We plan to holiday in Turkey this autumn and wanted to travel on the Venice to Izmir ferry, but this seems to have ceased. Is there another route that might travel along Croatia's Dalmatian Coast? Peter Thomas, by email

Sunday Times travel expert, Richard Green, responds: What could be better than relaxing on deck and watching the idyllic islets of the Dalmatian Coast slide by - especially when the alternative is an adventurous slog through the testing roads of the south Balkans? You won't be sailing quite as close to the islands as the inter-island ferries do, but this is certainly the next best thing.

The route from Venice hasn't operated for some time now, owing to the ferry line going out of business, but the Turkish company Marmara Lines (07031 866010) has been sailing from Italy to Turkey for 21 years, and crosses from Ancona and Brindisi to Cesme (about 50 miles from Izmir).

Taking the Ancona sailing will save you the 300-miles drive south to Brindisi, but will also give you the best views of the Croatian island-speckled coastline. The route then rounds the Peloponnese, picking its way through the Cyclades and the islands of the East Aegean, before arriving into Cesme.

The journey takes 56 hours and costs about £500pp for a one-way crossing in the autumn (for a two-berth outside cabin and car), or £600 in high season.

Times recommends

• 'New York has lost its edge'
• The UK and Ireland's 25 best Christmas events
• Chalet Chef 2010: the winners