• Overview
• Day by Day
• Practicalities

Tour Overview

Hanging necklace-like along the Adriatic coast, Dalmatia has deep historical roots embedded in many competing cultural identities. Illyrian tribesman held out until the Greeks took charge, followed by the Romans who created Dalmatia as a province. When the eastern half of the Roman Empire metamorphosed into “Byzantium”, a continuous oscillation of power between constantly warring forces dominated the complex Slavic migrations of the medieval period. Subsequent Venetian, Ottoman and Habsburg expansion would carry the area imperially towards the artificial ‘Land of the Southern Slavs’, what eventually became Yugoslavia.

Winston Churchill once remarked that “The Balkans produce more history than can be consumed locally” and Yugoslavia was carried forward to chaos on the crescendo of socio-political tensions which led to the fall of the Soviet world and its satellite communist states. The intense tragedy of break-up within Yugoslavia eventually led to a peaceful and independent Croatia, a nation which today has found its place in the wider community of European nations. Part Slavic, part Mediterranean and part mittel Europa, a rich cultural tapestry is woven into its history, architecture and cuisine.

Given the physical length of Dalmatia we shall stay in two locally rated 4* and one locally rated 5* hotels. The Hotel President is ideally located just outside the old town of Split whilst the Adriana on the island of Hvar looks directly onto the town’s charming little port. The Grand Villa Argentina is just that, with a terraced formal garden overlooking the sea and a spectacular view of Dubrovnik’s walled old town.