Explora II - Greek Isles to Venice: Athens to Fusina

Where this cruise calls, day by day

7 ports and 1 sea day over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Athens (Piraeus)

   GreeceDepart
   Athens (Piraeus) port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
2. Day 2

   Paros

   GreecePort

   Paros is the Cyclades without the price tag or the scene - the island that supplied the translucent marble used for the Venus de Milo and much of classical Greek sculpture. Parikia, where the tenders land, hides one of the oldest churches still standing in Greece behind a fairly ordinary waterfront. Naousa, the fishing harbour on the north coast, is the better-looking half of the island.

   • The Panagia Ekatontapyliani, a few metres from the port - 4th-century, and tradition insists on 99 doors, not 100
   • Parikia's Venetian kastro, built straight out of the marble of dismantled ancient temples
   • Naousa, 10km north: a fishing harbour with a half-sunken fort in the water
   • The ancient marble quarries at Marathi, where Parian marble was cut

   Getting ashore

   Sources conflict and it appears to depend on the vessel: smaller ships berth alongside at Parikia, larger ones anchor off and tender in. Either way you land on the waterfront with the town at your feet.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (the meltemi runs mid-May to mid-Sept and is strongest in the afternoon)

3. Day 3

   Patmos

   GreecePort

   Patmos is where the Book of Revelation was written, and the island has stayed deliberately quiet about being a pilgrimage site - no airport, no nightlife to speak of. Ships anchor off Skala and tender in. Above the port, Chora and the fortified monastery of St John sit along the ridge, reached by a steep road that most people take a bus or a taxi up rather than walk.

   • The Monastery of St John the Theologian, fortified against pirates, above Chora
   • The Cave of the Apocalypse, on the hillside between Skala and Chora
   • Chora's whitewashed lanes and its sea-captains' mansions
   • Psili Ammos or Grikos beach, if you want the afternoon off

   Getting ashore

   Tender. Ships anchor off and tender to Skala; Chora and the monastery are about 4km up a steep hill, so take the bus or a taxi - and dress codes are enforced at the monastery.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct

4. Day 4 · At sea

5. Day 5

   Corfu

   GreecePort

   Corfu was Venetian for four centuries and then British for fifty, and the Old Town shows it - tall shuttered Italianate terraces, a cricket ground on the main square, and an arcaded promenade the French put up. The island is green and wooded in a way the Cyclades are not. The cruise terminal is a couple of kilometres from the Old Town, an unremarkable walk or a short shuttle ride.

   • The Old Fortress and the Liston arcade on the Spianada, the largest square in Greece
   • The Achilleion, the palace Empress Elisabeth of Austria built above Gastouri
   • Paleokastritsa - the monastery on the headland and the coves beneath it
   • Kanoni, with the Vlacherna monastery and Mouse Island offshore

   Getting ashore

   Docked at the cruise terminal about 2km from the Old Town; a shuttle runs to the port gate, and it is a 20-25 minute walk from there along the waterfront.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (Corfu gets far more rain than the Aegean islands, so shoulder season can be wet)

6. Day 6

   Hvar

   CroatiaPort

   Hvar Town is a small Dalmatian harbour that turned into a yacht and nightlife destination, laid out as an amphitheatre of stone houses around the largest square in Dalmatia. There is no cruise berth - ships anchor off and tender in, which means a hard jugo or bura can cancel the call outright. The fortress above the town is the one climb worth making.

   • St Stephen's Square, the cathedral, and the Arsenal with its 1612 theatre
   • The Fortica, the Spanish fortress above the town - a steep 20-minute climb
   • A taxi boat out to the Pakleni Islands and the bay at Palmizana
   • The Stari Grad Plain, a Greek field system still being farmed after 2,400 years

   Getting ashore

   Tender. Ships anchor off Hvar Town and tender into the harbour, which lands you in the middle of town; the call is weather-dependent.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep (Jul-Aug is peak yacht season and the town is packed)

7. Day 7

   Rijeka

   CroatiaPort

   Rijeka is a working cargo port and Croatia's third city, and it makes no attempt to present itself as a tourist town - Habsburg-era offices, a shipyard skyline and the Korzo promenade rather than a walled old quarter. That makes it an honest gateway port. Most passengers spend the day at Opatija's belle-epoque seafront; the Plitvice lakes are also sold from here, but at two and a half hours each way they consume the entire call.

   • The Petar Kruzic stairway climbing to Trsat Castle, 138m above the city
   • The Korzo promenade, the City Tower, and the Art Nouveau market halls
   • The Cathedral of St Vitus, a baroque rotunda and a rarity in Croatia
   • Opatija: Habsburg villas and the Lungomare shore path, 15km west

   Getting ashore

   Docked in the city itself, on the Molo Longo breakwater or Adamicev gat; the Korzo is about 800m away, a flat 10-minute walk, and no shuttle is needed.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (the Kvarner coast is wet in winter and the bora blows hard)

8. Day 8

   Venice

   ItalyArrive

   Since August 2021 ships above roughly 25,000 gross tons have been barred from the Giudecca Canal and St Mark's Basin, so the classic sail-past no longer happens. Large ships now berth at Porto Marghera, the industrial port on the mainland edge of the lagoon, and transfer passengers in; many lines moved turnarounds to Trieste or Ravenna. Only small vessels still use the Stazione Marittima.

   • The Basilica di San Marco and the Doge's Palace, both worth a pre-booked slot
   • The Gallerie dell'Accademia and the Peggy Guggenheim Collection on the Dorsoduro bank
   • The Rialto market early, before the day-trippers land
   • A vaporetto the length of the Grand Canal - the cheap version of the sail-in you no longer get

   Getting ashore

   Large ships berth at Porto Marghera on the mainland and transfer passengers by bus and boat; only ships under the tonnage limit still reach the Stazione Marittima in the lagoon.

   Best months

   Apr-May and Sep-Oct (summer is hot and packed, and Nov-Jan brings acqua alta)