My Greek Islands Itinerary

My last blog was all about my cruise on MSC Musica and my thoughts on the ship. This time I will tell you about the ports of call as this was the main reason for choosing this cruise.
The first port was Brindisi in Southern Italy on the Adriatic Sea. We were only there for the afternoon which was plenty of time as there isn’t that much to do here. Some people had booked a guided tour which was on a tourist train which is fine if you don’t want to walk but we got off the ship and walked along the lovely promenade and then back through the pretty town before finally reaching the larger city centre. Brindisi is very pretty with lovely little café’s and gelato ice-cream parlours. Having a teenage daughter meant that she wanted to shop which I really hate doing on holiday especially in such hot weather. We let her do a bit of shopping before heading back to the ship.

The next stop was Katakolon. You can visit Olympia from here but my girls are and 10 & 13 so that’s really the last thing they would want to do. We walked the short distance into town and I was very surprised by how lovely it was. From here you could take a tourist train to a sandy beach or we took a horse and cart for 5 euros each return. They take you to a beach near the port and you can use the sunbeds, trampoline and kayaks for free, just pay for food and drinks.

Next was Santorini which was the highlight for all of us. I have always wanted to go there and it didn’t disappoint. So much so that we want to go back and have a holiday there. The ship anchors in the caldera and you take a tender to the old port. From here you need to either walk the 587 steps to Fira, go on a donkey or take the cable car. We took the cable car and as we were early and only our ship in port at the time we were straight on. We booked an independent tour which I will tell you about next time. Fira is so beautiful with little cobbled streets and rooftop bars and restaurants. The tour took us to Oia which is stunning. There are lots of little hotels with maybe only a handful of rooms built into the cliff with little plunge pools. Again lots of cobbled streets and lovely restaurants. The people are very friendly and welcoming. It was very crowded so if you go in high season you need to be prepared for this. I was told the best time to go is from the 15th September.

The next stop was Piraeus for Athens. My daughter felt unwell which I think was from a long day in Santorini so we stayed on board ship and relaxed. There are not any sea days on this itinerary so it was nice to have a day off and everyone was off the ship so it was nice and peaceful.

The next day was Corfu. The ship docks near Corfu town and there is a free shuttle bus from the pier to the exit of the port. We wanted to go to the beach but they wanted 100 euros and we were only there for the afternoon so didn’t fancy risking the bus for that distance. Instead we took a local bus into Corfu town. I have heard it was lovely but it really is beautiful. We wandered around the old town then stopped for lunch in a lovely taverna before taking the bus back to the ship.

The final stop was Kotor. This place is like a Norwegian Fjord with stunning scenery and a quaint little town. We did our own thing here again and walked the back streets around the local shops and restaurants. You would be spoilt for choice if you stayed here and it has made me want to see more of this area it is so pretty. There is a small beach near to where the ship docked. We stayed out on deck for sailaway and watched the captain trying to avoid all the little sailing boats that didn’t seem too concerned about a huge cruise liner heading towards them.

We arrived into Venice the next day and although we were gutted our cruise had ended we still have a few days to look forward to in this beautiful city.