10 Night Mediterranean Dawn

The UNESCO-protected port of Valletta, the capital of the island of Malta, is one of the must-see stops for every Mediterranean cruise of merit.

You can admire this port, constructed in the second half of the 16th century by the Frenchman Jean de la Valette and moulded by the religious and military Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, from your ship even before disembarking. The over 300 monuments rising in little more than half a square kilometre make this a place with one of the greatest density of historical attractions to visit during a cruise, not mentioning other attractions such as its beaches, seaside locales and restaurants.

Start planning your cruise from La Goulette or choose an itinerary that includes this historic destination and book your excursion to explore Tunis. The added value of a vacation in Tunis with a cruise is that in a stretch of just a few kilometres one can admire beautiful sites dating from the pre-historical period to the present day.

An excursion from the berthing port – La Goulette – to the remains of the ancient Carthage, a UNESCO world heritage site since 1979, will take you to the heart of one of the most dynamic and important centres of the Mediterranean. In Carthage one can admire the Roman baths of Antonino, built in the 2nd century AD, the amphitheatre by the same name, which can host 5000 spectators and a small Punic necropolis. Not to miss during your cruise is also a visit to the Carthage National Museum, one of the two archaeological museums in Tunisia, from where one can enjoy a splendid view of the port of La Goulette.

Cruise excursions continue along the coast up to Sidi Bou Said, the “Portofino” of Tunisia, built by the Andalusian Arabs fleeing from Spain, which has become a holiday resort since the 18th century. The heights of the cliffs dominate over the Tunis Bay with its unique colours: the bright white of the walls, the intense blue of the doors and windows, the warm sand colour of the cobbled streets and the explosive fuchsia of the bougainvillea flowers. Another visit not to miss is to the Bard National Museum, hosted in the Hafsid palace built in the 13th century.
Allow yourself some time to walk around Tunis as an alternative to Sidi Bou Said before returning to your cruise ship: the central market, not too far from the Medina, the old own, is a souk typical of Middle Eastern cities, offering cruisers a variety of shops selling fabrics, clothing, spices and crafts. As in any market of this kind, a sale is made only after some haggling, may cruisers be warned!

A holiday to Italy is the perfect chance to visit the regional capital of Sicily. A lively, bustling, noisy port, Palermo yet holds an unrivalled display of Norman art and architecture and Baroque churches, combined with a warren of medieval streets and markets.

With Sicily’s greatest concentration of sights, and the biggest historic centre in Italy bar Rome, Palermo is a complex, multilayered port that can easily feel overwhelming if you try to do or see too much in one Mediterranean cruise visit.

The best thing to do here is just to wander as the fancy takes you, sifting through Palermo’s jumbled layers of crumbling architecture, along deserted back alleys, then suddenly emerging in the midst of an ebullient street market.

Tuscany’s third-largest city is a quintessential port town with a colourful history and cosmopolitan heritage. Declared a free port in the 17th century, Livorno (Leghorn in English) attracted traders from across the globe, who brought with them new customs and habits, exotic goods, slaves and foreign forms of worship. The result was a city famed throughout Europe for its multiculturalism. Today its seafood is the best on the Tyrrhenian coast, its shabby historic quarter threaded with Venetian-style canals is full of character, and its elegant belle époque buildings offer evocative reminders of a prosperous past. An easy train trip from Florence, Pisa and Rome, it makes an understated but undeniably worthwhile stop on any Tuscan itinerary.

Whether it is basking in the Mediterranean sunshine or being cooled by the famous Mistral wind France’s second largest city and the capital of the Provence- Côte d’Azur region, is always a fascinating place to visit and a wonderful place for a leisurely lunch.

As France’s most important port, Marseille boasts connections with Africa, Italy and Spain. The strong mistral wind blows away all traces of pollution and provides a clarity of air so pure that many famous artists have been attracted to the city: Cézanne; Braque; Derain; Dufy and Marquet.

Palma is a stunner. Rising in honey-coloured stone from the broad waters of the Badia de Palma, this enduring city dates back to the 13th-century Christian reconquest of the island, and to the Moors, Romans and Talayotic people before that. A richly studded diadem of historical sites, Palma also shelters a seemingly endless array of galleries, restaurants, craft studios and bars – it’s without doubt Mallorca’s greatest treasure. Wander in any direction from the awe-inspiring Gothic Catedral at its geographic and historical heart and you’ll find bent medieval streets lined with aristocratic townhouses, looming baroque churches, teeming public squares, vibrant bohemian neighbourhoods and markets overflowing with all the bounty of the island. You could spend weeks in this city alone, and still uncover fresh joys every day.

Following breakfast onboard, you will be invited to disembark the Norwegian Dawn and you will be transferred to the airport for your flight back to Dublin.