Rach is back yet again to tell us all about her adventures throughout Europe this past summer. She went on quite the adventure cruising through Greece, Crotia, Italy, and Montenegro!
She'll tell you all about it!
I truly believe that traveling is one of the greatest privileges a person can have in life. I realize that not everyone is fortunate enough to be able to travel to where they wish they could, and that’s why I’m extremely grateful for the opportunities I had in this summer.
At the beginning of August, I went on a 9-day cruise through the Mediterranean and had the European summer of my dreams with my family and my boyfriend. We sailed on the Norwegian Pearl and docked in a new port every day. There were no days at sea, meaning that every day was packed full of things we wanted to do.
Sam and I are both the kind of people who don’t like to waste the opportunity to see or do something, and since we were only in each port for a day we wanted to try to take advantage of everything there was to see and do in each location we stopped. All 9 cities we docked in were beautiful, but, of course, we had our favourites; don’t worry I’ll tell you all about them.
The beginning of our 9-day adventure started in Athens, which is where our cruise ship departed from. We arrived in Athens on July 30th after an extremely long 9.5-hour flight from Toronto. Even though we were barely awake when we arrived at our hotel, the timing of everything couldn’t have been better.
We left Toronto on the evening of July 29th, but we landed in Athens around noon on July 30th and didn’t have to board the ship until the early evening of July 31st. This gave us an entire day and a half in Athens before we boarded the ship; which meant we had plenty of time to wander around the Plaka (the oldest district in Athens), see the Acropolis, browse the shops and eat some amazing food.
The Acropolis, and the Parthenon in particular, were incredible to be able to see in person and were certainly a highlight for me! If you’re a history buff like my dad and I are, then Athens is really going to wow you.
Athens as a city is entirely built on and known for its history, so it’s incredible to walk the streets that have been around for thousands of years. I would say that all things considered, Athens made the top 5 on my list of places from this trip.
Before we left, I read that Athens is really dirty, and while that is true in certain areas of the city, it didn’t tarnish my opinion of it. I think that any big city is prone to littering. Take Toronto for example, it’s the biggest city in Canada when you base the ranking on population. If you have a high population, a fair amount of homeless people and a lack of housing, a city is bound to become dirtier in some areas.
I didn't personally see any homeless while we were in Athens, but certain areas had more garbage on the streets and due to the climate and the environment, it’s a fairly dusty city. However, even with experiencing the dust and the garbage on occasion, I loved being in Athens.
The only warning I will give to those visiting is to be careful of pickpockets in crowded areas. In Athens near the Plaka district, and at a lot of the other stops we made on the cruise, it gets very crowded and this makes it easier for pickpockets to be successful in their thievery. Just be aware of your surroundings in crowded areas.
Once we boarded the ship and were well on our way, we stopped in 4 different Greek ports. We were able to see Santorini, Mykonos, Zakynthos and Corfu before leaving Greece.
Santorini is beautiful, and I’m extremely happy that I got to see it with my own eyes. It has been close to the top of my bucket list for years now.
However, when I go back to Greece one day, I would likely only visit Santorini for a day, maybe 2 days at the most.
The views looking out at the water are incredible and I found the people to be very welcoming. The food was amazing and Sam and I had an incredible lunch with a view at a local winery. However, the crowds in Fira and Oia can be extremely overwhelming; and if you want to see both Oia and Fira, you will need to rent a bike/ATV, or use a public bus.
This brings us to our next stop, and this might be a hot take, but I’ll be skipping Mykonos when I go back to Greece. There are much nicer, cheaper and less crowded islands in Greece. Aside from the crowds, it was really windy; we went to a beach and got pelted with sand anytime the wind blew.
Also, everything was super expensive compared to the other islands we visited. It’s beautiful and the water is gorgeous, but it’s not a very walkable island. There is only really one area on the island that is walkable (the Little Venice area near the windmills), if you want a decent beach you need to rent a scooter or ATV to get there. I’m happy to say I’ve been to Mykonos, but I won’t be planning my return.
Zakynthos was our next stop and was absolutely amazing. I didn’t have many expectations for this island and I hadn’t heard much about it before we went. However, it made its way into my top 3. I would say that Zakynthos and Corfu are neck-in-neck for second/third. I can’t give a fully honest review of Zakynthos because I haven’t seen much of the land since we did a boat day!
The water is like nothing I’ve ever seen before. The shades of blue and the clarity of the water were incredible. The water was warm enough that it was enjoyable, but still cold enough that it was a refreshing break from the heat.
We got to explore the blue caves while on our little boat day which was truly a treat and another highlight from my trip.
