I was on this tour Sept. 2023 and spent 2 extra days in Dubrovnik. Some of the activities I did during that time were: walked the walls, both Buza bars for a cocktail, War Photo museum (which was excellent), Maritime museum, I took a guided walking tour of the old city (similar but different enough than what Tauck does), went to mass at St.Blaise church, I had gone in to see the church not realizing mass was about to start and they closed the doors so I couldn't leave, the mass was in Spanish but an interesting experience. I had also planned to take the ferry to Lokrum island but ran out of time. You should find plenty to do that interests you with the extra days.
We arrived a day before the start of the tour and were able to spend time in Dubrovnik that day, and the early part of the first day of the tour (before the welcome dinner). Tauck takes you into the walled city of Dubrovnik as part of the tour. So, I would say no more than one day extra.
You can see what we did at https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2019-2Adriatic-01.htm
Spending extra time there is well worth it in my opinion. The old town area with its pedestrian walkways are great for strolling and tasting regional cuisine. Walking the city walls provides breathtaking views of the Adriatic. You can take a cable car—I did not. There are many museums, several of which focus on the history of the area. Inside the Franciscan Church (its proper name fails me) is a small museum with artifacts from one of Europe's oldest pharmacies. I found that to be fascinating. I did this on independent travel, so I do not know if any of the aforementioned mirrors Tauck's excursions. And yes, the bar(s) as mentioned by JDS11, even if it is just for a look inside. Enjoy!
PeterJeffrey - The black risotto is a staple there and delicious, as well as all the dishes featuring octopus. Please post a review afterwards if you can. It's always nice to compare notes.
"Adriatic Treasures" is one of my favorite (out of 18 and counting) Tauck tours. Definitely spend an extra day or two in Dubrovnik. I walked the walls (at that time, in 2022, they didn't take credit cards, only cash), took a food walking tour, and did a half day tour on a boat that stopped at one of the islands for swimming or walking around, and two other places where we could swim off the boat into caves. Someone else booked the food tour, and I booked the boat tour through Viator.
Recently returned from May 2025 edition of this tour. As usual the tour director and the tour guides were all excellent. The hotels were all excellent with regard to facility and location. Croatia and Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina were all beautiful. We had no language problems English was spoken by most people we encountered. We had researched restaurants for our 'on our own' meals as well as took recommendations from the TD. We found the food to be perhaps the blandest cuisine we have experienced in our wide travels. We ate in several Michelin listed facilities and only Zinfandel's one of the Tauck included meals was excellent. The Postojna caves turned out to be fantastic. We had known nothing about it and the experience was unforgettable. The former tourism director for Croatia who spoke to us was excellent and a very impressive person. The others in our tour group were a most enjoyable and friendly crew. They were individually interesting and a high point of the trip. The trip ending in Venice was a good choice. The Metropole was located excellently. It is a unique experience as it is a very old facility which has been upgraded but retains a distinctly antique feel. The only hitches in the trip were weather related and they caused no difficulties for us. From start to finish the tour flowed smoothly and expertly. We learned a lot about the people and the countries and had a very enjoyable time.
I agree MCD. Definitely go a a few days early - we did the same things you did, and also walked a lot in the areas away from the old city. We loved the fresh seafood, too.
2026 Tour….it looks as though the internal flight has been changed to a bus route. Also, the Venice hotel is now the Splendid Venice Hotel. Does anyone have any insight on these changes. The hotel in Venice seems very “not Tauck”. Are they cutting corners with this hotel change, flight to bus travel and/or other tours?
On tour flights can be a pain. We just did one on a different tour. Had to leave the hotel by 9, sit around the airport for a couple of hours because they weren't sure how fast security would be, flight on an airline that literally charged you for a coke, then waiting for everyone to gather together at the new airport and board a bus for the city. About a 6 hour waste of time. Would vastly prefer a coach tour.
I looked at the new hotel's website and it actually looks better than the previous. The 2025 hotel is on the lagoon but I don't see a public space like a rooftop bar or restaurant to enjoy it. I'm a little leery of Italian hotels with very formal opulent furnishings. The one we stayed at in Venice was like that in the pictures but in real life was a bit out of date and in need of modernization. It did at least have a lagoon location and rooftop restaurant we could enjoy at breakfast which made it worth it.
