Cruising the Adriatic
Viking Saturn
Italy (Venice), Croatia (Split & Corfu), Montenegro (Kotor), Greece (Olympia & Athens)
April 2025
Venice, Italy
(and Murano)
Our overnight flight arrived in Venice about 9:30 AM. As expected, the Viking staff was ready to shuttle us to the ship. We checked into our stateroom early, grabbed a quick lunch and jumped on the first shuttle boat to Venice to start our adventure.
The first day we spent mostly walking around busy St. Marks Square and touring the Basilica. Of course we couldn’t pass up a Gondola ride through the canals.
On our second day we got an early start well ahead of most tourists. It was interesting to wander the narrow streets and take in everyday life of the modern Venetians. There are no cars or bikes on the island. We watched the kids gather in the narrow alleys to walk to school in groups. It was garbage day. Folks hung their one garbage bag on a hook outside their door for the garbage cart to pick up. The delivery boats were busy dropping off supplies to all the stores and construction sites. The water buses (vaporettos) were out in force shuttling folks around and to surrounding islands. We even walked by the hospital where the paramedics were busy cleaning and organizing their ambulance boats.
Deb quickly figured out the vaporetto system and we were off to Murano island. While wondering Murano we stumbled on the Wave Murano Glass Factory. They invite you into their studio to watch the artisans at work for free. It was fun to watch about eight artisans bustling around the furnaces creating cool glass art. We had been looking to purchase some Murano wine glasses, so we bought four wine glasses and a Christmas ornament from their small artisan store. It was nice to know we bought something unique and made at this small shop versus the abundance tourist shops around Venice.
After Murano, we returned to Venice for a bit more exploring around St. Marks Square and then back to the Viking Saturn.
Murano
Wave Murano Glass Factory
A great place to watch glass blowers at work and to buy some unique Murano glass art.
St. Marks Basilica
Split, Croatia
We toured the Roman Emporer Diocletian’s Palace, built around 300 AD. It was amazing to walk through a structure that was now over 1,700 years old! We took a bus to the coastal town of Trogir and wandered the narrow lanes. Enjoyed a small lunch at the Pantan Old Mill. Walked down to the beach in Split before boarding the ship.
Translation: Sexy, burger-eating people like us are not allowed
Dubrovnik, Croatia
We purchased our own tickets to walk the City Walls. We started with the Viking guided tour, but bailed out early to go out on our own. Before leaving the guide it was interesting to get a local perspective (and refresher) on the turbulent history of Croatia, especially the very recent events of the Homeland War.
We are sure glad we got an early start on the City Walls, before the crowds and the heat. The views of the city, forts, white limestone cliffs, and crystal blue Adriatic waters were incredible.
On a whim, we rented a kayak for 40 euros and explored the coastline. It was amazing! One unexpected highlight was kayaking by the former Belvedere Hotel, now in ruins after shelling from the Serbian forces in 1991.
Dubrovnik turned out to be one of our favorite ports!
The Belvedere Hotel and the Homeland War
Once a luxury hotel on the coast, the Belvedere ruins sit as a modern reminder of the shelling on Dubrovnik during the Homeland War in 1991.
Kotor, Montenegro
We took a very narrow and windy bus ride up Lovcen Mountain for an incredible panoramic view of Kotor Bay. We also visited the Royal Palace in Cetinje where King Nikola ruled and lived. It was great to learn about the history of Montenegro, a small country that had to constantly defend itself from just about every neighbor. Would love to have had more time to hike rather than just bus around. The views were amazing.
Corfu, Greece
This was probably our least exciting port. We did a walking tour of Old Town Corfu and Durrell Gardens.
Olympia, Greece
We were amazed at how up close you can get with the ruins of Archaia Olympia (Ancient Olympia). It is the site of the original Olympic Games from the 700s. We stood on the starting line in of the running events in the original stadium. We learned the athletes in the early games competed naked. The games were a display of human beauty and performance, both physical and moral. At the entrance to the stadium, there were 16 ancient pedestals. They once displayed bronze statues of competitors caught cheating in the games. These served as a warning for all future athletes as they entered the tunnel to the stadium. We would need a few more pedestals at the modern Olympic sites.
We also visited a small museum in town dedicated to Archimedes. It was set up like a children’s museum with interactive displays of many of Archimedes inventions. Of course we had great fun playing with everything.
Athens, Greece
We spent two days in Athens and booked a half-day guided tour of the Acropolis with “Walks of Europe” through Viator. Our guide was amazing, very knowledgeable and passionate about the ancient history of Athens. Again, we were amazed how close we could get to and within the ruins of the Parthenon and surrounding temples.
Enjoying the Viking Saturn
Viking always is top notch. The ship only had about 450 rooms, so no more than 900 passengers. We met many friendly couples on-board which made for wonderful dinners. We also took advantage of the sun deck, pool, spa and hot tubs which were rarely used.
Time 2 Xplore 
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