Any recommendations for a Europe itinerary?

[ktb609]

Hi all! I am an avid cruiser but have mainly done them in the Caribbean. We would love to do one in Europe in 2025. For anyone that has done a European itinerary with Virgin, I would love to hear or thoughts or let me know which of the following I was looking at would be the best.

Note: I liked the idea of having a different start and end port so we could bookend the trip with an extra day or two in those cities, but that is not a mandatory consideration factor.

If you did an itinerary I am not considering and think it is superior or if there are any ports you would avoid, let me know.

Itinerary 1:
Spanish & Italian Hot Spots

• Start Port: Civitavecchia (Rome)

• Naples, Italy

• Sicily

• Sea Day

• Marina di Carrara, Italy

• Ajaccio, Corsica, France

• Sea Day

• End Port: Barcelona, Spain

Itinerary 2:
Barcelona to Cannes, Rome & More

• Start Port: Barcelona, Spain

• Cannes, France

• Marina di Carrara, Italy

• Civitavecchia (Rome)

• Sea Day

• Ibiza, Spain (overnight)

• End Port: Barcelona, Spain

Itinerary 3:
Greek Island Glow

• Start Port: Piraeus (Athens), Greece

• Santorini, Greece

• Rhodes, Greece

• Bodrum, Turkey

• Sea Day

• Mykonos, Greece (Overnight)

• End Port: Piraeus (Athens), Greece

Thanks in advance for any feedback or suggestions! :)

[cantgetin]

Be aware the Civita...is NOT anywhere near Rome.  It is about an hour away by train, about 90 minutes or more by bus.  So, if you do that as a one day stop, you will have very little time to see the city.  THere is easily enough to do there to spend a week....so I like that better as a start or end port rather than a port of call (same with Florence, but that isn't on any of your lists)

Naples is good for either the city or to do Vesuvius/Pompeii  or Herculaneum.  However...when we did Pompeii, we were told that "all the good stuff is at the museum."  The people who did the museum were told it was all at the excavation site.  Seems that many of the treasures were raided by various governments (per a couple of documentaries.). Don't get me wrong--it was worth doing and they are doing more excavation all the time.
Cannes is great.  You are near many little places that you can choose to visit,  There is a train that will take you to Nice, you can visit Eze, etc.  or stay in Cannes (or choose different places each time you visit). Funniest photo ever--a total junker VW Beatle at a stop light next to a spotless, new looking Ferrari.

So....I would not do 2 because Rome would just not be enough time there.  Any of the others have good ports.  One thought--there IS such a thing as visiting too many ruins.  On one cruise (not VV) we did Ephesus, some of the Greek islands, and Pompeii.  Should have skipped the ruins at the islands.  And remember that ports in Turkey may sometimes be canceled for political unrest (can happen anywhere, but that is the most likely on your list)

If I was concerned about the starting and ending cities, I'd go with number 1.  Both Rome and Barcelona are good for as many days as you wish to spend and well worth your time.....for ports, I sort of like 3, but seriously, you can't go wrong.

Edited March 25 by cantgetin

[bdever]

I would highly recommend Southern Spain & Casablanca because it’s a 10 day itinerary and if you’re going to Europe IMO it should be for at least 2 weeks. Spain is the best country in the world, with Cadiz being the best city in the world IMO and this is the only VV sailing visiting Cadiz. And on top of Cadiz you get Casablanca. 

[soccersharon]

4 hours ago, bdever said:

I would highly recommend Southern Spain & Casablanca because it’s a 10 day itinerary and if you’re going to Europe IMO it should be for at least 2 weeks. Spain is the best country in the world, with Cadiz being the best city in the world IMO and this is the only VV sailing visiting Cadiz. And on top of Cadiz you get Casablanca. 

Booked for this cruise too!  What a fabulous itinerary - and so looking forward to Casablanca!

[bdever]

Personally, if I had the money & wanted a different embarkation and debarkation port to book end it would be the Portsmouth to Lisbon, Casablanca, and Spain for 13 days in Sept. 2025.

[MeganGC1983]

I understand you like to start and end in different ports, but if you haven’t done the Greek Island Glow itinerary, it’s fabulous. Santorini and Mykonos are unbelievable and the water in Bodrum was insane. A few pictures for reference. 

[Jamesv281117]

Agree with above on Greek island glow being a very nice experience, loved that each destination was very different in character and what it had to offer!

 

Any itinerary with Ibiza in is great I think, loved having an overnight there with virgin and sailing in to Ibiza at sunset was a great moment. 

