Since 2021, big cruise ships can no longer glide up the Giudecca Canal past St Mark's Basilica and the Doge's Palace. Venice's city authorities banned large vessels from the historic centre, so today's passengers dock at industrial Fusina or Marghera, or face a long bus transfer from ports as far away as Trieste or Ravenna.
But the Venetian Republic left its mark across the Mediterranean, and tracing that old maritime empire makes a brilliant cruise theme — one that delivers the same Gothic palaces, campaniles and fortresses without Venice's crowds and inflated prices. At its height in the late Middle Ages, Venice controlled Europe's eastern trade, and the Winged Lion of St Mark still adorns walls and harbours across six modern countries beyond Italy.
Croatia is the star. Rovinj has that instantly recognisable pointed bell tower rising from an immaculately kept old town; Zadar's walled city opens through monumental Venetian gates; Trogir is so picturesque it looks like a film set. The upmarket island of Hvar sits beneath a formidable Venetian fortress, while Korčula's medieval streets claim — to Venice's loud disagreement — to be the birthplace of Marco Polo. Bonus: the crystal-clear Adriatic here is far better for swimming than the lagoon ever was.
Slovenia has just 29 miles of coast, but Piran, Koper and Izola each centre on a campanile that is a miniature of St Mark's own bell tower. Piran is the gem of the so-called Slovenian Riviera; Koper, more workaday, was the birthplace of the Venetian painter Carpaccio.
Further south, Montenegro's Kotor may be the most atmospheric Venetian relic outside the lagoon. The approach is half the thrill: ships sail deep into the narrow, mirror-calm Kotor Fjord, a sheltered anchorage that explains why Venice prized it. Once berthed, you can wander a walled town dwarfed by a fortress clinging to the mountain above.
For anyone who has put off a Venice-adjacent cruise since the 2021 ban, this is the workaround: the architecture is genuine, the ports are smaller, and history comes bundled with beaches rather than queues.
