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I was helping my friend Winnie plan her first Mediterranean cruise. She said she wanted a cruise that went to the best ports and avoided the worst. It was an impossible task so I sent her to these
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0:00
i was helping my friend winnie plan her
0:01
first mediterranean cruise she said she
0:04
wanted a cruise that went to the very
0:06
best sports and avoided the worst this
0:09
is an impossible task so i decided to
0:12
only send it to the worst ones hoping
0:14
she would thank me in the end i'm gary
0:16
bembridge here's where i told we need to
0:18
go and what happened
0:20
there's at least 45 ports where cruise
0:22
ships can dock and more warships can
0:25
anchor and tender guests in in the
0:27
mediterranean a week-long mediterranean
0:29
cruise calls on at most six ports so i
0:32
had to slash these down to shortness for
0:34
winnie to find a cruise that calls into
0:36
as many of the must visit ports in my
0:38
view as possible that's where the worst
0:41
ports come to their own if you're
0:43
cruising the mediterranean and if like
0:45
winnie it's a first western eastern or
0:47
southern greek islands cruise focus on
0:49
getting to as many ports that are
0:51
gateways to famous cities or historic
0:54
sites in the region even if the ports
0:57
themselves
0:58
are
0:59
awful many of the ports are working
1:01
container and freight ports in
1:03
uninspiring towns with limited things to
1:06
see and do close by and actually far
1:09
from those iconic cities and sites
1:11
they're not where you will want to spend
1:13
time it's what they grant access to that
1:16
makes them essential to have on any list
1:19
here are the seven ones that are
1:21
recommended to winnie trivichyveche is
1:23
one of the most common ports that ships
1:26
call on the mediterranean it's an
1:28
uninspiring slightly run-down town with
1:31
little to see and do but rome one of the
1:33
most historically rich cities in the
1:35
world with incredible sites like the
1:37
colosseum the pantheon trevi fountain
1:39
and the vatican city is an hour to an
1:41
hour a half away the vono is also an
1:44
unattractive busy industrial and cruise
1:46
port the city is fairly unattractive the
1:49
grand city of florence with
1:50
michelangelo's david pontevecture bridge
1:53
the cathedral of santa maria del fiore
1:56
and the pacific of santa cruz it's just
1:58
an hour and a half away pisa and the
2:01
leaning tower is just 45 minutes away if
2:04
you want to see venice for example with
2:06
its grand canals it's in mark's square
2:09
and basilica and the fascinating doges
2:12
palace you now will have to dock in the
2:14
very functional port of ravenna or
2:17
trieste both of which are around
2:19
two hours from venice even if your ship
2:21
is small enough to be allowed to dock in
2:23
venice as i was on my recent viking sky
2:26
cruise
2:27
last march
2:28
it was inside a freight port on the
2:31
mainland we weren't allowed to walk
2:32
around the area because it was just seen
2:34
as too dangerous and it still took us 45
2:37
minutes to get into venice la spezia in
2:40
northern italy is an industrial port
2:42
with little around it to explore but
2:45
in an hour or less you can be exploring
2:47
the gorgeous cinque terre region a
2:49
collection of five amazing villages
2:53
clinging to the hillside with quaint
2:55
shops and really popular beaches
2:57
katakolon in greece is a small town with
3:00
one road of tourist trap shops that
3:02
takes about half an hour to explore but
3:04
an hour away is the vast olympia home of
3:06
the olympics with extensive runes and a
3:09
truly remarkable museum perez is a busy
3:12
industrial and cruise port with a city
3:14
to match where you could catch up on hop
3:16
off bus to the beach but again about an
3:19
hour or so away is the rich history of
3:22
athens with a beautiful acropolis with
3:24
parthenon and museum the pantheatic
3:27
stadium and so on to get to see the
3:30
incredible ruins of pompeii or the
3:32
gorgeous island of capri the port is
3:34
naples it's about an hour away from the
3:36
ruins based on traffic and it's about an
3:39
hour or so boat ride to the island as i
3:42
said to winnie these are unattractive
3:45
and unappealing ports in themselves
3:47
making them some of the worst ports in
3:50
their own right to call in the
3:51
mediterranean but they are also the best
3:54
because they are gateways to iconic
3:56
cities and must see sites one warning
3:59
and watch out i gave her was that the
4:01
cruise lines often try and disguise
4:03
these ports or they certainly don't make
4:06
it very clear about the nature of these
4:08
ports look at this itinerary from a
4:09
cruise line website in brochure it shows
4:12
the ship calls on florence slash pisa
4:15
and rome however
4:17
as you've learned it does not the ports
4:19
are laverno and chivichuvetcha as you
4:22
now know as i told winnie there is a
4:24
really simple way to know if the city or
4:27
major site is at the port by looking at
4:30
the detailed itinerary listing
4:33
here the lions usually have the name of
4:34
the major city or attraction they know
4:36
passengers like
4:37
people like winnie want to see first
4:39
they'll have those really first and then
4:41
in brackets after it the name of the
4:43
actual port the ship will really be
4:45
calling into so for example
4:48
for that cruise that i was talking about
4:50
you can see they have written florence
4:52
pisa brackets laverno if you're
4:56
unfamiliar with the geography of a
4:57
country this tip actually helps so for
4:59
example i'm considering this
5:01
mediterranean cruise to see the
5:03
incredible ephesus ruins but you can see
5:06
from the listing that the port closest
5:09
it calls on is the tourist resort of
5:10
kusadasi
5:12
and checking in that's about an hour or
5:13
so from the port
5:15
so after this discussion i wanted money
5:18
to know that i do also recommend ports
5:20
that
5:21
sound like they could be some of the
5:22
worst to go to or have reasons that the
5:24
worst to go to but you would definitely
5:26
thank me after visiting because they are
5:28
some of the most memorable the
5:30
mediterranean is a popular vacation
5:32
region and the best cities draw
5:34
land-based holiday makers weekend and
5:36
city breakers and of course cruise
5:38
passengers all the cities i've already
5:40
mentioned suffer from being packed so
5:43
that also makes in the worst ports in
5:45
that way too
5:46
historic venice
5:48
where us visitors go for example has a
5:51
population of just sixty thousand but
5:54
during summer has sixty thousand to a
5:56
hundred thousand visitors every single
5:58
day crowding in there are three ports
6:01
that i've not mentioned that suffer from
6:03
big crowds that make them amongst the
6:06
worst ports for that reason but i
6:07
insisted winnie should have on her
6:10
must-see list the first is barcelona
6:13
this city gets an estimated 12 million
6:16
visitors a year that's because the
6:18
attractions and sites are worth it
6:20
there's the ramblas destroyed the
6:22
gaudi architecture and of course the
6:24
famous unfinished sagrada familia which
6:27
alone gets almost 5 million visitors a
6:30
year
6:30
the other is dubrovnik this stunning
6:33
city in croatia
6:34
suffered with so many visitors
6:36
especially crucial passengers crowding
6:38
into that small walled city center that
6:40
the authorities are working on
6:42
staggering cause of ships throughout the
6:43
day and into the evening to try and cope
6:45
with it santorini is another the capital
6:48
fiera high up on the caldera has tight
6:50
winding streets it does have incredible
6:52
views of those famous white houses but
6:54
it gets crammed around full in summer
6:57
the city of oya close by gets crammed
7:00
because people go there to watch the
7:01
sunset it's streets wrong with people
7:04
and it will actually be pretty hard for
7:05
winnie to get those famous shots of
7:07
those houses with blue roofs and things
7:10
that everyone going there wants to take
7:11
but again it's a port that she will
7:14
absolutely cherish my mother-in-law for
7:16
example visited over 20 years ago and
7:18
still talks about it despite
7:20
acknowledging the crowds now these three
7:22
additional ports are i think amongst the
7:24
worst in mediterranean for crowds but
7:26
they're highly memorable making them
7:29
must visit despite that there are though
7:31
of course ports that are both beautiful
7:33
and interesting that i did have to
7:35
suggest to winnie that she should visit
7:37
from that long list of options i
7:39
mentioned earlier there are four ports
7:40
that stand out for me that i did suggest
7:43
when he take a look at monte carlo is
7:45
one
7:46
to get to see the slightly surreal and
7:49
of course opulent city is definitely
7:51
worth it it's a great day walking around
7:53
the harbour filled with mega yachts
7:55
strolling around the famous casino
7:57
posing with the flash cars outside the
7:59
hotel de paris which by the way i stayed
8:01
in once by the way it's very overpriced
8:03
and had a tiny room the next
8:05
four ports are probably a little bit
8:06
more substantive than monte carlo and
8:09
our favorites of mine that i recommend
8:11
people think about splitting crochet is
8:13
an ancient town of great beauty it's
8:15
walkable from the cruise port it's rich
8:17
in history has a wide boulevard on the
8:19
ocean front with lots of cafes to sit
8:22
and people watch after you've done your
8:23
city tour kotor in montenegro is another
8:26
ship sell through a fjords-like entrance
8:29
to reach the ancient city within these
8:31
large formidable ancient walls
8:34
ships either dock minutes from the
8:35
entrance or if it's really busy or the
8:38
big ships they kind of anchor their
8:39
tender guests in if you're fit enough it
8:41
costs around eight euros to climb up the
8:43
mountain behind the city for some of the
8:45
very best views in the mediterranean
8:47
vallette malta is another incredible
8:49
port with a stunning sail in the harbor
8:52
has large ancient ramparts it's possibly
8:55
the most dramatic looking of any
8:56
mediterranean port towards the city an
8:59
amazing architecture is fascinating
9:01
palmer de mayorca
9:03
whilst known as beautiful airport is a
9:05
remarkable city the spanish royal family
9:07
base themselves there in the summer as
9:09
do many wealthy spaniards there's a
9:11
massive cathedral to explore one of the
9:13
largest and grandest in the
9:14
mediterranean while many of the best
9:16
ports are also the worst sports in
9:18
mediterranean getting to the right and
9:20
musky places in the region is hopefully
9:22
what i've helped will need to do even
9:24
though they are some of the worst ports
9:26
if you found this interesting i want to
9:27
know more about cruising the region
9:29
watch this video
9:30
of the biggest blunders passengers make
9:33
when cruising in the med starting with
9:35
the mistake almost everyone makes and
9:37
regrets it see you over there
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