[zumbaqueen1]

Are there ports you can just get off the ship and enjoy the actual port locations in (Cannes, Cagliari, Catania, Mykonos, Piraeus) ?

Are there ports that you would absolutely  bypass or stay on ship and for sure book an excursion?

Thanks we are on" Across The Med" Spain to Greece October 11 -20 2024

This will be our first cruise in ten years ...

 

 

 

Thanks,

Mary

[Jamesv281117]

16 hours ago, zumbaqueen1 said:

Are there ports you can just get off the ship and enjoy the actual port locations in (Cannes, Cagliari, Catania, Mykonos, Piraeus) ?

Are there ports that you would absolutely  bypass or stay on ship and for sure book an excursion?

Thanks we are on" Across The Med" Spain to Greece October 11 -20 2024

This will be our first cruise in ten years ...

 

 

 

Thanks,

Mary

Hi I've done all of those arriving by cruise and think they're quite easy and straightforward to do walking off the ship. Mykonos might be tendered and then a bus transfer but then is very easy to walk around once in town. 

 

There were some interesting excursions if I remember rightly for Cagliari if wanting to go further afield. 

 

Piraeus I assume is the ending port on this one, its quite a way from Athens centre so would recommend taxi/Uber. 

[CruisingWalter]

I think one of the best itineraries in Europe is one you didn't list. Starry Nights in Greece and Croatia. An amazing 10 night itinerary as Croatia has become a major destination of late in Europe. https://www.virginvoyages.com/itinerary/europe/greece-croatia-cruise

[Lisa353]

1 hour ago, CruisingWalter said:

I think one of the best itineraries in Europe is one you didn't list. Starry Nights in Greece and Croatia. An amazing 10 night itinerary as Croatia has become a major destination of late in Europe. https://www.virginvoyages.com/itinerary/europe/greece-croatia-cruise

I agree.  Croatia is a beautiful country.  We stayed in Dubrovnik and from there we also had a day trip to Kotor and to Bosnia.  I really want to go back again to see Split.  Also if you are a Game of Thrones fan, parts of this was filmed in Dubrovnik.

[cantgetin]

Loved Croatia!

[hotsauce126]

On 3/25/2024 at 3:52 PM, cantgetin said:

Be aware the Civita...is NOT anywhere near Rome.  It is about an hour away by train, about 90 minutes or more by bus.  So, if you do that as a one day stop, you will have very little time to see the city.  THere is easily enough to do there to spend a week....so I like that better as a start or end port rather than a port of call (same with Florence, but that isn't on any of your lists)

Naples is good for either the city or to do Vesuvius/Pompeii  or Herculaneum.  However...when we did Pompeii, we were told that "all the good stuff is at the museum."  The people who did the museum were told it was all at the excavation site.  Seems that many of the treasures were raided by various governments (per a couple of documentaries.). Don't get me wrong--it was worth doing and they are doing more excavation all the time.
Cannes is great.  You are near many little places that you can choose to visit,  There is a train that will take you to Nice, you can visit Eze, etc.  or stay in Cannes (or choose different places each time you visit). Funniest photo ever--a total junker VW Beatle at a stop light next to a spotless, new looking Ferrari.

So....I would not do 2 because Rome would just not be enough time there.  Any of the others have good ports.  One thought--there IS such a thing as visiting too many ruins.  On one cruise (not VV) we did Ephesus, some of the Greek islands, and Pompeii.  Should have skipped the ruins at the islands.  And remember that ports in Turkey may sometimes be canceled for political unrest (can happen anywhere, but that is the most likely on your list)

If I was concerned about the starting and ending cities, I'd go with number 1.  Both Rome and Barcelona are good for as many days as you wish to spend and well worth your time.....for ports, I sort of like 3, but seriously, you can't go wrong.

on mine were in citavecchia for 15 hours. I’d say that leaves plenty of time to actually spend in Rome 

[DCGuy64]

On 3/30/2024 at 12:44 PM, hotsauce126 said:

on mine were in citavecchia for 15 hours. I’d say that leaves plenty of time to actually spend in Rome 

Absolutely. You can see quite a bit in 15 hours. In fact, in 2021, we disembarked from a cruise in Trieste, took the train to Chiusi to meet friends who live in Citta' della Pieve, had dinner, breakfast and a snack with them and were there less than 24 hours. You could do a ton of stuff in Rome with 15 hours.

Edited April 1 by DCGuy64