Monte Carlo to Monte Carlo

Highlights:

• Royal Monaco
• Crete - the largest of the greek islands
• Fascinating and diverse treasures of Bodrum
• Santorini - the most extraordinary island in the Aegean
  

Sailing Date - 5th May 2012 aboard Silver Spirit

Day 1 - Monaco
The whole world watched as Hollywood movie star Grace Kelly wed Prince Rainier, ruler of Monaco, to put Monaco on the map and the embarking location for this luxury cruise around the Mediterranean. The Principality of Monaco covers 473 acres; it would fit comfortably inside New York's Central Park. Before boarding in the evening wander between Monaco Ville and Monte Carlo. Once departed your next day will be spent at sea.

Day 3 - Valletta, Malta
Hulking megalithic temples, ornate baroque churches, narrow old-world streets, and hilltop citadels are Malta's human legacy. Dizzying limestone cliffs, sparkling seas, and charming rural landscapes make up its natural beauty.

Day 5 - Agios Nikolaos, Crete, Greece
Crete is the largest of the Greek islands, lying at the southern limit of the Aegean Sea. It was the centre of Europe's earliest civilization, the Minoan, which flourished from about 2000 BC to 1600 BC. Its cultural and economic influences were felt as far away as the Iberian Peninsula. Around 1400 BC, for reasons that are still obscure, Minoan power collapsed. A fabulous area to explore.

Day 6 - Rhodes, Greece
Long considered a bridge between Europe and the East, the island of Rhodes has seen many waves of settlement throughout recorded history. When Rome took the city in 42 BC, it was fabled for its beauty and for the sanctuary of Lindos, which drew pilgrims from around the region. Today Rhodes is a popular holiday island for Europeans who come for the sun and the beaches.

Day 7 - Bodrum, Turkey
Although it's the country's most touristy and developed region, the Central and Southern Aegean also holds some of Turkey's most fascinating and diverse treasures. Wandering through historical ruins, boating, scuba diving, basking in the Anatolian sun, and eating fresh fish will easily fill your days here. Bodrum, known as Halicarnassus in antiquity, is one of Turkey's leading resorts.

Day 8 - Santorini, Greece
Undoubtedly the most extraordinary island in the Aegean, crescent-shape Santorini remains a mandatory stop on the Cycladic tourist route. Arriving by boat, you are met by one of the world's truly breathtaking sights, the caldera: a crescent of cliffs, rising 1,100 feet, with the white clusters of the towns of Fira and Ia perched along the top. The encircling cliffs are the ancient rim of a still-active volcano, and you are sailing east across its flooded caldera.

Day 10 - Taormina, Sicily, Italy
Sicily has beckoned seafaring wanderers since the trials of Odysseus were first sung in Homer's Odyssey. Strategically poised between Europe and Africa, this mystical volcanic land has been a melting pot of every great civilization on the Mediterranean: Greek and Roman; then Arab and Norman; and finally French, Spanish, and Italian. Today Sicily fuses the remains of sackings past: graceful Byzantine mosaics rubbing elbows with Greek temples, Roman amphitheaters, Romanesque cathedrals, and baroque flights of fancy.

Day 11 - Portoferraio, Elba, Italy
Elba is the Tuscan archipelago's largest island, but it resembles nearby verdant Corsica more than it does its rocky Italian sisters, thanks to a network of underground springs that keep the island lush and green.

Day 12 - Disembark in Monaco
*Other cruises with Silversea are available departing from Monaco.

Pricing
At A&K all of our journeys are individually tailored to suit your needs and timescale. However, as a guide, this 11 night journey will cost from £5,353 per person.