Cabins have a private shower and toilet, which is not a given on an older gulet. Most are fitted with bunk berths rather than a double, so a couple should ask what a specific boat has before booking. A third bed can sometimes be added to a cabin on request.

Half board is served every day: a continental breakfast, then either lunch or dinner depending on where the riding falls. On the days when dinner is the included meal you eat lunch ashore, and stopping at a village restaurant halfway through a ride is part of the appeal rather than an inconvenience. A captain's dinner can usually be arranged and is paid on board.

Two things are worth setting expectations on before you book. A professional guide rides with the group throughout, which is what makes the routes workable without anyone in your party navigating, but the daily distances are estimates rather than promises. Detours and short cuts get taken, and both the cycling and the sailing can change on the day for weather or simply because the group wants something different. Departures are in the morning, usually after breakfast. The captain's dinner is worth asking about separately: it is arranged aboard by the captain and the guide, and paid on the spot rather than inside the package.

Bring cycling shoes, a small backpack, a change of clothes and proper sun and rain protection. April and October in Dalmatia can be cool and wet as easily as warm. The fare covers the cabin, the half board and the guide; drinks, meals ashore and the captain's dinner sit outside it. Ask for one all in figure for the week rather than a headline per person rate, the same discipline our Croatia yacht charter guide applies to any boat here.

Hvar is the lavender day. Roughly 33 km from Jelsa through Vrboska, then along an old road to Stari Grad, one of the oldest towns in Croatia and founded as the Greek colony of Faros in 385 BC. The route climbs to 415 m and crosses open fields and blossoming vineyards. Past Grablje, a village that grew wealthy on wine, honey, olive oil and lavender, and past Brusje, the road drops into Hvar town. If your legs still work, climb to the Španjol fortress above it, built on the site of a medieval castle.

Korčula gives you a choice, which is the sensible way to run day four. The long option is 44 km from Vela Luka. The short one is 24 km from Račišće through Lumbarda, and both finish with 5 km of descent into Korčula town. This is the sixth largest island in the Adriatic and arguably the prettiest, all vineyards, olive groves and walled cypress gardens, with quiet coves along the steep southern coast and flatter pebble beaches on the north. Evenings bring folk music, dancing and religious ceremonies that have not changed in a very long time.

The last ride is short and flat, about 12 km from Omiš up the Cetina river to Radman's Mills and back. The canyon is the draw, along with stone mill wheels standing since the 17th century. Back in Omiš, the Mirabella fortress looks out over the whole channel between the mainland and Brač. After lunch the ship carries you back to Split, where Diocletian's Palace is less a monument you visit than a quarter of the city you walk through.

Departures are guaranteed from April to October, with July and August left out. That is a sensible omission: 43 km over Brač in high summer heat is not the holiday anyone booked. May, June and September are the strongest weeks, and our note on sailing in Croatia in May or June explains why the shoulder months work so well here.

Rates move week to week, and a per person headline rarely tells you what the week costs once meals ashore, drinks and travel are counted. That is the part we are useful for. We have advised on charters since 2011, we are tied to no operator, and we will give you the honest all in cost before you commit.