Zagreb to Tirana

Itin­er­ary

Day 1: ZAGREB

Pick up at the air­port and trans­fer to the hotel. Once you’ve set­tled down, we are tak­ing you on a tour of the city cen­tre where you will see the most famous sights of Zagreb. You can choose between two pos­si­ble routes for your visit of the city. The first is ded­i­cated mostly to the city’s his­tor­i­cal land­marks and the sight­see­ing starts at the Main Square, from where we move on to the Zagreb Cathe­dral and con­tinue through Tkalčićeva Street and the “Bloody Bridge” (Krvavi Most) to the Stone Gate and St Mark’s Church. We end our tour vis­it­ing the Lotrščak Tower and tak­ing a pleas­ant ride on the Zagreb Funic­u­lar. The alter­na­tive route is a panoramic one, as we will take you for a ride on the Zagreb horse­shoe: we will visit the Zrin­je­vac Square, the King Tomis­lav Square, the Botan­i­cal gar­den and the Croa­t­ian National The­ater. Later on, we will make a short visit to Mak­simir, Zagreb’s old­est pub­lic park and the Mirogoj ceme­tery. After the walk, it’s time for you to relax over a nice wel­come din­ner with spe­cial­ties of the local cui­sine. Overnight in a 3*/4* hotel.

Day 2: ZAGREB — CROA­T­IAN ZAGORJE

After break­fast we are tak­ing you on a beau­ti­ful day trip where you will explore the most famous Croa­t­ian castles,Trakošćan and Veliki Tabor. The region is very pop­u­lar for its wine so you will have chance to try some very good wine and taste the local spe­cialites. In the after­noon we will come back in Zagreb and you will have the rest of the day free to enjoy the cap­i­tal and to have din­ner. Overnight in a 3*/4* hotel.

Day 3: ZAGREB — PLITVICE LAKES — ZADAR

After break­fast we will take a pleas­ant drive from Zagreb and visit the most beau­ti­ful and famous national park in Croa­tia — Plitvice Lakes NP, con­tain­ing a series of 16 lakes, caves and water­falls. We’ll enjoy the breath-​taking view of the waters flow­ing over the nat­ural dams which in turn have cre­ated a series of beau­ti­ful lakes, caves and water­falls. The forests in the park are home to some wild ani­mals such as bears, wolves and many rare bird species. We will take a 4 hour walk­ing tour of the park and con­tinue towards Zadar in the after­noon. After check­ing in to your accom­mo­da­tion, we’ll have a pleas­ant tour of the city. Zadar is an extra­or­di­nary city — not too crowded, it isn’t over­run with tourists and its two unique attrac­tions, the sound-​and-​light spec­ta­cle of the Sea Organ and Sun Salu­ta­tion, need to be seen and heard to be believed. The mix of beau­ti­ful Roman archi­tec­ture, Hab­s­burg ele­gance, a won­der­ful seafront and some unsightly ordi­nary office blocks is what gives Zadar so much char­ac­ter. Overnight in a 3*/4* hotel.

Day 4: ZADAR — TRO­GIR — SPLIT

After break­fast we will take a very scenic drive on the Dal­ma­t­ian coast where are first stop will be Tro­gir where your guide will take you on a walk through its nar­row streets and rich his­tory. We will visit St. Lawrence Cathe­dral, Radovan’s por­tal (the most sig­nif­i­cant medieval por­tal on this part of Europe), Palace of Cipico, Tower of Kamer­lengo and many more. We are head­ing to Split, free time for din­ner. Overnight in a 3*/4* hotel.

Day 5: SPLIT

After break­fast, your local guide will intro­duce you to the ancient yet thriv­ing city of Split. The heart of Split is the city’s majes­tic Cathe­dral that rises from within the 1700 year old walls of Diocletian’s Palace, a UNESCO World Her­itage site and one of the most sig­nif­i­cant and best pre­served struc­tures of the late ancient archi­tec­ture. Our walk­ing tour takes us to the Peri­style in cen­tre of the palace, the Roman tem­ples, the famous Golden Gate and the big statue of Grgur Nin­ski. The rest of the day is free so you can relax on the beach. Overnight in a 3*/4* hotel.

