Cruise to the Western Mediterranean (Spain, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, Italy) on Holland America’s Westerdam – Episode 574

Hear about a western Mediterranean cruise to Spain, Gibraltar, France, Monaco, and Italy on Holland America’s Westerdam where I just attended a press trip.

This episode has two parts. In the first part, I talk about the destinations on this particular cruise. Our ports of call were Barcelona, Cadiz, Malaga, Alicante and Palma de Mallorca in Spain, Gibraltar, Ajaccio and Toulon in France, Monte Carlo in Monaco, Livorno, and Rome (Civitavecchia) in Italy.

In most of the different ports, I took an organized excursion offered by Holland America. I did not do the most popular excursion in Cadiz (Sevilla), Malaga (the Alhambra in Granada), and Livorno (Florence) because I had previously visited those cities. I explored on my own in Cadiz and Ajaccio on Corsica.

On my excursions, I explored caves in Gibraltar and Mallorca, visited siege tunnels in Gibraltar, saw Barbary Macaques (monkeys) in Gibraltar, explored the hills above Malaga by 4×4, fell in love with small mountain towns outside of Alicante (Guadalest) and Monaco (Eze), visited Aix en Provence from Livorno, photographed the Leaning Tower in Pisa and hiked the walls of Lucca from Livorno.

After getting off the ship I spent a few days exploring Rome with a VIP tour from LivItaly to the top and bottom of the Colosseum and a Context Travel tour to the ancient seaport of Rome at Ostia Antica.

The second part of the episode talks in more detail about the Westerdam and the Holland America experience with Cruise Critic Editor Dori Saltzman.

Come hear why a cruise on Holland America may be the right way for you to visit these beautiful and historic destinations.

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Show Notes

Holland America European Cruises
Cruise Ship Review – Holland America Westerdam
Cruise Departure Day – What to Expect on Your First Cruise
Chris’s Spain Photos
Chris’s Gibraltar Photos
Chris’s France Photos
Chris’s Italy Photos
Travel to Barcelona, Spain – Episode 501
Travel to Costa Brava, Spain – Episode 339
Cádiz
Gibraltar
St. Michael’s Cave
Great Siege Tunnels
Barbary macaques in Gibraltar
Málaga
Gibralfaro
Alicante
Palmeral of Elche (UNESCO)
El Castell de Guadalest
What to Pack for Europe

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