Child friendly: Greece/Turkey or Croatia/Italy

I've finally managed to convince my husband that a cruise would be perfect for us and our 4 year old. We're looking at the Med next year and we're wondering which ports would be more child friendly? We intend to do our own thing in all ports and limit the adult activities or do a mixture. So, we'd be looking at ease of access, distance to the sights (I'm thinking Ephesus if we did the Greece/Turkey cruise), heat. Looking at late April or May.

Thanks!

Ephesus is a fare distance from Kusidasi if that is where you are sailing in to. Can be extremely hot with little shade. I would not recommend for a 4 y.o.

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Ephesus is a fare distance from Kusidasi if that is where you are sailing in to. Can be extremely hot with little shade. I would not recommend for a 4 y.o.

 

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Although Turkey is on the itineraries you will probably find that it will be pulled again by P&O for safety issues

We went on our first cruise when my son was 4 and we found the ones where you could just get off the ship ( or tender) and see something local were the best. I did try and do my own trips but we got pushed out of queues ( literally hundreds of you disembark at the same time remember) and missed a bus. We did two on our own Villefranche and Corsica one which have nice beaches both walkable and cute towns to walk round. Villefranche has very easy acess to Montel Carlo. Wejust looked round the port in Livino as we couldn't get on the bus for Piss and two used the ships excursions ( Pompeii and Tunisa). Good choices as it was too hot and the air con coach after walking round was great.I am on my own so slightly different ( less brave!). I haven't done Greece/Turkey by cruise but I would guess the Greek islands are easy to do.

Barcelona is dead easy but most of the Italian ports are a fair distance from their sights.

Thank you all for taking the time to reply.

The Croatia/Italy cruise takes in Venice, Dubrovnik, Split and Messina. The terminals all seem quite close/easy to get to the sights.

Thanks for the heads up on Turkey.

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The Croatia/Italy cruise takes in Venice, Dubrovnik, Split and Messina. The terminals all seem quite close/easy to get to the sights.

 

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Split and Messina you can walk straight of the ship. Dubrovnik you need a shuttle. In Venice you use the shuttle boat at £10 per person to get into St Marks Square from the port unless you use the local services.

Of the two itineraries, this one is probably the best as even in April or May it can get hot if you go to Ephesus which may not be the best for your little one. Just check to see if there are any event on in Venice as that can make it very crowded which you may want to avoid. April/May though is comfortable for that region.

Split and Messina you can walk straight of the ship. Dubrovnik you need a shuttle. In Venice you use the shuttle boat at £10 per person to get into St Marks Square from the port unless you use the local services.

 

 

 

Of the two itineraries, this one is probably the best as even in April or May it can get hot if you go to Ephesus which may not be the best for your little one. Just check to see if there are any event on in Venice as that can make it very crowded which you may want to avoid. April/May though is comfortable for that region.

It definitely sounds like this is the more child friendly of the two then. I am concerned about the weather and it being a bit cool though. Food for thought.

Any recommendations for things to do in Messina area?

Thank you

With a four-year-old, I'd be more concerned about the possibility that it might be too hot rather than too cool. When you go is arguably more important than where you go. If you go in May or September, with any luck it won't be either too hot or too cool, although even in the Med there are no guarantees.

The beauty of digit photos - it has the dates they were taken :)

Looked back at the trips I did in April and May. In 2011 I was in Venice, Dubrovnik and Sicily at the start of May and the weather was great - lots of blue sky on the photos. Definitely warm - almost like UK summer.

In 2012 I was there three weeks earlier and it was cloudy in Venice and Split - with light rain for an hour (remember that because at that time it was a port that required tenders. Dubrovnik a bit cloudy and Sicily brilliant sunshine. Wouldn't say it was cold probably in the low to mid 60s with the exception of Sicily which was a lot warmer.

As to what to do in Messina, I've always done a wine tasting tour there and mount Etna. The San Michelle (Murgo) trip is very good but not for children unless you want them to sleep well :D. One of the things to see in Messina I've been told is the clock tower around mid-day. It is an excursion, but the trip to Taormina may be of interest as there are some well maintained roman remains - have a look at the description of the tour on your cruise personaliser.

Trouble with weather is that it varies so much but based on my 2 trips, late April or early to mid May seems to be the best time

Well, because I obviously have too much time on my hand, I looked at historical weather for the last 3 year. Someone else maybe interested in this:

2017, 2016, 1015

All in Celsius

April 12

Valletta 21, 25, 17

Venice 21, 21, 23

Dubrovnik 21, 17, 16

Split 22, 21, 18

Messina 27, 21, 25

May 10

Valletta 23, 21, 27

Messina 21, 21, 24

Ajaccio 22, 26, 22

Livorno 22, 22, 28

Civitavecchia 20, 22, 25

Looks like there's not much in it, We've never been to the ports on the Croatia/Italy cruise so that's winning.

Thank you for the suggestion of Taormina, it looks great!

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