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Buongiorno! Welcome to Italy. Your adventure begins in the floating city of Venice. You’ll be collected from the airport and transferred to your hotel by car and water taxi. You’ll meet your leader and fellow travellers at a welcome meeting at 6 pm. If you arrive early, there’s plenty to explore among the bridges, towers, piazzas, canals, churches and gondolas – practically unchanged for 600 years.

Maybe walk to St Mark’s Square and the Basilica, Doges’ Palace, Accademia Bridge and the Bridge of Sighs. After the meeting tonight, join your leader and group for a welcome dinner at a local restaurant. Venice is famous for seafood and fresh Veneto vegetables – perhaps try some fritto misto (a mix of fried seafood) or risotto with asparagus.

Say farewell to Venice this morning and travel to Ljubljana – a city full of style and sophistication. When you arrive, take a guided tour around the Old Town. Learn about the city’s history as you visit Ljubljana Castle, the Town Hall, the Cathedral of St Nicholas and the Dragon Bridge. You’ll also visit the open market before continuing to the lakeside town of Bled. The evening is yours to relax and enjoy your scenic surroundings.

This morning you’ll drive through the misty Sava Bohinjka Valley to beautiful Lake Bohinj – the largest permanent natural lake in Slovenia. Take a cable car to the top of Mt Vogel, where you’ll be greeted by views of evergreen woods sloping down the mountains to blue waters. Take some time to enjoy the area before returning to Bled – renowned for its mild, healing climate and thermal lake water.

Have lunch at a local restaurant, then take a pletna boat ride (a wooden, awning-covered boat rowed by a special oarsman) to the island on Lake Bled and climb up the 99 steps to St Mary’s Church. Enjoy a free evening where you can seek out the famous Bled cream cake (nearly every cafe and cake shop in town claims that theirs is the best).

This morning, begin your day with a visit to the Postojna Caves. This 20-km (12. 4 mi) network of passages, galleries and chambers is the largest classic karst cave in Europe. Take an open-top train ride through narrow tunnels into the jungle of stalactites and stalagmites, before your leader explains the geology of this natural wonder.

Continue to Motovun – sitting atop a cone-shaped hill and surrounded by the bountiful Mirna River Valley. The forests here are famous for truffle hunting. Today, you’ll have the chance to sample this local product combined with fritaja (Croatian omelet), a local speciality, on a visit to a family-owned farm. Then, head to the hilltop village of Buzet, which sits on top of a hill and is filled with traditional Istrian houses and streets.

Today, make the most of a late morning before heading to the villages of Slunj and Rastoke on the banks of the Korana River. Take a walk through the beautifully preserved villages and admire the traditional wooden houses and water mills. From here, head to your hotel just outside Plitvice Lakes National Park. When you arrive, you have the option to head out on a leisurely walk with your leader to get your bearings. Then, the rest of the afternoon and evening is free for you to spend at your leisure.

Early this morning, you’ll explore one of Croatia’s most beautiful sites before the crowd arrive – Plitvice Lakes National Park. This UNESCO World Heritage site is a fairytale land of wooded hills, turquoise lakes and waterfalls. Your local guide will show you a quiet, alternative route, so you can experience a side of the park few visitors see while learning about the natural environment as you walk. After, drive to the walled city of Zadar.

Take an afternoon city tour with a local guide, learning the ancient history of the Roman Forum, built in the 1st century, and St Donatus’ Church. Visit the reconstructed Romanesque Church of St Chrysogonus, St Mary’s bell tower, St Anastasia’s Cathedral, and the People’s Square. Finally, visit the Three and Five Wells Squares. There is also an opportunity to visit the Gold and Silver Museum. In the late afternoon, top off the day with a local food tasting, including prosciutto, pancetta, dried sausages, goat cheese and olives, and sample maraschino, a sweet cherry brandy originating from Zadar. After, relax and enjoy a drink overlooking the bay.

The day is yours to continue to get to know Zadar. There are several excellent museums to visit, including the Museum of Church Art, the Archaeological Museum and the National Museum. Don’t forget to visit the famous ‘Greeting to the Sun’ and the ‘Sea Organ’, two of the more modern sights of Zadar. The latter is a manmade organ on Zadar’s Riva that works with the motion of the waves and 35 pipes to create a musical soundscape. Maybe visit the vibrant fish markets of this port town, take a dip in the clear coastal waters, or explore the cafe culture and do some people-watching.

You’re in for a treat today – heads out for a Signature Experience in Tugare, a small 14th-century village with original structures and stone houses that reflect its past. Head to a local family home, where you’ll be greeted with a welcome drink of homemade rakija and a traditional dessert. Then, help prepare soparnik, a protected regional dish, with time to talk to your friendly hosts. While the soparnik is cooking, you’ll tour the village with a local guide who will explain what you’re seeing in this abandoned village.

Then, go enjoy that delicious soparnik you made! After, continue to Split, Croatia’s second-largest city. It’s an enviable spot in the heart of the Dalmatian coast, set on the azure waters of the Adriatic Sea and sitting against a backdrop of coastal mountains. Check into your Feature Stay accommodation – a boutique hotel with centuries of history (it started its life in the 1700s as the first cafe in Split!), situated on the most beautiful square in the city.

This evening you may like to head to one of Split’s restaurants with your group for dinner.

Your adventure comes to and end after breakfast this morning. If you would like to extend your stay in Split, just get in touch with your booking agent to organise additional accommodation.