Grand European Explorer

Your gateway to the Eternal City, Civitavecchia has served as Rome’s seaport since the 13th century. The port has a long and venerable history. The emperor Trajan built a pleasure villa near the modern city, while Bernini and Michelangelo designed the harbor fortifications.

Yet the Eternal City eternally beckons. The ancient capital of the Western World and the center of Christianity for nearly 2,000 years, Rome provides an inexhaustible feast. Visit the ruins of the Forum, view the splendors of the Sistine Chapel, or climb the Spanish Steps, once the heart of Rome’s Bohemian Quarter.

Rome has been a magnet luring the world’s greatest artists, architects, and philosophers since the days of the Caesars.

Italy’s third-largest city, Naples is a bustling metropolis famed for it stately buildings, crowded streets, pizza – and notoriously bad traffic. However, this beautiful city is rich in centuries-old culture and customs. Naples is also your gateway to the Isle of Capri, the fabled Amalfi Coast and the ruins of Pompeii, buried in ash by the cataclysmic eruption of Mt. Vesuvius in 79 A.D.

Naples boasts an ideal location, with both the ruins of Roman cities and the stunning Amalfi Coast in easy reach.

Weaving a tapestry of awe and wonder, Chania is a centuries-old mix of Minoan myths, well-preserved Venetian mansions, a mesmerizing Old Town complete with labyrinthine passageways, and atmospheric Kastelli Hill, once the site of a Roman acropolis. But Chania may be best known as the gateway to the breathtaking 4,000 year-old Minoan ruins at Knossos, home of the legendary King Minos and the part man and part bull known creature as the Minotaur. And around every corner of this idyllic area you’ll find picturesque villages, breathtaking views and architectural wonders that will remain with you for a lifetime.

From the port of Kusadasi on Turkey’s Anatolian Coast, one travels into the past. Nearby stand the ruins of ancient Ephesus, a major site of archeological excavation. The city was once a Roman provincial capital and trading center. Ephesus is also home to several of Christendom’s holiest sites. St. Paul preached at the Great Theater and the ruins of Ephesus’ Basilica cover the tomb of Christ’s most beloved disciple, St. John the Apostle.

In Kusadasi, whitewashed stone houses rise in tiers behind the market district. The palm-lined esplanade is the center of town life, with thousands of merchants offering wares to rival the Grand Bazaar in Istanbul.

The past maintains a vibrant presence in the cradle of Western civilization. Atop the Acropolis, the serene Parthenon sails above the commotion of the modern city. The tragedies of Aeschylus, Sophocles, and Euripides were performed in the Theater of Dionysus at the foot of the Acropolis. On Pnyx Hill, citizens of a fledgling democracy gathered to cast their votes on Athens’ destiny. Then there is the hustle and bustle of the modern city, a metropolis of 4.5 million that spreads out from the foot of Mt. Lycabettus and across the plain. Packed with busy shops and lively tavernas, modern Athens is a colorful counterpoint to classical Greece.

Piraeus is the port city for Athens and has been Athens’ port of entry for over two millennia.

Palermo is a cultural feast, a fascinating combination of East and West, Arab and Norman that is quite unlike any other European city on the Mediterranean. A simple stroll can serve to illustrate Palermo’s rich heritage. The Quattro Canti is the great square at the heart of the city. A short walk past its 17th-century palazzos and fountains brings the traveler to the Palazzo dei Normanni. Begun by Arab emirs in the 9th century, the Palazzo was finished by the island’s Norman conquerors. The Palazzo’s stone arches and buttresses stand in stark contrast to its Palatine Chapel. There elaborate tile work and mosaics lend mute testimonies to the Islamic and Byzantine influences that a lso shaped Palermo’s culture. The city abounds in such colorful sights, from the neo-classical Teatro Massimo, one of the largest opera houses in Europe, to the catacombs beneath the Capuchin convent, where thousands of mummified bodies lie in eternal rest.

Palma is the capital city of the island of Mallorca, which is one of Spain’s Balearic Islands. The city is tucked into the protected Bay of Palma, creating an impressive view from the Mediterranean Sea with its imposing Gothic Cathedral towering above the old town and remnants of medieval walls that testify to its ancient history. Mallorca has a varied history, from the Roman occupation in the 2nd century to Moorish control from the 9th to the 13th century. Later reconquered by the Spanish kings, it rose to wealth and power due to its strategic position along the seagoing trade routes between Africa and Europe.

