Italian travel organisers - search
There are 20 Regions that offer Cruising as an holiday type, choose one from the list below to view the relevant tour operators:
To choose a different holiday type, select one from the list below:
Cruising Holidays In and Around Italy
No other sea encompasses so much as the Mediterranean, a voyage back in time. On an art cruise, the ports of call present a treasure trove of galleries, churches and classical ruins. But these balmy, lemon-scented shores are also the best place for doing dolce far niente.
Cruise clichés: the common misconception is that you will be cooped up with the cruise bore from hell - or regimented every minute of the day by bossy captains. But the reality couldn’t be more different. Choose the right ship and you will be converted to cruising. It can be as exciting as any land-based holiday and is an ideal way to explore the length of Italy and its islands. A cruise may be a floating fantasy, but it’s also an accessible, even arty, fantasy.
On Sicily, the soft light and dramatic scenery might inspire you to clamber up Mount Etna, or to indulge in a wine-tasting in the volcanic vineyards. Taormina makes the perfect port of call, with plenty of stirring views, Classical sites and stylish people-watching.
On Sardinia, Alghero is a delightful city settled by 14th-century merchant-adventurers from Barcelona and Valencia, and with a distinct Catalan feel. If you don’t want a full cruise, consider charting a yacht to explore Sardinian’s secret coves or the glitzy Costa Smeralda.
Chartering a yacht or catamaran, with or without a skipper, lets you sail along the coastline of Sardinia and explore the marine park of the Archipelago of La Maddalena between Sardinia and Corsica. Or be beguiled by Sicily’s Aeolian islands, a volcanic outcrop.
A cruise is also the place to ponder the romance of ruined civilisations. Pompeii and Rome are compelling shore excursions, reached via the ports of Naples and Civitavecchia. A Caravaggio art cruise sweeps around the sites of the South associated with the tormented genius of chiaroscuro.
It is this undertow of ancient cultures and romance that draws us to dip our toes in the Med. These sun-baked, southern, seafaring cultures defy the cool rationalism of northern climes.
Further north are the majestic ports of call, such as seafaring Genoa, romantic Portofino, beloved by the celebrity set - and, of course, Venice. A shore excursion in La Serenissima means gondolas swishing down the Grand Canal, where you can wallow in wistfulness, dreaming of ghostly Doges.
As for the dolce vita lifestyle in the South, it is almost soft-porn for suburbanites. White-washed walls and a terrace overlooking olive groves, classical ruins, and pastel-coloured yachts beyond. There you are, in an exotic port of call, listening to the chirruping of cicadas, drinking wine on a jasmine-scented terrace, beside a table piled high with grapes and purple figs.
Whether chilling out in Taormina or Capri, the café life is captivating. For scenery, there’s the serpentine Amalfi Coast, suspended between sea and sky. Why would you stay at home when you could sample mozzarella salad in Capri or pizza in Naples, where the dishes were invented?