arrive to our today's goal, pleasant port of small town Cavtat. We spend the night in Cavtat port or anchor in one of nearby bays.
Tuesday
After breakfast and clearing custom formalities in Cavtat, we start our drive. In two hours time we reach the southernmost part of Croatia and leave Croatian waters behind on our way to Monte Negro. We enter the Kotorski bay, which cut 25 km into land, surrounded by high hills. After border control in Zelenik, we drive further into Kotorski bay and reach the islet of "Lady of Skrpjelo". This islet was artificially made of rocks by buriing them into an underwater reef. There you can visit the baroque church built in 1630 with over 70 oil paintings from the second half of the 17th century, and a museum with Greek and Latin inscriptions and weapons and paintings with motifs of seamen from Perast between the 16th and 19th century. Only several minutes further by boat lies the town of Perast where we'll spend the night. Due to developed maritime and shipbuilding, Perast economy was blooming in 17th and 18th century. Perast fleet counted 100 ships in those days.
Wednesday
We continue our drive to Kotor, which lies at the end of the bay. Unique town walls as well as St. Ivan hill (260m) from the background surround a small triangular-shaped town center. Town walls are altogether 5 km long, 3-15 m wide and reach up to 20 m. After we dock in Kotor port, we meet up with a tourist guide who will take us for a whole day bus trip and show us the beauty of " land of Black Hills ". From Kotor we drive on narrow serpentine streets that lead to mountain Lovcen where we can enjoy the view over the entire Kotor bay. We will stop at Njeguši village, which is famous for its prosciutto. There, we can have brunch with prosciutto, sheep cheese, fresh backed bread and red wine Vranac. Later, we head further to Cetinje, former capital of Monte Negro and former residence of Montenegrian kings. During the sightseeing of this town we can visit the castle of Montenegrian king Nikola. You will be surprised when you find out about the importance of his diplomatic relations; he was called the "European father in law". He was skilled in marrying his beautiful daughters into European royal families. After Cetinje, we head towards the coast. We make a short photo break above the island of St. Stefan, former pirate nest and today's exclusive hotel. After that we drive to Budva, which is the most important tourist center on the coast of Monte Negro where we stroll through the old town's center, which was completely devastated in an earthquake in 1979 and had been again rebuilt and renovated in the late 1980-ies. After the sightseeing you will have enough time on your own to walk around town, have something to drink or eat, or even swim if you choose to bring your swimming stuff with you. We would recommend visiting beautiful beach Mogren that lies only 5 minutes away from Budva's old town center on foot. We return to boat for dinner at 20:00 and spend the night in Kotor port.
Thursday
After breakfast you can walk some more through the streets of the old Kotor, a town with a long maritime tradition that used to compete with Dubrovnik in its riches. Around 10 in the morning we reach the border control because we leave Kotor and Monte Negro. After a four-hour drive we reach Cavtat. After border control we drive to a bay nearby for a swim before we continue for a fisherman village Zaton Veliki where we spend the night.
Friday
Boat drive to Gruz port in Dubrovnik takes only half an hour. Distance to the old town center is half-an-hour by foot or by bus, which stops near our boat. The bus comes every 15 min, ticket costs 10 kn, and the last drive of the day is at 2:00 am. The rest of the day is yours to find out more about this unique town. Take a walk through Stradun and town walls and learn more about many interesting sights.
Saturday
Use the free afternoon to find out more about Dubrovnik. During lunch we leave the "pearl of the Adriatic" and drive to Elafite islands. Now you have enough time to gather you impressions from Monte Negro and Dubrovnik in peace and of course take a swim in the crystal blue sea. We'll spend the evening and night in one of the fishermen villages on Elafite islands.
Sunday
We drive slowly towards Pomena bay on the island of Mljet. One part of the island is a National Park with two salt-water lakes (there is a small islet in the bigger lake with a former convent) that are connected by a narrow canal to the sea. You can visit the National Park (entrance ticket which includes a boat drive to the convent is 13€ and you pay it at the entrance to the Park). We recommend swimming in one of the salt-water lakes whose temperature is always 2°C higher than the sea temperature.
Monday
We head towards the island of Lastovo, which was closed to foreign visitors for decades because it served as a military base for the former state army. Because of this, the island is completely preserved and is a true Mediterranean oasis of peace. After a swim break we drive to Ubli port that is the capital of Lastovo. In case of bad weather we drive to Vela Luka on the island of Korèula.
Tuesday
Today we head to another long forbidden island – island of Vis. The island, as well as Lastovo, was closed to visitors until the late 1980-ies. There used to be a military air force takeoff and landing runway on the island. Meanwhile, local residents have planted grapevine that has been growing there ever since. We spend the night in Komiža port, a peaceful quiet town on the western part of the island.
Wednesday
Only five miles south of Komiža lies the island of Biševo and its famous Blue cave. Around noon sunrays are reflected through the underwater entrance to the cave and create fascinating shades of blue. This unique spectacle can be seen only when the sea is calm and the weather is sunny. You can enter the cave in a small boat (ca. 5-7 persons, not included in the price). From Biševo we head to the island of Hvar, which is famous for its mild climate and fields of lavender. you can buy lavender there – either as essential oil in small bottles or dried in small bags which will scent your closet or serve as an excellent protection against moths. Hvar is the capital of the same named island situated beneath a fortress that overlooks Pakleni islands. We'll spend the night in Hvar or one of the bays nearby.
Thursday
We head further towards Stari Grad, the oldest inhabited town on the island of Hvar. Stari Grad, once named Pharos, was former capital of the island. Present capital is the town of Hvar. Many sights still witness about the splendor of Stari Grad's past days, such as palace Hektoroviæ. Today, Stari Grad is the capital of wine industry on the island. Every year at the end of September it gets very crowded in front of wine cellars when wine makers deliver their grapes. From Stari Grad we head to town Bol on the island of Braè. There lies one of the most beautiful beaches on the Mediterranean – "Zlatni rat", which constantly changes shape due to ever-changing sea currents. Of course, you can enjoy swimming and sunbathing on this famous beach. We spend the night in Bol.
Friday
Our first goal of today is to visit Split, second largest town in Croatia and capital of Dalmatia. This 1700 year old town originated from Roman emperor Diocletian palace which is presently under the auspices of UNESCO. After a sightseeing tour around town we return to our starting point of this two-week journey - Trogir. Before we arrive to Trogir port we anchor in a bay to take one more swimming break in the Adriatic.
Saturday
Departure after breakfast around 9 am.