I just looked up the travel time from Split to Zabreg and it's about 4 hours by bus. When we did that tour we took a flight. I checked my blog and we left for the airport after lunch and arrived at the Zabreg hotel in time for dinner. I went and looked at pictures I had taken - the pictures are time stamped. Looks like we departed the restaurant about 2pm, arrived at the Split airport about 4pm and arrived in Zabrig about 6:20pm. So I suppose the travel by bus is about the same time span as the flight.
This was a very good tour overall. One of the best we've taken.
I did this trip June 2025. Very much enjoyed it, though it was a bit hot in several places (especially Mostar).
Honestly, I didn't understand why we were flying. It would have been a 4 hour drive (non-stop). The flight was about 45 minutes, but with all the time you waste at airports, it took about 4 hours. So I don't think that's a downgrade.
Re hotels, the Metropole was nothing special, besides being charming in an old way. There were lots of twists, turns, and short staircases on each floor. There were 5 of us who travelled together, in 3 rooms. Two of our rooms were pretty small (make sure you push the desk chair in if you want to get to the bathroom type of small). One room was massive with a tub for two and a sitting room. Luck of the draw.
You spend so little time in Venice, that it really doesn't matter. There was a Doge Palace Tour (which we opted out of, having been in Venice for several days a year or two earlier).and the farewell dinner, and that's all, until your departure for the airport the next morning. You really only go to Venice for the airport. Personally, I would have preferred that last day in Trieste, as it has an airport with connections to the major Euro hubs.
We also stayed at the Metropole when we did that tour. My wife found the Metropole charming but I was not so enamored by it. I found it to be old and dark with no charm that resonated with me. The hallways were so dark that if something was on the floor, you’d have likely tripped over it because you couldn’t see it. They also had physical door keys that you had to pick up from the front desk when you came back to the hotel. I think they said they were going to upgrade that.
The rooms were well lit, however. The bathroom in our room was quite small.
I would choose a different hotel next time we go back to Venice.
We added several days to our stay in Venice and when we departed Tauck arranged our transport to the airport. It was very early in the morning (about 3am) and the boat trip through the city to the airport was quite interesting.
I also stayed at the Metropole when I went on that tour. It's very old fashion and to go to the bathroom in the room I had I had to go down 3 steps, it was very annoying.
Comments
I was on this tour Sept. 2023 and spent 2 extra days in Dubrovnik. Some of the activities I did during that time were: walked the walls, both Buza bars for a cocktail, War Photo museum (which was excellent), Maritime museum, I took a guided walking tour of the old city (similar but different enough than what Tauck does), went to mass at St.Blaise church, I had gone in to see the church not realizing mass was about to start and they closed the doors so I couldn't leave, the mass was in Spanish but an interesting experience. I had also planned to take the ferry to Lokrum island but ran out of time. You should find plenty to do that interests you with the extra days.
We arrived a day before the start of the tour and were able to spend time in Dubrovnik that day, and the early part of the first day of the tour (before the welcome dinner). Tauck takes you into the walled city of Dubrovnik as part of the tour. So, I would say no more than one day extra.
You can see what we did at https://www.mikeandjudytravel.com/2019-2Adriatic-01.htm
Spending extra time there is well worth it in my opinion. The old town area with its pedestrian walkways are great for strolling and tasting regional cuisine. Walking the city walls provides breathtaking views of the Adriatic. You can take a cable car—I did not. There are many museums, several of which focus on the history of the area. Inside the Franciscan Church (its proper name fails me) is a small museum with artifacts from one of Europe's oldest pharmacies. I found that to be fascinating. I did this on independent travel, so I do not know if any of the aforementioned mirrors Tauck's excursions. And yes, the bar(s) as mentioned by JDS11, even if it is just for a look inside. Enjoy!
Thank you for your suggestions.
Thank you. Very helpful.
PeterJeffrey - The black risotto is a staple there and delicious, as well as all the dishes featuring octopus. Please post a review afterwards if you can. It's always nice to compare notes.
"Adriatic Treasures" is one of my favorite (out of 18 and counting) Tauck tours. Definitely spend an extra day or two in Dubrovnik. I walked the walls (at that time, in 2022, they didn't take credit cards, only cash), took a food walking tour, and did a half day tour on a boat that stopped at one of the islands for swimming or walking around, and two other places where we could swim off the boat into caves. Someone else booked the food tour, and I booked the boat tour through Viator.
