Walk Mostar’s cobbled old town with a Local Expert and learn the story of Stari Most, the arched bridge spanning the Neretva River. Explore streets on both sides of the water, where craft stalls reflect the city’s longstanding trading traditions.

The 16th-century Ottoman bridge was destroyed during the 1990s war and subsequently rebuilt. Its return made it a powerful symbol of the city’s heritage and of efforts to reconnect a divided community.

Choose from a hand-picked selection of Ljubljana restaurants for a hosted Dine-Around evening arranged by your Travel Director. Rather than dining at a single set venue, select a restaurant that suits your tastes and enjoy the Slovenian capital’s welcoming evening atmosphere.

The experience makes room for different sides of local dining, from familiar regional dishes to contemporary menus. It is a chance to connect with Ljubljana through its food and conversation.

Choose an optional visit to Lake Bled to experience one of Slovenia’s most recognisable alpine landscapes. Take in the lake, its small island and the castle perched high on the shore.

Wooded slopes and mountain scenery give Bled a markedly different atmosphere from the streets of Ljubljana. The lakeside setting rewards a slower look at Slovenia’s natural scenery. This optional excursion is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

• 6 Dinner (D)
• 13 Breakfast (B)

• Hand sanitizer is freely available on board for you to use throughout the day.

Insight Vacations

Meet your Travel Director and fellow travellers over drinks and dinner at a local Vienna restaurant. This hosted evening offers a relaxed introduction to the group and a chance to share expectations for the journey.

Enjoy Austrian hospitality over a meal accompanied by wine. In a city celebrated for its cafés and convivial dining rooms, the gathering provides a welcoming first taste of the capital’s social traditions.

Explore Schonbrunn Palace with a Local Expert, visiting imperial rooms associated with Maria Theresa, Emperor Franz Joseph and Empress Elisabeth. See the Hall of Mirrors, where Mozart performed as a child, and the ornate Great Gallery, once a setting for court functions.

Discover how Habsburg ceremonies and family life shaped this Baroque residence, then spend time in its formal gardens. The palace offers a tangible view of the dynasty that governed much of Central Europe.

Travel along Vienna’s Ringstrasse with your Travel Director for a panoramic introduction to the Austrian capital. View the Opera House, Hofburg Imperial Residence and Parliament Building, along with Karlskirche’s distinctive Baroque silhouette.

Laid out where the old city walls once stood, the boulevard became a showcase for the imperial city’s grand public architecture. Its succession of landmarks reveals the scale and ambition of 19th-century Vienna.

Explore Maribor with your Travel Director and get acquainted with Slovenia’s second-largest city. Take in its blend of older streets and contemporary architecture while experiencing a city with a quieter pace than the national capital.

Set beside the Drava River in a historic wine-growing region, Maribor has long been a meeting point for trade and local traditions. This hosted exploration offers a distinct introduction to Slovenia beyond Ljubljana.

Walk Ljubljana’s riverbanks and squares with a Local Expert, seeing Plecnik’s Triple Bridge, City Hall and the Baroque Cathedral of St. Nicholas. Look up to Ljubljana Castle, which overlooks the compact historic centre from its hilltop.

Along the Ljubljanica, bridges, market spaces and café-lined embankments show how the city gathers around its river. The walk brings together Ljubljana’s medieval roots, Baroque landmarks and the architectural vision of Jože Plecnik.

Visit Ljubljana’s Central Market with a Local Expert to discover Slovenian delicacies displayed among its food stalls. Learn about regional ingredients and enjoy a tasting as vendors and shoppers bring the market to life.

The market is part of the city’s everyday rhythm, close to the Ljubljanica River and Plecnik’s distinctive market colonnade. Sampling its produce offers a direct, flavour-led introduction to Slovenian food culture.

Explore Zagreb with a Local Expert, walking past the Art Pavilion, Croatian Academy of Sciences and Arts and leafy Zrinjevac Park. Ride the historic funicular to the Upper Town to see St. Mark’s Church and Lotršcak Tower.

The short funicular line has linked the commercial Lower Town with the older fortified ridge since 1890. Walk down through the Stone Gate to appreciate the contrast between Zagreb’s 19th-century boulevards and medieval streets.

Meet women from the Tara Community Center near Plitvice and hear about village customs, personal experiences and the traditional handicrafts they make. The visit introduces the people and communities living alongside the national park.

Income connected to tourism supports this small community hub and the Tara Citizens’ Association, whose members include older women and former refugees. Your visit contributes to an initiative focused on women’s participation, income and wellbeing.

Discover Trogir’s UNESCO-listed historic centre, a compact Dalmatian town founded by Greek settlers more than 2,300 years ago. Admire the cathedral and Renaissance Cipiko Palace among streets that preserve layers of Adriatic history.

Trogir’s medieval street plan and later Venetian-era buildings sit close together on its small island setting. The visit offers an accessible look at the trading cultures and architectural styles that shaped Croatia’s coast.

Explore Diocletian’s Palace with a Local Expert, including its remarkably preserved Roman cellars. Walk through Split’s Old Town to see the Golden Gate, the Temple of Jupiter and St. Duje’s, whose cathedral occupies the emperor’s former mausoleum.

