This was published 7 years ago
Best small-ship ports: Five cruises that allow you to slip quietly into a little port town
Portofino, Riviera di Levante, Liguria, Italy.Credit: Jon Arnold
There are two great ways to cruise. You can sail into a megacity on an enormous cruise liner, fog horn blaring in salute as a party unfolds on the deck. Or you can slip quietly into an intimate little port town that no big ships can enter, soaking up the tranquillity of a new and soon-to-be-explored destination that will reveal more understated pleasures.
Both have their merits, but small-ship cruising brings luxury, exclusivity and a greater sense of adventure to the seven seas. It also opens up a myriad possibilities in harbours that are too small or shallow for big ships, or towns whose docking facilities just can't cope with large passenger numbers. Here are just a few of the many charming choices.
PORTOFINO, ITALY
Ancient castle and harbor, Bodrum, on the Aegean coast of Turkey.Credit: Larry Dale Gordon
WHERE Ligurian (Italian Riviera) coast just south of Genoa in northwest Italy.
WHY This fishing village became an early jet-setting tourist town in the 1950s, and sits on a steep-sided peninsula backed by olive and pine trees. It's the epitome of Italian seaside chic whose pastel-coloured houses, draped in bougainvillea, rise above a harbour of impossibly peacock-blue water afloat in yachts. This is a tender-only port, and large ships are usually banished to Santa Margherita along the coast.
WHO Azamara Club Cruises (azamaraclubcruises.com), Seabourn Cruises (seabourn.com), Silversea (silversea.com), Windstar Cruises (traveltheworld.com.au)
Old city of Rovinj with its cathedral.Credit: Getty Images
MORE turismoinliguria.it
VISBY, SWEDEN
WHERE On Gotland in the Baltic Sea. Gotland is Sweden's largest island, south of Stockholm on the sea route to Latvia and Lithuania.
WHY This port is so small that even small ships have to tender passengers ashore. What you discover is over three kilometres of ramparts and dozens of medieval towers enclosing a World Heritage town of picturesque ruined churches and the smug, historic houses of sea traders. Even better, cars are banned all summer. The island beyond town has karst caves, wild cliffs and rolling countryside under pale northern skies.
WHO APT (aptouring.com.au), Silversea, Windstar Cruises.
MORE gotland.com
BODRUM, TURKEY
WHERE On the Aegean Sea on Turkey's southwest coastline, guarding the entrance to a fine island-protected gulf.
WHY Occasional large ships do call here, but Bodrum is mostly a small-ship experience as you sail towards the town of cubist white houses, topped by a whopping castle. Its history goes back to ancient times, but it also has a contemporary, upmarket appeal and great nightlife. The surrounding peninsula is gorgeous with sandy bays, tangerine orchards and rustic windmills among the olive groves.
WHO Azamara Club Cruises, Seabourn Cruises, Windstar Cruises.
MORE bodrum.org
ROVINJ, CROATIA
WHERE A town on the Adriatic Sea, on a headland of the west coast of Croatia's Istrian peninsula just south of the Italian border.
WHY A harbour of colourful wooden boats is topped by an old town of tangled baroque-era alleyways in this photogenic town, popular with well-heeled Italian holidaymakers but still a genuine fishing town where the catch is hauled in each morning. Cafés are lively, development controlled, and sunsets are utterly gobsmacking. Passengers are usually tendered into the intimate old harbour.
WHO Crystal Yacht Cruises (crystalcruises.com), Star Clippers, Windstar Cruises
MORE rovinj.co
CHARLESTOWN, NEVIS
WHERE On the island of Nevis in the Caribbean, which is federated with nearby big-ship destination St Kitts.
WHY A fabulous view of Nevis' dormant volcano greets passengers on approach to this lush island, which offers what most Caribbean cruise destinations fail to deliver: uncrowded beaches, tranquillity and an absence of hard sell. The smallest ships dock in the charming Victorian-era town, others tender to shore. Coral reefs, beaches and hot springs await, and the town's only commotion is the arrival of a ferry from St Kitts.
WHO Azamara Club Cruise, SeaDream Yacht Club (seadream.com), Star Clippers (starclippers.com).
MORE nevisisland.com
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