Explora I - Mediterranean Charms: Barcelona to Rome

Where this cruise calls, day by day

7 ports and 1 sea day over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Barcelona

   SpainDepart

   The busiest cruise port in Europe, and for many Western Mediterranean itineraries the place the whole trip starts or ends. Barcelona is a full-scale city rather than a port town: Gaudi's unfinished basilica, a dense medieval quarter, and a working waterfront all within a few metro stops. Ships berth on a long industrial mole well outside the centre, so the day begins with a bus ride rather than a gangway stroll.

   • Sagrada Familia - book a timed entry well ahead; walk-ups are usually turned away
   • Park Guell and the Gaudi mosaics on Carmel hill
   • The Gothic Quarter and Barcelona Cathedral, on foot from Placa de Catalunya
   • La Boqueria market and a walk down La Rambla to the Columbus monument

   Getting ashore

   All cruise ships now use the Moll d'Adossat terminals roughly 3 km from the old city; the paid blue Portbus shuttle runs to the foot of La Rambla, and walking out is not practical.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug is hot, crowded and expensive)

2. Day 2

   Ibiza

   SpainPort

   The nightlife reputation is real but it belongs to a handful of clubs on the far side of the island, and daytime Ibiza is something else entirely: a UNESCO-listed walled upper town, Dalt Vila, climbing to a cathedral above the harbour. Salt pans, pine woods and small coves make up most of the rest. Ships call in daylight hours, so what you see is the historic and coastal side rather than the party one.

   • Dalt Vila, the Renaissance-walled old town, and its cathedral viewpoint
   • The Ses Salines salt flats and the beaches at the island's southern tip
   • The harbour-side lanes of La Marina and Sa Penya for shopping
   • A ferry across to Formentera for the day

   Getting ashore

   Most ships dock at the Botafoc pier about 3 km around the harbour from town; use the shuttle, a taxi or the small City Boat across the water rather than walking.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug is at capacity)

3. Day 3

   La Goulette (Tunis)

   TunisiaPort

   La Goulette is the port of Tunis, sitting where the lake meets the sea with the capital about twenty minutes inland. It is a straightforward call with two obvious targets: the scattered Roman ruins of Carthage on the headland, and Sidi Bou Said, a blue-and-white village on the cliff above. Expect firm haggling in the Tunis medina and a busy, unpolished port area.

   • The Antonine Baths and the Punic ports on the Carthage archaeological site
   • Sidi Bou Said's blue-shuttered lanes and the Cafe des Nattes
   • The Tunis medina and the courtyard of the Zitouna Mosque
   • The Bardo National Museum and its Roman mosaic collection

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at La Goulette, a short walk from the TGM light rail, which runs to Tunis in one direction and Carthage and Sidi Bou Said in the other.

   Best months

   Mar-May and Oct-Nov (Jul-Aug very hot)

4. Day 4

   Valletta

   MaltaPort

   Valletta is a fortified 16th-century grid built by the Knights of St John on a peninsula between two harbours, and ships berth beneath it in the Grand Harbour. The city is small enough to cross in twenty minutes and dense with honey-coloured limestone, enclosed wooden balconies and streets that drop away into staircases. One of the best walk-off ports in the Mediterranean.

   • St John's Co-Cathedral, where Caravaggio's Beheading of St John hangs in the oratory
   • The Upper Barrakka Gardens and the Saluting Battery above the Grand Harbour
   • The Grandmaster's Palace and its armoury
   • Mdina, the silent walled city half an hour inland

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at the Valletta Waterfront on Pinto Wharf; the Barrakka Lift carries you straight up the bastion wall into the city, or it is a steep walk round.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Nov (Jul-Aug hot and dry, with little shade in the streets)

5. Day 5

   Taormina (Sicily)

   ItalyPort

   Taormina is a cliff town some 200m above the Ionian sea, and ships cannot reach it - they anchor in the bay off Giardini Naxos below and tender in, after which you go up by bus or by the cable car from Mazzaro. Bigger ships dock at Messina or Catania and coach in instead. The town is one beautiful street with a Greek theatre at the end, and it is expensive and busy.

   • The Teatro Antico, a Greek theatre with Etna framed in the ruined stage wall
   • Corso Umberto, from Porta Messina to Porta Catania
   • Isola Bella, the tiny nature-reserve island below the cable car
   • Etna's craters, about an hour and a half inland

   Getting ashore

   Ships anchor off Giardini Naxos and tender ashore; from there it is a bus up the switchbacks, or the cable car from Mazzaro, to reach Taormina itself.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug hot and heaving)

6. Day 6

   Sorrento

   ItalyPort

   Sorrento sits on a tufa cliff above the Bay of Naples, and ships anchor off and tender into Marina Piccola at the bottom of it. Getting up to the town means a paid lift, a shuttle bus or a long zigzag walk - worth knowing before you plan a tight day. This is also a tender port that cancels: an onshore swell scrubs the call fairly regularly.

   • Piazza Tasso and the lanes off Via San Cesareo, for lemon everything
   • The hydrofoil to Capri, about 25 minutes from Marina Piccola
   • Pompeii, half an hour away on the Circumvesuviana line
   • The Amalfi Coast road to Positano - spectacular, slow, and best avoided in August

   Getting ashore

   Ships anchor in the bay and tender to Marina Piccola, from where a paid lift or a shuttle bus takes you up the cliff into town.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug the coast road barely moves)

7. Day 7 · At sea

8. Day 8

   Rome (Civitavecchia)

   ItalyArrive

   Civitavecchia is a working port town on the Tyrrhenian coast, and it is not Rome - the city is about 80km southeast, roughly 80 minutes each way. Budget for that honestly: a Rome day is some four hours of transit bracketing whatever you actually see. The port has Fort Michelangelo on the quay and good fish-market lunches, a real option if you have done Rome before.

   • St Peter's Basilica and the Vatican Museums, with a timed entry booked well ahead
   • The Colosseum and the Roman Forum, a short walk apart on the Termini side
   • The Pantheon and the Trevi Fountain on a walking loop of the centro storico
   • Fort Michelangelo and the Terme Taurine Roman baths, for a day that stays in Civitavecchia

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock in Civitavecchia and a free shuttle runs to the port gate at Largo della Pace, from where it is a short walk to the station and a 70-80 minute train into Rome.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug hot, and the Rome queues are brutal)