Day 6: SPLIT — HVAR

After break­fast we will go by boat to visit one of the 10 most beau­ti­ful islands in the world, Hvar. After we dock, it’s time for our local pro­fes­sional guide to take you on a walk­ing tour of this mem­o­rable town. On the tour you will dis­cover the essence of Mediter­ranean hos­pi­tal­ity and learn about the her­itage and his­tory of the entire island. After­words there’s time to explore more on your own — the craft and cus­tom jew­elry shop­ping here is excel­lent. Known world­wide for its excit­ing night life, by day, the clubs, restau­rants and cafes are just as enjoy­able — so have a drink, maybe some deli­cious grilled fresh fish, or just sit and watch life go by like Tom Cruise, Pince Harry and hun­dreds of other celebri­ties who come here do every year! Or, go for a swim, or take a hike up the wind­ing path that takes you all the up to the For­tica fortress. Inside there’s a fine col­lec­tion of old vases and other ancient and Middle-​Ages exca­va­tions and out­side is a breath­tak­ing panoramic view of the entire town of Hvar and our next des­ti­na­tion — the Pak­leni Islands. It’s just a few min­utes sail to Pak­leni but it’s a world away. Here you will have a plenty of free time to explore and swim in tran­quil bays framed by untouched nature. After enjoy­ing a day on these sun-​kissed Croa­t­ian islands, it will be a lovely cruise back to Split.

Day 7: SPLIT — MOSTAR

After break­fast we are head­ing to Bosnia and Herce­gov­ina where we will visit the famous city Mostar. The city of con­trasts, where “the east and west meet”, as you will observe vis­it­ing the tra­di­tional Kujundžiluk (old bazaar) and a con­tem­po­rary city cen­tre. Mostar is famous for its mag­nif­i­cent stone bridge Stari Most (Old Bridge), built in 1566. over the Neretva River. The city is divided by not only the Neretva River that flows through it but also by reli­gion and cul­ture from one bank to the other, as Mus­lims and Chris­tians live on oppo­site banks of the river. After a tra­di­tional bosn­ian din­ner, overnight in a 3*/4* hotel.

Day 8: MOSTAR — DUBROVNIK

After break­fast we are head­ing back to Croa­tia in Dubrovnik, also known as the “Pearl of the Adri­atic” is a stand­out attrac­tion and a per­fectly pre­served baroque city-​state. Your guide will take you on a sight­see­ing tour, which cov­ers all the major sights of Dubrovnik’s Old Walled City, will intro­duce you to its rich his­tory, cul­ture and fas­ci­nat­ing sto­ries: Onofrio’s Foun­tain, Pri­jeko Street, St. Saviour’s church (Crkva sv. Spasa), fortresses of St. Luke and St. John, church of St Blaise (Dubrovnik’s patron saint), the Cathe­dral, the Rector’s Palace, Sponza Palace and Orlando’s Col­umn. Later we are going to admire the amaz­ing panoramic view of Dubrovnik and the sur­round­ing islands from the mount Srđ, a 405-​meter ascent above sea level. Overnight in a 3*/4* hotel.

Day 9: DUBROVNIK — STON — PELJEŠAC

From Dubrovnik we are tak­ing you on the Croatia’s sec­ond longest penin­sula — Pel­ješac — famous for its red wine Din­gač and Postup, deli­cious oys­ters and mus­sels grow­ing in the brack­ish waters of Mali Ston bay. The town of Ston itself is renowned for its city walls and its salt ponds, all that less than an hour drive from the city of Dubrovnik. Ston is a gothic medieval city, which served as a mil­i­tary fort dur­ing the Ragu­san Repub­lic, sur­rounded by 6 kilo­me­tres long defen­sive walls, sec­ond in length only to the Great Chi­nese wall. We will also be pass­ing through the Din­gač Hills – most famous Croa­t­ian wine brand where grapes grow on 60 degree inclined slopes. We will seize the opportu­nity to taste the local wines such as Din­gač, Plavac, Postup and Posip and deli­cious home­made tra­di­tional liqueurs. The gas­tro­nomic tour will be fol­lowed by pro­sciutto, cheese, oys­ters and olive oil tast­ing to com­plete the expe­ri­ence of the local fra­grances and flavours! Drive back to Dubrovnik and overnight stay at a 3*/4* hotel.