However, if you are going I should warn you to be careful not to rely on the taxis, because as we learned they are very unreliable in the summer months.
As I mentioned Corfu is also in the top 3 for me. We explored the old and new fortresses, walked around the shops and got lunch at a local eatery. It had beautiful water (unfortunately we forgot our swimsuits that day), the city was easily walkable and I found the people to be welcoming. I can’t recommend visiting Zakynthos and Corfu enough to people; less crowded and cheaper than Santorini and Mykonos, but just as beautiful.
After living all of my Mamma Mia dreams, we sailed onto Kotor, Montenegro. Before we left for this trip, I was almost certain that this would be my least favourite stop on the cruise. I had never even heard of this city and knew essentially nothing about the country, so I was almost certain that it would be pretty low on my list of favourites. I’m thrilled to say that I was extremely wrong about this, and it ended up being my favourite port that we stopped in!
This was by far the best city I visited in those 9 days. We did a “life of a local” tour that was offered by Norwegian Cruises and we were able to go to a Montenegrin family’s home. We had a drink and a meal with them before we were brought back to the city to explore on our own.
Kotor Old Town is directly in front of the Bay of Kotor and offers a variety of different types of shops, restaurants and other amenities all within a very walkable distance. There were far fewer tourists here than at previous stops we had made, which made this stop feel more personal.
There is also an amazing hike with an incredible view of the Bay of Kotor, just make sure you give yourself at least 2 hours to do this so that you can pace yourself and enjoy the view at the top. Finally, a bonus, for me at least, was that there were plenty of stray cats wandering around. The cats are looked after by the locals which makes them super friendly and open to pets!
After only a day in Montenegro (I will definitely be back there), we sailed to Croatia and spent one day in Dubrovnik and one day in Split. I have some unpopular opinions about our time in Croatia, so be warned and don’t hate me when I say I didn’t love it… it was pretty close to the bottom of my list.
I might get a lot of people who disagree with this, but I was not in love with Croatia. If I go back I likely won’t be revisiting Dubrovnik and certainly won’t be revisiting Split, but I might check out a different city like Hvar. It wasn’t all bad, but I did find both cities to be overcrowded.
Dubrovnik is cool because a lot of the scenes from Game of Thrones were filmed there, but once you see those locations, walk the city walls, and check out a few shops, there’s not much else to do.
I didn’t find Split to be interesting at all. Some of the buildings were pretty, but there were a ton of people and I don’t think I would have felt very safe if I was walking around on my own. Maybe we just didn’t see the right places and things when we were there, but I have no desire to go back to Split based on the experience I had.
Finally on day 9, we finished off the cruise in Italy where we did a day trip to Venice, and while I enjoyed my time in Venice (and so did my stomach), I wasn’t as “wowed” as I thought I was going to be. Technically we docked in Ravenna, but after a quick look online at what was around, we opted for a day trip to Venice instead.
Now of course there are the obvious pros to visiting Italy. Italian food is amazing, the Aperol Spritz was one of the best of my life, but the city itself was overcrowded with tourists as you would expect. I’m glad I was able to see it, but when I go back to Italy, I think I’ll skip Venice and try somewhere else such as Portofino, Lake Como, Tuscany, etc.
We got off the ship in a city I had never heard of, Trieste. While we didn’t get to spend any time in this city due to our early flight, the city looked beautiful, so it might be worth visiting for a day when I return to Italy.
Advice
Considering this was my first time on a cruise, I wasn’t exactly sure what to expect but I had the time of my life. I know a lot of people complain about the amount of space you have in the staterooms, but be honest with yourselves; is it the room or did you just overpack?
I planned all of the outfits beforehand so that I wouldn’t overpack too much, and I still did. Be realistic when you’re packing and think about the weather for where you’re going.
I learned the hard way that jean shorts in the Mediterranean heat are not a good combination.
If you are doing lots of walking, bring comfortable shoes, you’re going to want comfort over style, trust me.
Also, bring slightly more cash than you think you’ll need because many places take card, but lots of places in Europe still opt for cash over card.
Finally, if you are going on a cruise, there are so many activities on the ship at night and throughout the day; take advantage of them! There are shows in the theatre at night, and there was always an activity happening on the pool deck. Yes, the cruise is your mode of transportation to see each city, but there is so much that cruises offer for entertainment that it would be ridiculous not to take advantage of all they’re offering.
I've yet to be on a cruise, but I'd love to do one someday! It certainly seems like a great way to see many places while enjoying some beautiful ocean views.
Have you been on a cruise before? How was the experience for you? Let's chat in the comments below!
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