Taormina and Kotor or Sarande?

Not sure that this is where to post this, since it's about three ports in three different countries. I'm comparing two cruises and trying to decide on one. Both cruises have the main ports we want to visit; the ports I'm writing about are the "secondary" ports, for lack of a better term One cruise visits Taormina and Kotor; the other Sarande. Yes, one sailing has an extra port. I've looked at the shore excursions offered, but nothing is jumping out and saying "book me!" Any recommendations? Thank you!

Taormina and Kotor are great ports. Don’t where Sarande is.

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Thank you, gfkcruiser. I have to admit, I hadn't heard of Serande either. It's in Albania

We ported in Sarande a couple of years ago, due to cancellation of Turkish ports.

It was a dull dreary place which reminded me of mid 1970's eastern bloc. Go again - no thanks!

Kotor is lovely.

We visited Taormina a couple of years ago and was not very impressed. I don't know Serande.

Kotor Montenegro, on the other hand was fabulous! It's a lovely, pedestrian friendly city that should not be missed.

https://cruiseports.ca/montenegro/

Thank you, VMax1700 and Grant 2000, for your input. I appreciate your impressions of the ports you did visit. Also, Grant 2000, thank you for the link to cruiseports. There's some good information on that site!

Taomina is lovely and Kotor is stepped in History...you can't miss going with these ports...the zig-zag is great for views in a car..

Sarande itself is not a very charming port, and if you were to stay in the city I would agree with others that Taomina and Kotor are more likeable ports.

HOWEVER, if you are interested in Roman/Byzantine ruins, Sarande has a lovely set of ruins, called Butrint, in a nice archaeological park about 30 minutes from the city. If you Google it, you'll see what I mean. Most ships offer tours there and it is well worth it to see the ruins and a little of the pretty natural scenery outside Sarande.

So.... if you like ruins, don't count Sarande out. (Or if you just want to add Albania to your list of countries visited, lol....)

I have not been to Sarande. Kotor & Taormina were two of my favorite ports on our Mediterranean cruise. The sail into Kotor was phenomenal!

Thank you, Lastdance, cruisemom42, and oshmom for your replies. We booked the cruise with Kotor and Taormina. We preferred the sailing date, as well as the ports. Cruisemom42, if we had gone to Sarande, we would definitely have toured Butrint. We love the archeological sites.