Day 10: DUBROVNIK — KOTOR — BUDVA

Our Croa­t­ian jour­ney ends after break­fast and we are going to Mon­tene­gro. First we will explore Kotor Bay, one of the world’s 25 most beau­ti­ful bays and pro­tected UNESCO World Her­itage Site, is unde­ni­ably most impres­sive when approached from the sea. Due to its unusual look, the bay is often called Europe’s south­ern­most fjord, but in fact it’s a sub­merged river canyon. At the head of the bay lies the old city of Kotor, one of the most exquis­itely pre­served medieval cen­tres in the Mediter­ranean. We will con­tinue our trip to Budva. Overnight in a 3*/4* hotel.

Day 11: BUDVA

A full day on the coastal area around Budva, called the Bud­van­ska riv­i­jera, is the cen­tre of Montenegro’s tourism, and is well known for its sandy beaches, diverse nightlife, and beau­ti­ful exam­ples of Mediter­ranean archi­tec­ture. Overnight in a 3*/4*hotel.

Day 12: BUDVA — TIRANA

Check out from the hotel we are head­ing to Alba­nia. On the way to Tirana we stop at the small town of Kruja. Built on a moun­tain­side, you can dis­cover the old town and explore Kruja Cas­tle where we include entry to the Skan­der­beg Museum located inside. Skan­der­beg was a war hero of Alba­nia, help­ing defeat the Ottomans, and this museum focuses on his brav­ery and impor­tance to Alba­nia. We then head to Tirana, the trendy cap­i­tal and largest city of Alba­nia, which has trans­formed from a grey, dis­mal ex-​communist city, iso­lated by the regime until the 1990s, to a colour­ful cap­i­tal buzzing with life. While the city has a long his­tory, you can enjoy its mod­ern out­look, with fash­ion­able bars, and wan­der boule­vards lined with relics of the city’s Ottoman, clubs and bou­tiques, Ital­ian and com­mu­nist past. Tirana’s mas­sive main square, Sheshi Skën­der­bej, is bor­dered by the National His­tory Museum, the Palace of Cul­ture, the National Bank, the Et’hem Bey Mosque and Skanderbeg’s statue. A short bus ride from the cen­tre city, the Martyr’s Ceme­tery offers mar­vel­lous panoramic views over the city. Overnight in a 3*/4* hotel.

Day 13: TIRANA — BERAT

After break­fast at the hotel depart for Berat, a UNESCO World Her­itage Site. Being more than 2400 year old, the town it is one of the most attrac­tive towns in Alba­nia. Estab­lished in the 3^rd cen­tury B.C by an Illyr­ian tribe of cen­tral Alba­nia with a pro­tec­tive cas­tle, it was known as the for­ti­fied city of Antipa­trea. In 1417 the town was occu­pied by the Ottoman who built quite a few mosques in the area below the town’s old cas­tle. Berat is sit­u­ated at the foot of Tomorri Moun­tain and on the shores of Osum River. Built in white on a slope of green with the river at its feet, it offers a strik­ing view as soon as it becomes vis­i­ble. It is famous for its white-​washed houses with their many win­dows which seem to have been built on top of each other, that give it the nick­name “town of a thou­sand win­dows”. It retains a unique style of archi­tec­ture, with nar­row and stone paved streets. In the late after­noon we are going back to the hotel in Tirana.

Day 14: TIRANA, departure

Trans­fer to the air­port depend­ing on the flight.