Your favourite Med ports?

[horatio123]

Preliminary itinerary research here and wondering which ports you feel are a not to be missed? Or...are there already posts somewhere that deal with this?

[Scrapnana]

Check out the ports here

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=19

 

Personally, I like Sorrento and any of the Greek isles.

[Keith1010]

There are so many ports in the Mediterranean that are fabulous. I would find some itineraries that interest you and then post them to get some feedback.

 

Keith

[paul929207]

Venice

[Keith1010]

Don't limit yourself based on one or a handful of ports. There are so many beautiful places in the Med.

 

Keith

[gators70]

Preliminary itinerary research here and wondering which ports you feel are a not to be missed? Or...are there already posts somewhere that deal with this?

 

I agree that there are many wonderful ports, but there have to be "favorites". My favorite port for archeology/history purposes is a tie betweek Rome and Athens. My favorite for beauty is Santorini. That's my 2 cents.

[George C]

The birth place of Pizza , Naples

[blueblock]

I like nearly all of them - favorites include Venice, Ephesus (the ruins, not the port of Kusadasi!), Rome, and Athens (especially the Acropolis and its museum - can you tell I like ruins?). I wasn't so wild about Corfu. My next trip includes Santorini, where I haven't been, so I'm definitely looking forward to that!

[Sixtytwo]

Santorini for sure! Beautiful to look at and a treat for eating as well!

[blonde1981]

Venice and Mykonos were my 2 favorites. I agree with the above poster - not impressed with Corfu (too urban for me) and I thought Santorini was so-so. The ruins in Ephesus were interesting but I wouldn't repeat them again. Just be prepared to sweat as Turkey was hot! We went in July

[sail7seas]

Venice, Mykonos, Pireaus for Athens, Civitevecchia for Rome, Malaga for Spanish Riviera, Livorno for Florence and Pisa, Napoli for Sorrento and Capri.......

 

Sigh,,,, there are almost no Med ports we wouldn't hurry back to visit again. :)

[roaming_kiwi58]

So many gorgeous ports in the Med - not many would we not want to return to! All the history is so interesting.

 

Just loved Bonifacio (Corsica) last year. The amazing view of cliffs from where the boat anchors, with no clue of what is around the corner! Then as you come into shore on the tender, this beautiful harbour opens up before you. Then the lovely old town behind those massive walls.

 

The next day was the worst port we have visited! Olbia (Sardinia). Absolutely nothing to make it interesting - not for us, anyway.

[jocap]

It depends on your interests....the famous ones have been covered; any Greek Isle will be good for swimming, apart from Santorini, which has other great assets; Croatia is stunning- see Dubrovnik from the cable car, or visit the fishing port of Cavtat or the island of Korcula; If you do end up in Corfu, hire a car and visit the fabulous west coast; if you prefer something modern try the vibrant city of Barcelona; there's pretty towns such as Portofino, or ancient ones like Cartagena in Spain. Malta is amongst the best sail-ins, along with Venice; see how the rich and famous live in the south of France and Monacco, and don't forget the beaches and pretty villages in Mallorca and Ibiza.

So much choice....each one worth seeing! ;)

[dorisis]

Israel,

 

~Doris~

[wassup4565]

In my experience, it depends what captures your interest. See, I thought I was a history and old rocks person, but then it turned out not so much. Yeah, one more pile of old rocks turned out to be one too many. I really wanted to like them, but...pretty much all the same to me.

 

But what I did like was seeing how people live now, surrounded by all that history and with modern cultures that have grown out of ancient ones. So here's what I loved.

 

Venice, bombing along the Grand Canal on the vaporetto with the Venetians and the other tourists. Couldn't get enough of this, the contrast between the ancient buildings alongside the canal and the ppl on the vaporetto talking on their cellphones, watching all the other boats doing daily life like delivering groceries or ferrying contruction guys and their materials...

Corfu, where we started walking along trying to figure out how to get transport to a beach, and then were invited by a woman with a beach towel to follow her. Ended up in a rowing club, where we were welcome to use their loungers and change rooms for free, all the while looking at the walls of the ancient fort.