Today, Palma is the largest city, and also the main tourist area, with beaches on either side of the city that overflow with resort hotels. If you venture beyond these environs, the island’s natural beauty abounds, and life continues in a predictably underdeveloped atmosphere of simplicity. This aspect has long been an attraction for writers, painters and musicians that find inspiration here.

Two main languages are spoken on Mallorca – Castilian Spanish and the Balearic dialects of Catalan – hence the different versions of names and spellings throughout the Balearic Islands.

The 1992 Summer Olympics revealed to the world what Europeans and seasoned travelers already knew – Barcelona is one of the world’s greatest treasures. Vibrant and earthy, commercial and cultural, this city of two million residents is the capital of Spain’s autonomous region of Catalonia. Stroll along the wide, tree-lined promenades of Las Ramblas and marvel at the spires of Gaudi’s Basilica La Sagrada Familia. Or visit the former Olympic Ring on the hill of Montjuic – also home to world-class parks, fountains and museums. Barcelona, which nurtured such artistic giants as Picasso, Dali, Miro and Casals, is definitely a traveler’s paradise.

One of Spain’s oldest cities, Malaga has been inhabited since the time of the Phoenicians, who called it Malaka. A city of narrow streets, whitewashed houses, churches and sunny plazas, Malaga offers an idealized image of Spain. Andalusia’s main port is also your gateway to the resorts of the Costa del Sol. No visit to Malaga would be complete without a trip to Granada and a tour of the fabled Alhambra.

Malaga was the chief port for the Kingdom of Granada, the last stronghold of Moorish Spain. The city fell to Ferdinand and Isabelle in 1487. The re-conquest of Spain ended with the fall of Grenada in 1492, the year Columbus discovered the New World.

The Rock crouches over the sea like an ancient stone beast, looking Sphinx-like to Africa. Beneath the white cliffs of this natural fortress grows a profusion of palm, pine, and cypress. No fewer than 600 varieties of flowers thrive here, some not found anywhere else on Earth. Gibraltar’s stunning setting is matched by its history – five countries have battled for 13 centuries to control the passage between the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The result made for a cultural melting pot. Veiled Moroccan women in caftans and vacationing Englishmen and Spaniards stroll along the narrow, steep lanes. The locals revert to a liquid Spanish when talking among themselves. And visitors to a 15th-century cathedral pass through a blue-tiled courtyard, once part of a 13th-century mosque.

Mention Spain and the images that inevitably spring to mind are images of Andalusia – shadows falling across the bullring, the staccato rhythms of flamenco, the waft of orange blossoms from a Moorish garden. Cadiz is your gateway to this storied land and the city of Seville. Visit Seville’s massive Alcazar fortress, modeled on the legendary Alhambra Palace of Granada. See the city’s cathedral, a 15th-century Gothic masterwork that boasts a Moorish patio, fountain and minaret. Seville is also the legendary home of Don Juan, Bizet’s Carmen and Rossini’s Barber of Seville.

Cadiz is one’s of Europe’s oldest inhabited cities, dating from 1100 B.C., and your gateway to Seville and Andalusia.

Vigo clings to the slope of Monte del Castro, overlooking a namesake bay so vast, it could shelter an entire fleet. The city’s medieval heritage is seen in the narrow streets and granite houses of the Ribera del Berbes, the old fishermen’s quarter. Vigo is also the gateway to Santiago de Compostela, the most venerated shrine in all Europe during the Middle Ages. Pilgrims from the four corners of Christendom flocked to the magnificent cathedral, built between the 11th and 13th centuries. The cathedral still draws thousands of daily visitors today.

An important fishing and commercial port, Vigo was first settled by Celts 300 BC. The Celtic legacy lingers on in the province’s old legends – and in the bagpipes played on festive occasions.

The south of England boasts a dramatic coastline that encloses some of the most beautiful countryside in Britain. The landscape of hills and heaths, downs and forests, valleys and dales, is without rival. Southampton serves as your gateway to the countryside – and to a wide variety of historic sites, national landmarks and charming. And of course, London is a two-hour drive by modern highway.

The United Kingdom’s premier passenger ship port, Southampton was home for many years to the great transatlantic liners of yesteryear.