Star Collector: Summering in Southern Italy & Croatia

Cruise overview

See Italy and the Dalmatian Riviera at their summer best, when tomatoes, basil and eggplant are in season, lavender in Calabria and Hvar is in bloom, and the weather is perfect for exploring technicolor grottos, lush islands, and dazzling national parks. The stunning Amalfi Coast is your appetizer, its terraces dotted with citrus fruits, vines and olive trees, and its covered passageways leading to shops selling handcrafted paper and everything lemon. Calabria holds a wealth of riches from golden beaches and palm-lined promenades to cone-headed trulli houses and whitewashed cave dwellings. A day in Venice is yours to design, although Ravenna may steal some of its thunder with its trove of mosaics – each colored glass, marble or gold tesserae no bigger than a fingernail and placed with care on walls and ceilings. A monumental task that predated Michelangelo’s Sistine Chapel by a thousand years. Take in Piran’s Venetian charms in a thin slice of Slovenia sandwiched between Italy and Croatia, then relax and unwind in the Dalmatian Riviera. Listen to Zadar’s sea organ give the Adriatic a voice, walk the streets of a living museum town in Trogir, and taste lavender honey on Hvar before ending your voyage in Dubrovnik.