Mykonos, where you lose yourself and find yourself every ten minutes. A town designed through history to make people lost - still works! Not to mention the lovely art work I bought there, and the serenade by a guy who was, as Joni Mitchell said, "...playing real good for free."

 

See, it depends what attracts your interest. Much as I thought I'd love the old stuff, what I found I loved in every port was seeing the people there now.

[Keith1010]

As you narrow down itineraries, let us know which ones you are considering.

 

Keith

[CrazyJess]

Almost everyone mentioned Venice. It always was my dream to see it. Is one day enough for Venice or better to have two? It actually looks pretty small… at least on my map 

[blonde1981]

Almost everyone mentioned Venice. It always was my dream to see it. Is one day enough for Venice or better to have two? It actually looks pretty small… at least on my map 

I think 2 would be enough. 1 would be crammed and 4 (like I did) was too much. I did a precruise stay in Venice then hopped on the ship to hit the Greek Isles and Turkey.

[jocap]

Almost everyone mentioned Venice. It always was my dream to see it. Is one day enough for Venice or better to have two? It actually looks pretty small… at least on my map 

My OH has walked/sailed around every department of Venice; he's seen back streets, churches,markets, old boatyards which were empty of tourists over 2 days. He still wants to return to visit all the areas in depth again. He hasn't even begun to visit the outer islands.

[hobbess]

Ephesus (the ruins, not the port of Kusadasi!),

 

Its important to look at the port city, and how far it is from the destination which I've learned is a trick that cruise ships are playing.

 

For example, my cruise docks at port city of Izmir in order to see Ephesus. But, Izmir is a lot further away from Ephesus than Kusadasi so you can't DIY from Izmir and then have to go with the ship's shore excursion.

 

Same thing with Toulon port, which the ships docks at instead of Marseillies. If the ship docked at Marseilles, there's some things you could see or do. More importantly, Marseilles would be a good jumping off point for nearby towns to see Provence. But, you can't do that for Toulon so you're stuck with the ship's shore excursion.

[paul929207]

Its important to look at the port city, and how far it is from the destination which I've learned is a trick that cruise ships are playing.

 

For example, my cruise docks at port city of Izmir in order to see Ephesus. But, Izmir is a lot further away from Ephesus than Kusadasi so you can't DIY from Izmir and then have to go with the ship's shore excursion.

 

Same thing with Toulon port, which the ships docks at instead of Marseillies. If the ship docked at Marseilles, there's some things you could see or do. More importantly, Marseilles would be a good jumping off point for nearby towns to see Provence. But, you can't do that for Toulon so you're stuck with the ship's shore excursion.

On the Crown Princess in October, we docked in Kusadasi, which is only a short tide to Ephesus. We easily arranged a private tour.

[KirkNC]

Venice, Florence and Santorini

[CrazyJess]

As far as I understand in Venice ships dock right in the city, very close to the main tourist attractions, is that wright? What would you suggest for Venice – to book the excursions on the ship or just to walk around by yourself? We are coming with a child of three and are not so much interested in the museums, just the city itself…. Thank you.

[jocap]

As far as I understand in Venice ships dock right in the city, very close to the main tourist attractions, is that wright? What would you suggest for Venice – to book the excursions on the ship or just to walk around by yourself? We are coming with a child of three and are not so much interested in the museums, just the city itself…. Thank you.

There's a people carrier from the port to the square where you can catch water buses or walk to the main sights- just follow the canals; the ship may arrange a shuttle which goes close to St Mark's Square...it will be expensive, but worth it because you can keep returning to the ship for a rest for your child. If you have transport for the little one- a push chair (stroller?), then you can easily walk back to the ship....it will take around an hour, but round every corner there's something else to see.

Keep your eyes open for free entrance into art exhibitions; buy something to eat well away from the crowds, and take water as it can feel very hot and humid.

Enjoy!:)

[Sargent_Schultz]

Venice, Tuscany (any port), Istanbul, Dubrovnik, Naples, Sicily (any port)