0kay
Recently returned from May 2025 edition of this tour. As usual the tour director and the tour guides were all excellent. The hotels were all excellent with regard to facility and location. Croatia and Slovenia and Bosnia-Herzegovina were all beautiful. We had no language problems English was spoken by most people we encountered. We had researched restaurants for our 'on our own' meals as well as took recommendations from the TD. We found the food to be perhaps the blandest cuisine we have experienced in our wide travels. We ate in several Michelin listed facilities and only Zinfandel's one of the Tauck included meals was excellent. The Postojna caves turned out to be fantastic. We had known nothing about it and the experience was unforgettable. The former tourism director for Croatia who spoke to us was excellent and a very impressive person. The others in our tour group were a most enjoyable and friendly crew. They were individually interesting and a high point of the trip. The trip ending in Venice was a good choice. The Metropole was located excellently. It is a unique experience as it is a very old facility which has been upgraded but retains a distinctly antique feel. The only hitches in the trip were weather related and they caused no difficulties for us. From start to finish the tour flowed smoothly and expertly. We learned a lot about the people and the countries and had a very enjoyable time.
I agree MCD. Definitely go a a few days early - we did the same things you did, and also walked a lot in the areas away from the old city. We loved the fresh seafood, too.
2026 Tour….it looks as though the internal flight has been changed to a bus route. Also, the Venice hotel is now the Splendid Venice Hotel. Does anyone have any insight on these changes. The hotel in Venice seems very “not Tauck”. Are they cutting corners with this hotel change, flight to bus travel and/or other tours?
On tour flights can be a pain. We just did one on a different tour. Had to leave the hotel by 9, sit around the airport for a couple of hours because they weren't sure how fast security would be, flight on an airline that literally charged you for a coke, then waiting for everyone to gather together at the new airport and board a bus for the city. About a 6 hour waste of time. Would vastly prefer a coach tour.
I looked at the new hotel's website and it actually looks better than the previous. The 2025 hotel is on the lagoon but I don't see a public space like a rooftop bar or restaurant to enjoy it. I'm a little leery of Italian hotels with very formal opulent furnishings. The one we stayed at in Venice was like that in the pictures but in real life was a bit out of date and in need of modernization. It did at least have a lagoon location and rooftop restaurant we could enjoy at breakfast which made it worth it.
I just looked up the travel time from Split to Zabreg and it's about 4 hours by bus. When we did that tour we took a flight. I checked my blog and we left for the airport after lunch and arrived at the Zabreg hotel in time for dinner. I went and looked at pictures I had taken - the pictures are time stamped. Looks like we departed the restaurant about 2pm, arrived at the Split airport about 4pm and arrived in Zabrig about 6:20pm. So I suppose the travel by bus is about the same time span as the flight.
This was a very good tour overall. One of the best we've taken.
I did this trip June 2025. Very much enjoyed it, though it was a bit hot in several places (especially Mostar).
Honestly, I didn't understand why we were flying. It would have been a 4 hour drive (non-stop). The flight was about 45 minutes, but with all the time you waste at airports, it took about 4 hours. So I don't think that's a downgrade.
Re hotels, the Metropole was nothing special, besides being charming in an old way. There were lots of twists, turns, and short staircases on each floor. There were 5 of us who travelled together, in 3 rooms. Two of our rooms were pretty small (make sure you push the desk chair in if you want to get to the bathroom type of small). One room was massive with a tub for two and a sitting room. Luck of the draw.
You spend so little time in Venice, that it really doesn't matter. There was a Doge Palace Tour (which we opted out of, having been in Venice for several days a year or two earlier).and the farewell dinner, and that's all, until your departure for the airport the next morning. You really only go to Venice for the airport. Personally, I would have preferred that last day in Trieste, as it has an airport with connections to the major Euro hubs.
We also stayed at the Metropole when we did that tour. My wife found the Metropole charming but I was not so enamored by it. I found it to be old and dark with no charm that resonated with me. The hallways were so dark that if something was on the floor, you’d have likely tripped over it because you couldn’t see it. They also had physical door keys that you had to pick up from the front desk when you came back to the hotel. I think they said they were going to upgrade that.
The rooms were well lit, however. The bathroom in our room was quite small.
I would choose a different hotel next time we go back to Venice.
We added several days to our stay in Venice and when we departed Tauck arranged our transport to the airport. It was very early in the morning (about 3am) and the boat trip through the city to the airport was quite interesting.
I also stayed at the Metropole when I went on that tour. It's very old fashion and to go to the bathroom in the room I had I had to go down 3 steps, it was very annoying.