Built around the turn of the fourth century, the palace remains the living heart of Split rather than a detached ruin. Its arcaded spaces and narrow streets reveal how generations adapted an imperial residence into a city.

Share dinner and drinks in a Sarajevan family home, enjoying home-style dishes and conversation with your hosts. Hear personal stories that offer a perspective on the city’s culture beyond its public landmarks.

Sarajevo’s hospitality reflects a place shaped by Ottoman, Central European and Balkan influences. This hosted meal creates space for genuine exchange, while supporting a community-focused experience connected to the goal of reducing inequalities.

Discover Sarajevo with a Local Expert, from the cobbled market lanes of Bašcaršija to the city’s Habsburg-era centre. See the Latin Bridge, associated with the 1914 assassination of Archduke Franz Ferdinand.

Ottoman market streets and Central European facades stand close together along the Miljacka River. The walk reveals Sarajevo’s layered cultural identity and places the event that helped precipitate World War I in its urban setting.

Visit the Sarajevo War Tunnels Museum with an expert on the Bosnian War. See a preserved section of the Tunnel of Hope and learn how this concealed passage helped connect the besieged city with the outside world.

During Sarajevo’s 44-month siege in the 1990s, the tunnel was a vital route for supplies and communication. First-hand historical interpretation gives this modest underground space its significance and helps explain everyday survival under siege.

Walk the limestone-paved Stradun with a Local Expert inside Dubrovnik’s defensive walls. See Onofrio’s Fountain and St. Blaise’s Church, and visit the cathedral and Franciscan Monastery while exploring the compact Old Town.

Dubrovnik’s monuments reflect the maritime Republic of Ragusa, which prospered through trade and diplomacy. Stone streets, churches and fortifications reveal how this UNESCO-listed city developed beside its sheltered Adriatic harbour.

Cruise across Dubrovnik’s bay for a water-level view of the walled Old Town, fortresses and coastline. Spend time on deck taking photographs as the city’s pale stone and the Adriatic change colour in the light.

From the water, the scale of Dubrovnik’s defences and its close relationship with the sea become especially clear. This included cruise is weather permitting, so its operation depends on conditions on the day.

Gather with your Travel Director and small group for a Celebration Dinner of Dalmatian Coast cuisine in Dubrovnik. Share a final meal and conversation over dishes reflecting the region’s Adriatic setting.

The dinner is a hosted occasion rather than a routine evening meal, with time to exchange favourite moments from the journey. Croatian flavours and the company of fellow travellers bring the experience to a fitting close.

Choose an optional evening at an Austrian country mansion to enjoy classic local dishes in a setting away from Vienna’s central boulevards. The experience offers a different perspective on Austrian hospitality through its food and surroundings.

Regional cooking and the mansion setting make this a more distinctive dining choice than a standard restaurant meal. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; ask your Travel Director for the available details.

Choose an optional visit to Postojna Cave, one of Slovenia’s best-known limestone cave systems. Discover an underground landscape formed over immense spans of time by water moving through the karst rock.

Postojna is known for its extensive passages and striking mineral formations, offering a dramatic contrast to Ljubljana’s open-air squares and riverbanks. This optional excursion is at additional cost and bookable on tour; confirm its arrangements with your Travel Director.

Visit the Croatian village of Kumrovec on an optional excursion and meet a local resident to hear their perspective on the region’s history. This hosted encounter offers a more personal way to engage with Croatia beyond the capital.

Kumrovec is closely associated with Josip Broz Tito and the history of 20th-century Yugoslavia. Local conversation can add nuance to that wider story. The experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Choose an optional dinner at a traditional konoba during your time in Split. Dine in the informal style of a Dalmatian tavern, where the emphasis is on regional food and convivial conversation.

Konobas are closely tied to coastal food traditions and offer a setting distinct from formal city dining rooms. It is an opportunity to explore local flavours through a hosted meal. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour.

Discover the Dalmatian island of Hvar on an optional excursion. Explore its historic Old Town with a Local Expert and experience a waterfront shaped by centuries of Adriatic seafaring.

Hvar’s stone streets, harbour and hilltop fortress create a striking island setting, with time to enjoy the seafront or seek out elevated views. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; confirm the excursion arrangements with your Travel Director.

Join an optional Sarajevo tour focused on Bosnian flavours, adding a food-led perspective to the city’s cultural history. The itinerary also offers a visit to the Latin Bridge, a landmark connected with the events of 1914.

Bosnian cooking reflects the region’s intertwined traditions, making food a useful lens through which to understand Sarajevo. This optional experience is at additional cost and bookable on tour; ask your Travel Director what tastings and stops are included.

Explore Plitvice Lakes National Park with a Local Expert and discover a landscape of linked lakes, forest and waterfalls. Learn how research and low-impact visitor practices help protect the park’s sensitive habitats and wildlife.

The UNESCO-listed lakes are shaped by natural travertine barriers, which continually alter the course of the water. Hearing about conservation work adds depth to the scenery and shows why careful stewardship matters here.

• Business class coach with extended leg room
• Top-rated dining, from farm-to-table to local restaurants
• 4 & 5-star stays