Adriatic Golf Cruise Itinerary (October 11-22, 2010)

Monday, October 11: Depart Home

Depart your home city on October 11 for an overnight flight to Milan, Italy.

Tuesday, October 12: Milan, Italy

Upon arrival you’ll be greeted at the airport and transported to the Grand Hotel des Iles Borromées. The Iles Borromées is ideally located overlooking Lake Maggiore. It is no wonder that Hemingway used this hotel as his base to write "A Farewell to Arms". This evening we gather in the gardens overlooking the lake for our welcome reception.

Wednesday, October 13: Golf at Castelconturbia Golf Club

The Castelconturbia Golf Club was established in 1898, but the course joined “Italy’s Big Three” 100 years later when Robert Trent Jones, Sr., designed his masterpiece here among the rolling hills of Italy’s Piedmont. Annually ranked among continental Europe’s top courses, Castelconturbia’s wooded fairways and well-placed bunker complexes provide the perfect test for our first round of golf in Italy. Today’s tour explores the gardens and grottoes of the Borromean Islands. October is an ideal time to visit these well-tended and aromatic gardens.

Thursday, October 14: Play at Bogogno Golf Club

Monte Rosa and the Italian Alps are the scenic backdrop to this Robert von Hagge layout that meanders through the countryside. Undulating fairways are bordered by flowing streams that feed several lakes, bringing water into play on many holes. Bogogno Golf Club offers a myriad of hazards that will test any golfer’s skill. Those on tour visit Milan, home to Da Vinci’s Last Supper and the world famous La Scala Theater and museum. Some may spend the day on Via Montenapoleone, one of Italy’s most famous shopping streets, considered by some to be the epicenter of the fashion world.

Friday, October 15: Play at Le Robinie Golf Club

Golfers play the only Jack Nicklaus designed course in Italy at Le Robinie Golf Club. Accuracy off the tee is important if you wish to reach the green in regulation at Le Robinie. Water comes into play on only six holes, but the key to success is maneuvering around the fairway bunkers. Immediately following golf, we drive to nearby Malpensa airport for our departing flight to Venice. Water taxis wait outside the airport to take us through the Grand Canal to Sea Cloud II, which awaits our embarkation. Those touring will visit Orta, a charming medieval town with picturesque alleys, graceful small houses and an active outdoor market. Passengers will then transfer by boat to the Island St. Giulio to visit the basilica, the most important architectural monument in the entire area, before rejoining the golfers for our flight to Venice.

Saturday October 16: Play at Porto Mariccio Golf Course

This challenging 18-hole course at the Porto Mariccio Resort enjoys stunning views of Piran, Portoroz and, on clear days, even Venice. Well-placed bunkers and undulating greens will reward golfers’ accuracy. Today we tour the town of Pula, situated at the southern tip of the Istrian peninsula. Located beneath seven hills and with views of the Adriatic, Pula has a long tradition of shipbuilding and serves as one of the most important naval bases in Croatia. It is also home to many ancient Roman buildings, including its magnificent amphitheater, one of the six largest Roman amphitheaters existing today.

Sunday October 17: Play at Adriatic Golf Club Cervia

The Adriatic Golf Club is located along the most popular portion of Italy’s Adriatic Coast. Spread over flat terrain, amidst pine trees and sandy dunes, nine holes present themselves as a traditional links layout, but without the harsh penalties of a Scottish links course. As the course heads inland, water comes into play on nearly every hole. Good course management is the key to a successful round of golf at the Adriatic Golf Club. Today’s tour takes us to Ravenna, once the capital of the Western Roman Empire, but a city that enjoyed its most glorious era under Byzantine rule. The mosaics adorning its buildings are among the greatest examples of Byzantine artistry in the world. We visit the tomb of Galla Placidia, the Basilica of San Vitale and the Basilica of Sant’ Apollinaire Nuovo, whose interiors shimmer with thousands of stylized images and glorious colors.

Monday October 18: Day at Sea

Sit back and watch skilled deckhands scale the rigging and set the sails on what is the finest handsailed, square-rigger of our age. What better way to settle in aboard Sea Cloud II than to delight in a full day at sea? This mesmerizing voyage through the intensely blue waters of the Adriatic takes us along spectacular coastlines, fascinating towns and ancient fortresses that held rule over the ancient world.

October 19: Play at San Domenico Golf Club

Against the backdrop of the blue Adriatic sky and blue-green sea, San Domenico Golf Club lies a few hundred yards from the rocky coast of the Adriatic. The wind will present challenges on this links-style layout as we navigate through well-shaped fairways, lined with strategically-placed bunkers. Once a fruitful olive grove, San Domenico is astutely landscaped with well maintained natural areas incorporated into the layout. Our tour heads to Alberobello, a charming hilltop village that is home to the famous “trulli.” These 12th century conical-shaped homes are rare enough for UN ESCO to declare this village a World Heritage Site. We lunch at a local masseria and sample Italy’s finest olive oils, which have been produced here for centuries.

October 20: Dubrovnik, Croatia

Sea Cloud II sails into the dramatic Gulf of Kotor, a spectacular fjord surrounded by steep mountains. Called the “Jewel of the Adriatic” by Lord Byron, Dubrovnik is an ancient city filled with stone palaces, Venetian-style buildings and majestic bell towers. Our morning tour takes us to the Franciscan monastery, whose cloister ranks among the most inspiring sites of the city, and the cathedral, whose treasury contains one of the finest collections of gold and silver relics in Europe. The afternoon is free for lunch in one of Dubrovnik’s charming cafés or restaurants.

October 21: Split, Croatia

The medieval city of Split is the largest on the Dalmatian Coast and one of Croatia’s cultural treasures. The historic city center, listed as one of UN ESCO’s World Heritage Sites, is home to Diocletian’s Palace, built by the Roman emperor at the turn of the fourth century as a retirement estate. We will enjoy a pleasant tour of the palace, with time for exploring Split’s city center, before returning to Sea Cloud II and setting sail along the beautiful Dalmation Coast.

October 22: Venice, Italy • Home

All passengers are on deck early this morning to watch Sea Cloud II enter the Venice lagoon and sail past the famed duomos and basilicas that awaken with the morning sunlight. We bid farewell to Sea Cloud II and her crew as we disembark and transfer to the Venice airport for return flights home.

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