Norwegian Pearl - Greek Isles: Santorini, Mykonos & Kotor

Where this cruise calls, day by day

8 ports over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Ravenna

   ItalyDepart

   The berth is Porto Corsini, a canal terminal on the Adriatic about 12km from Ravenna itself, so a shuttle is unavoidable. What waits at the other end is a set of fifth- and sixth-century Byzantine mosaics that survive nowhere else in Europe at this quality - gold ground, deep blue, still in the buildings they were made for. Ravenna also absorbed cruise traffic that once went to Venice.

   • The Basilica di San Vitale and the adjoining Mausoleum of Galla Placidia
   • Sant'Apollinare Nuovo, and Sant'Apollinare in Classe out of town
   • Dante's tomb, beside the Basilica di San Francesco
   • The Neonian Baptistery, oldest of the mosaic monuments

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at Porto Corsini on the Candiano canal and a shuttle covers the 12km into Ravenna, after which the mosaic sites are all within walking distance of each other.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct

2. Day 2

   Dubrovnik

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   Dubrovnik's walled Old Town is small, hard-surfaced and steep, and on a two-ship day it does not cope - which is why the city capped cruise arrivals. Ships berth at Gruz, about 3km round the headland, so you arrive by bus or taxi rather than stepping out at the gate. The wall circuit is what people come for and it earns the ticket, but it is a 2km loop with almost no shade.

   • The city walls circuit - roughly 2km, stepped, shadeless, and about EUR40
   • The Stradun, the Rector's Palace, and the Franciscan monastery pharmacy of 1317
   • The cable car up Mount Srd for the view down onto the Old Town and Lokrum
   • A boat across to Lokrum island, or sea kayaking beneath the walls

   Getting ashore

   Docked at Gruz, about 2.5km from the Pile Gate; ship shuttles run to the gate, local buses 1A and 1B take ten minutes, and the walk is 35 minutes along a busy road.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug means heat on the walls and the worst of the crowding)

3. Day 3

   Kotor

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   The approach is half the day here: ships work 28km up the Bay of Kotor and through the Verige strait, only 340m wide at its tightest, past Perast and near-vertical limestone before tying up. Kotor is a compact Venetian walled town at the head of the bay, and the berth is a hundred metres from the gate - which also means a very small town absorbing everything a large ship unloads.

   • The walls climb to St John's Fortress - 1,350 steps and 365m up, ticketed, with no shade
   • St Tryphon's Cathedral, consecrated in the 11th century, and the Old Town lanes
   • A boat to Our Lady of the Rocks, the man-made islet off Perast
   • The switchback road up to Lovcen and Njegos's mausoleum, or Budva and Sveti Stefan

   Getting ashore

   There is only one usable cruise pier, a two-minute walk from the Sea Gate. The first ship in takes it; everything arriving after that anchors in the bay and tenders.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug is hot and the fortress climb is punishing)

4. Day 4

   Corfu

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   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)

5. Day 5

   Katakolon (Olympia)

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   Katakolon is one street of tavernas and souvenir shops on a small Peloponnese headland, busy on cruise days and dormant otherwise. Nobody calls here for the town. Ancient Olympia is 35km inland, and the honest problem is arithmetic: the sanctuary deserves three or four hours, and a six-hour call with 90 minutes of driving does not leave you them.

   • Ancient Olympia: the Temple of Hera, the ruins of the Temple of Zeus, and the stadium entered through its vaulted tunnel
   • The Archaeological Museum of Olympia - the Hermes of Praxiteles, the Nike of Paionios, and the temple pediments
   • The seasonal tourist train that runs inland from the quay to Olympia
   • Plakes beach, a couple of hundred metres from the pier, if you skip the ruins

   Getting ashore

   Docked alongside at the Port of Katakolo, with the village a five-minute walk from the ship; Ancient Olympia is 35km inland, about 45 minutes each way.

   Best months

   Late Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (Olympia is barely shaded, and in heatwaves Greek sites now shut from midday to late afternoon)

6. Day 6

   Mykonos

   GreecePort

   Mykonos is the Cyclades at their most commercial - a whitewashed town that has been a fashion and nightlife destination since the 1960s, with prices to match. Most ships berth at Tourlos, about 2km north of Chora, though when the schedule is full some anchor and tender straight into the old harbour. For many passengers the real draw is next door: Delos, the uninhabited sanctuary island, is a 30-minute boat ride.

   • Delos - the ancient sanctuary of Apollo and its Terrace of the Lions, by boat from the old port
   • Little Venice, the Kato Mili windmills, and the church of Panagia Paraportiani
   • Beach time at Psarou or Platis Gialos, or the party beaches at Paradise and Super Paradise
   • Ano Mera and the Panagia Tourliani monastery, away from the crowds

   Getting ashore

   Two options: most large ships dock at Tourlos (New Port) 2km from town, with a paid shuttle bus or water taxi into Chora; when berths are taken, ships anchor and tender into the old harbour, which lands you in town on foot.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-early Oct (Jul-Aug is crowded and expensive, and the meltemi wind can cancel Delos boats)

7. Day 7

   Santorini

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   Santorini is a flooded volcanic caldera, and the towns sit on the rim some 300m above where your ship anchors - which is the whole logistical problem. There is no cruise berth, so you tender to Skala below Fira and then queue for a small cable car, walk up 588 steps, or ride a mule. Arrivals are now capped to thin the crush, but the cable car remains the bottleneck in both directions.

   • Oia on the northern tip, and the caldera-edge path that walks there from Fira
   • Akrotiri - a Bronze Age town buried by the eruption and excavated under a modern roof
   • Assyrtiko tasting at the caldera-facing wineries, Santo Wines and Venetsanos
   • A caldera boat to the crater of Nea Kameni and the warm springs at Palea Kameni

   Getting ashore

   Tender to Skala, the old port below Fira, then the cable car up the cliff - queues of an hour each way are normal on busy days, and the alternative is 588 steps. Excursion tenders often land at Athinios instead, where coaches wait.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (Jul-Aug is hot, packed, and Oia at sunset is shoulder to shoulder)

8. Day 8

   Athens (Piraeus)

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   Athens (Piraeus) port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore