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The Must-See And Must Avoid Mediterranean Ports.
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Jan 28, 2025
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 ABOUT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS: If you want to get cruising right, Tips For Travellers makes it easy to plan and have the incredible cruise experiences you dream of every time. All my Tips For Travellers advice, tips and tricks tips draw on everything that I have learnt on the 92 cruises I have done to date. BUY MY CRUISE-THEMED T-SHIRTs ————————————————- * Check out my T-Shirt range: http://bit.ly/TFTStore SUPPORT TIPS FOR TRAVELLERS ————————————————————— * Become a Channel Member and get perks: https://www.tipsfortravellers.com/Join * Become a Patron on Patreon and get perks: https://www.patreon.com/tipsfortravellers * Make a donation: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=V9STJGYSEMGLJ * Buy my book “Cruise Traveler’s Handbook: USA Amazon https://amzn.to/2YVFmG4 and https://amzn.to/3tzIxBn UK Amazon https://amzn.to/3oXbzYc and https://amzn.to/3qawqIQ FOLLOW ME ON SOCIAL MEDIA ———————————————
View Video Transcript
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
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only send it to the worst ones hoping
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she would thank me in the end i'm gary
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bembridge here's where i told we need to
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go and what happened
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there's at least 45 ports where cruise
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ships can dock and more warships can
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anchor and tender guests in in the
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mediterranean a week-long mediterranean
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cruise calls on at most six ports so i
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had to slash these down to shortness for
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winnie to find a cruise that calls into
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as many of the must visit ports in my
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view as possible that's where the worst
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ports come to their own if you're
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cruising the mediterranean and if like
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winnie it's a first western eastern or
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southern greek islands cruise focus on
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getting to as many ports that are
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gateways to famous cities or historic
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sites in the region even if the ports
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themselves
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are
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awful many of the ports are working
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container and freight ports in
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uninspiring towns with limited things to
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see and do close by and actually far
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from those iconic cities and sites
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they're not where you will want to spend
1:13
time it's what they grant access to that
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makes them essential to have on any list
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here are the seven ones that are
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recommended to winnie trivichyveche is
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one of the most common ports that ships
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call on the mediterranean it's an
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uninspiring slightly run-down town with
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little to see and do but rome one of the
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most historically rich cities in the
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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
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unattractive busy industrial and cruise
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port the city is fairly unattractive the
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grand city of florence with
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michelangelo's david pontevecture bridge
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the cathedral of santa maria del fiore
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and the pacific of santa cruz it's just
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an hour and a half away pisa and the
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leaning tower is just 45 minutes away if
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you want to see venice for example with
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its grand canals it's in mark's square
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and basilica and the fascinating doges
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palace you now will have to dock in the
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very functional port of ravenna or
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trieste both of which are around
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two hours from venice even if your ship
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is small enough to be allowed to dock in
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venice as i was on my recent viking sky
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cruise
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last march
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it was inside a freight port on the
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mainland we weren't allowed to walk
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around the area because it was just seen
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as too dangerous and it still took us 45
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minutes to get into venice la spezia in
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northern italy is an industrial port
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with little around it to explore but
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in an hour or less you can be exploring
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the gorgeous cinque terre region a
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collection of five amazing villages
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clinging to the hillside with quaint
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shops and really popular beaches
2:57
katakolon in greece is a small town with
3:00
one road of tourist trap shops that
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takes about half an hour to explore but
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an hour away is the vast olympia home of
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the olympics with extensive runes and a
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truly remarkable museum perez is a busy
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industrial and cruise port with a city
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to match where you could catch up on hop
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off bus to the beach but again about an
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hour or so away is the rich history of
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athens with a beautiful acropolis with
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parthenon and museum the pantheatic
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stadium and so on to get to see the
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incredible ruins of pompeii or the
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gorgeous island of capri the port is
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naples it's about an hour away from the
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ruins based on traffic and it's about an
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hour or so boat ride to the island as i
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said to winnie these are unattractive
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and unappealing ports in themselves
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making them some of the worst ports in
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their own right to call in the
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mediterranean but they are also the best
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because they are gateways to iconic
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cities and must see sites one warning
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and watch out i gave her was that the
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cruise lines often try and disguise
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these ports or they certainly don't make
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it very clear about the nature of these
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ports look at this itinerary from a
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cruise line website in brochure it shows
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the ship calls on florence slash pisa
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and rome however
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as you've learned it does not the ports
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are laverno and chivichuvetcha as you
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now know as i told winnie there is a
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really simple way to know if the city or
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major site is at the port by looking at
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the detailed itinerary listing
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here the lions usually have the name of
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the major city or attraction they know
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passengers like
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people like winnie want to see first
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they'll have those really first and then
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in brackets after it the name of the
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actual port the ship will really be
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calling into so for example
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for that cruise that i was talking about
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you can see they have written florence
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pisa brackets laverno if you're
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unfamiliar with the geography of a
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country this tip actually helps so for
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example i'm considering this
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mediterranean cruise to see the
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incredible ephesus ruins but you can see
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from the listing that the port closest
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it calls on is the tourist resort of
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kusadasi
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and checking in that's about an hour or
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so from the port
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so after this discussion i wanted money
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to know that i do also recommend ports
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that
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sound like they could be some of the
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worst to go to or have reasons that the
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worst to go to but you would definitely
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thank me after visiting because they are
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some of the most memorable the
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mediterranean is a popular vacation
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region and the best cities draw
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land-based holiday makers weekend and
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city breakers and of course cruise
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passengers all the cities i've already
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mentioned suffer from being packed so
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that also makes in the worst ports in
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that way too
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historic venice
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where us visitors go for example has a
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population of just sixty thousand but
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during summer has sixty thousand to a
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hundred thousand visitors every single
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day crowding in there are three ports
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that i've not mentioned that suffer from
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big crowds that make them amongst the
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worst ports for that reason but i
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insisted winnie should have on her
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must-see list the first is barcelona
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this city gets an estimated 12 million
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visitors a year that's because the
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attractions and sites are worth it
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there's the ramblas destroyed the
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gaudi architecture and of course the
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famous unfinished sagrada familia which
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alone gets almost 5 million visitors a
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year
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the other is dubrovnik this stunning
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city in croatia
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suffered with so many visitors
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especially crucial passengers crowding
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into that small walled city center that
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the authorities are working on
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staggering cause of ships throughout the
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day and into the evening to try and cope
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with it santorini is another the capital
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fiera high up on the caldera has tight
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winding streets it does have incredible
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views of those famous white houses but
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it gets crammed around full in summer
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the city of oya close by gets crammed
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because people go there to watch the
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sunset it's streets wrong with people
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and it will actually be pretty hard for
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winnie to get those famous shots of
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those houses with blue roofs and things
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that everyone going there wants to take
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but again it's a port that she will
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absolutely cherish my mother-in-law for
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example visited over 20 years ago and
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still talks about it despite
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acknowledging the crowds now these three
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additional ports are i think amongst the
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worst in mediterranean for crowds but
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they're highly memorable making them
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must visit despite that there are though
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of course ports that are both beautiful
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and interesting that i did have to
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suggest to winnie that she should visit
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from that long list of options i
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mentioned earlier there are four ports
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that stand out for me that i did suggest
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when he take a look at monte carlo is
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one
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to get to see the slightly surreal and
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of course opulent city is definitely
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worth it it's a great day walking around
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the harbour filled with mega yachts
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strolling around the famous casino
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posing with the flash cars outside the
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hotel de paris which by the way i stayed
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in once by the way it's very overpriced
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and had a tiny room the next
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four ports are probably a little bit
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more substantive than monte carlo and
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our favorites of mine that i recommend
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people think about splitting crochet is
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an ancient town of great beauty it's
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walkable from the cruise port it's rich
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in history has a wide boulevard on the
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ocean front with lots of cafes to sit
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and people watch after you've done your
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city tour kotor in montenegro is another
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ship sell through a fjords-like entrance
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to reach the ancient city within these
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large formidable ancient walls
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ships either dock minutes from the
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entrance or if it's really busy or the
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big ships they kind of anchor their
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tender guests in if you're fit enough it
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costs around eight euros to climb up the
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mountain behind the city for some of the
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very best views in the mediterranean
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vallette malta is another incredible
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port with a stunning sail in the harbor
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has large ancient ramparts it's possibly
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the most dramatic looking of any
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mediterranean port towards the city an
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amazing architecture is fascinating
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palmer de mayorca
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whilst known as beautiful airport is a
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remarkable city the spanish royal family
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base themselves there in the summer as
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do many wealthy spaniards there's a
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massive cathedral to explore one of the
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largest and grandest in the
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mediterranean while many of the best
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ports are also the worst sports in
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mediterranean getting to the right and
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musky places in the region is hopefully
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what i've helped will need to do even
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though they are some of the worst ports
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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
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the mistake almost everyone makes and
9:37
regrets it see you over there
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