Viking Star - Malta, Morocco & the Mediterranean

Where this cruise calls, day by day

12 ports and 4 sea days over 15 Nights.

1. Day 1

   Barcelona

   SpainDepart
   Barcelona port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
2. Day 2

   Marseille

   FrancePort

   France's oldest city and its largest port, founded by Greek traders around 600 BC and still visibly a working, unpolished place. The Vieux-Port is the centre of gravity, with the Notre-Dame de la Garde basilica on the hill above and the limestone inlets of the Calanques to the south. Marseille also serves as the gateway to Provence, with Aix-en-Provence about 40 minutes inland.

   • Notre-Dame de la Garde and the panorama over the harbour and islands
   • MuCEM and the Fort Saint-Jean footbridges at the harbour mouth
   • Le Panier, the hillside old quarter behind the Vieux-Port
   • A boat trip into the Calanques or a coach to Aix-en-Provence

   Getting ashore

   The cruise terminals sit in the commercial port several kilometres north of the centre, so a shuttle bus to the Joliette or Vieux-Port area is effectively compulsory.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct (the mistral can blow cold and hard in spring)

3. Day 3

   Ajaccio

   FrancePort

   Corsica's largest town and Napoleon's birthplace, which the town has never let anyone forget - his statues, his family house and his name are all over the centre. Ajaccio is more relaxed than the Riviera ports, with a good covered market and a genuinely first-rate art collection assembled by Napoleon's uncle. The mountains behind the town rise fast, and the coastline west of the harbour is the scenic draw.

   • Maison Bonaparte, the family home where Napoleon was born
   • Musee Fesch and its collection of Italian Renaissance and Baroque painting
   • The morning market on Place Foch and the Rue Cardinal Fesch
   • A boat trip out to the Iles Sanguinaires at the mouth of the gulf

   Getting ashore

   Ships berth at the Quai l'Herminier or the Quai des Torpilleurs, both a few minutes' walk from the market and old town; larger vessels sometimes tender.

   Best months

   May-Jun and Sep-Oct

4. Day 4

   Rome (Civitavecchia)

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

5. Day 5 · At sea

6. Day 6

   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)

7. Day 7

   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)

8. Day 8

   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)

9. Day 9 · At sea

10. Day 10

    Algiers

    AlgeriaPort

    Algiers is a rare call and a complicated one - Algeria's visa rules mean most passengers can go ashore only on a ship-organised excursion. What you see is a white amphitheatre of French colonial boulevards rising off the bay, with the Ottoman Casbah stacked behind them. It is a real North African capital almost untouched by tourism, and that shows in both directions.

    • The Casbah, the UNESCO-listed Ottoman citadel quarter above the port
    • Notre-Dame d'Afrique, the basilica on the cliff north of the bay
    • The Maqam Echahid martyrs' memorial, on the heights above the city
    • The Bardo National Museum and the long colonial arcades of the seafront

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock in the commercial port directly below the city, but going ashore usually depends on being booked on an organised tour - confirm with the ship before planning anything independent.

    Best months

    Mar-May and Sep-Nov

11. Day 11 · At sea

12. Day 12

    Casablanca

    MoroccoPort

    Casablanca is Morocco's commercial capital rather than its tourist one - a big, functional Atlantic city of French colonial blocks and heavy traffic. The unmissable thing is the Hassan II Mosque, built out over the water and one of the few in Morocco non-Muslims may enter on a guided tour. Marrakech is often sold as an excursion but sits nearly three hours each way; Rabat is the realistic trip.

    • The Hassan II Mosque, with a 210m minaret and a glass floor over the sea
    • The Habous quarter, a 1930s French-built reinterpretation of a medina
    • The old medina and the Art Deco streets around Place Mohammed V
    • Rabat's Kasbah of the Udayas and Hassan Tower, about an hour north

    Getting ashore

    Ships dock in the working commercial port, and the walk to the gate is long and unappealing, so most passengers take a shuttle or taxi the short distance to the medina and centre.

    Best months

    Mar-May and Sep-Nov

13. Day 13

    Cadiz

    SpainPort
    Cadiz port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore
14. Day 14

    Malaga

    SpainPort

    The main gateway to the Costa del Sol, but the city itself has quietly become an art destination - Picasso was born here and there are now several serious museums within walking distance of each other. A Moorish fortress and the castle above it dominate the centre, and the remodelled port district puts shops and restaurants right where you disembark. Granada and Ronda are both feasible as full-day trips.

    • The Alcazaba fortress and the Gibralfaro castle walk above it
    • Museo Picasso Malaga in the Buenavista palace
    • The cathedral, known locally as La Manquita for its unfinished second tower
    • A day trip to the Alhambra in Granada, roughly 1.5 hours inland

    Getting ashore

    Most ships use the Levante quay by Muelle Uno, a 15-20 minute waterfront walk into the centre; larger ships at Muelle 2 rely on a shuttle.

    Best months

    Apr-Jun and Sep-Oct

15. Day 15 · At sea

16. Day 16

    Barcelona

    SpainArrive
    Barcelona port guide: where ships dock and what to do ashore