Silver Ray - Riviera & Italian Coast: Monte Carlo to Rome

Where this cruise calls, day by day

7 ports and 1 sea day over 7 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Monte Carlo

   MonacoDepart

   Monaco is two square kilometres of banked hillside, and a cruise call drops you at the bottom of it in Port Hercule. Everything is walkable if you are willing to climb, or you can use the public lifts that thread up through the rock. The appeal is concentrated and unapologetically expensive: the casino, the palace, and a harbour of boats worth more than the ship.

   • The Casino de Monte-Carlo and the square in front of the Hotel de Paris
   • The Musee Oceanographique, built into the cliff face at Monaco-Ville
   • The Prince's Palace and the changing of the guard just before noon
   • Walking the Grand Prix circuit - the tunnel and the Rascasse hairpin are ordinary streets

   Getting ashore

   Larger ships anchor in the bay and tender into Port Hercule while smaller ones come alongside the Quai Rainier III jetty; either way you land in the middle of town.

   Best months

   Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct (May is Grand Prix month - spectacular, but the town is fenced off)

2. Day 2

   Toulon

   FrancePort

   Home base of the French Mediterranean fleet, so the harbour view from the deck is grey hulls rather than yachts. The town was heavily bombed in the war and rebuilt plainly, but the old quarter behind the quay has a good daily market and the cable car up Mont Faron gives one of the widest views on the coast. Toulon is also a practical starting point for Hyeres and the Iles d'Or.

   • Musee National de la Marine, next to the arsenal gate
   • The Mont Faron cable car and the Memorial to the Allied landings
   • The Provencal market on the Cours Lafayette
   • A harbour boat tour past the naval fleet, or a ferry to Porquerolles

   Getting ashore

   Ships dock at the Quai Cronstadt beside the old port, close enough to walk into the market streets in a few minutes.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct

3. Day 3

   Portofino

   ItalyPort

   Portofino is one deep-green cove with about 400 residents and a row of ochre houses around a piazzetta, and it is tiny - a large ship's worth of passengers noticeably fills it. An hour covers the harbour front. The rest of a good day here is spent climbing to Castello Brown or taking a boat further round the headland, away from the crowd you arrived with.

   • Castello Brown, above the harbour, for the view straight down into the cove
   • The walk out to the Punta Portofino lighthouse
   • The abbey of San Fruttuoso, reachable only by boat or on foot
   • Santa Margherita Ligure, a bigger and less precious town ten minutes away

   Getting ashore

   There is no cruise berth - ships anchor off and tender passengers into the harbour, landing at the piazzetta itself.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep (Jul-Aug the cove is saturated)

4. Day 4

   Livorno (Florence/Pisa)

   ItalyPort
   Livorno (Florence/Pisa) port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
5. Day 5

   Porto Santo Stefano

   ItalyPort

   Porto Santo Stefano is a small harbour town on the Monte Argentario promontory in southern Tuscany, used mainly by smaller ships. It is a working fishing and ferry port with a Spanish-built fortress above it, and there is no headline sight - the day is about the coastline, the Orbetello lagoon, or a boat out to Giglio. Expect a quiet call with a thin excursion programme.

   • The Fortezza Spagnola above the harbour
   • The Orbetello lagoon and the sand spits that tie Argentario to the mainland
   • A ferry across to Isola del Giglio
   • The panoramic road around Monte Argentario's cliffs and coves

   Getting ashore

   The harbour is small, so cruise ships generally anchor in the bay and tender passengers to the town quay.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep

6. Day 6 · At sea

7. Day 7

   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)

8. Day 8

   Rome (Civitavecchia)

   ItalyArrive
   Rome (Civitavecchia) port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore