The surprising way you’ll find some of Europe’s most idyllic places
By Sue Williams
It was Duncan Brown’s first time in Europe and his wife Wei’s 12th, and the couple just couldn’t agree on where to go. The Continent might be their oyster, but they were arguing over where its most precious pearls were to be found.
In the end, Wei came up with an ingenious solution: a short cruise first, followed by two weeks split between three of the locations they decided on the voyage that they liked best.
Gibraltar is a picturesque place that manages to straddle British ownership and a decidedly Spanish location and still retain its grace.Credit: iStock
“For us, it’s been perfect,” Wei, 53, says over dinner, towards the end of the couple’s seven-day Mediterranean cruise aboard the Enchanted Princess. “It gave my husband a great introduction to some of the nicest places in Europe and let him work out where he’d like to spend more time.
“So now we’ve just booked a hotel in Aix-en-Provence for a few days, then we’re getting the high-speed train to Paris, and after a week there, getting a flight to Florence. We’re really excited about it.”
Cruising has rebounded to beyond pre-pandemic levels, with total cruise capacity in Australia this year up 42 per cent over 2023 levels when it delivered a record $5.6 billion to the national economy, according to Cruise Lines International Association Australasia.
Short cruises are also on the rise with six in every 10 people who take one returning to a destination they first visited on a ship.
Mediterranean cruises, dropping in on some of the most idyllic places in the world, are an excellent option for this. Increasingly, they’re being booked as the perfect prologue to a longer European jaunt; as a restful respite in the middle with all meals provided and the luxury of only unpacking once while seeing the sights, or as a fabulous finale.
Those options are proving particularly popular with families, too, whose members might all have their own ideas of the best location for a perfect break but who can then all come together for shared time onboard and exploring popular ports.
Aboard the Sky Princess … a short cruise can help you determine which parts of Europe you want to spend time in.
Enchanted Princess’s itinerary suits this beautifully. We start off in Barcelona, with its astonishing Gaudi architecture, Catalan culture, beautiful beaches, buzzing marketplace and incredible food and wine. It’s a lovely city to wander around to absorb its history, and return to later.
The next stop, after a day at sea to explore the ship and its myriad activities, is Gibraltar, the tiny territory at the entrance, and exit, to the Mediterranean Sea, a picturesque place that manages to straddle British ownership and a decidedly Spanish location and still retain its grace.
After another day of sailing, the ship arrives in the southern French port of Marseilles, the country’s oldest, sunniest and second-biggest city and certainly among its most colourful. As well as strolling around the old port and climbing up to the Basilique Notre-Dame de la Garde with its dazzling views over the city from the terrace, there are also plenty of excursions on offer, with Aix-en-Provence one not to be missed.
This is perhaps the most beautiful city in the whole of France, with 17th-century mansions lining the leafy boulevards, fabulous markets and fine food. You can understand how it whets the appetite for Paris.
The next port is the Italian Riviera and the medieval city at its heart, Genoa, with splendid Renaissance, baroque and gothic architecture framing every street.
You’ll want to return to Italy’s Florence.
An excellent tour is to the quaint seaside village of Rapallo, with the drive an absolute stunner, offering breathtaking views of the ocean and Ligurian countryside. Once there, its ancient castle, built in 1550 to repel pirate attacks, stands guard on a stretch of beach and is today a proud national monument.
The penultimate berthing is Livorno, not far from Pisa and its leaning tower, and a drive to Florence through the lush Tuscan countryside. It’s hard to do justice to everything that Florence has in a day – the Uffizi Gallery alone could absorb that.
The penultimate berthing is Livorno, not far from Pisa and its leaning tower.
Instead, it’s great to take a tour from the ship, or even directions for a self-guided tour, and just walk past all the galleries, museums, the Palazzo Pitti, the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze with Michelangelo’s statue of David and along the Ponte Vecchio across the Arno.
Then come back later, after the cruise’s final destination in Rome, like the Browns, to have the time to do them justice, or explore first, before taking the cruise.
“It’s the absolute best way to do this,” says Duncan, 59, as he prepares to disembark. “I’d love to do it all again next year.”
The writer was a guest of Princess Cruises.
The details
Seven-day Mediterranean Princess cruise departing Barcelona on August 3, with France and Italy, finishing in Rome is from $1626 for an interior cabin, twin-share, and $2546 with balcony. Four Princess ships will be based in Europe for the summer 2024 season. See princess.com
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