European Ports Of Call

Listings Of Major European Cruise Ports With Convenient Links To Each

Europe provides probably the largest selection of great ports of call in the world. Cruising Europe you’ll discover ports only a few miles distance from each other have completely different character, customs and even languages*. This geography makes for an amazing offering in varied itineraries.

Here we’ve tried to provide a large collection of links (buttons) for you to explore what’s available in most itinerary’s ports of call.

The featured maps divide Europe into Mediterranean ports and the Northwestern European cities. Click on the map’s icons or stars to identify the port city along with an identifying photo..

The Mediterranean

From the Sun drenched Greek Island beaches to the historic cities of Rome, Athens and Dubrovnik, to the elegance of the French and Italian Riviera, the Mediterranean has more to experience than any cruise could could hold!

FRANCE

ITALY

SPAIN

GREECE

MORE

The largest number of cruise itineraries in Europe are located in the Mediterranean with cruise itineraries deporting from Rome (Civitivechia), Barcelona and Athens (Pireaus). Clickthe buttons for a description of what to expect in each cruise port.

Athens, Piraeus
Alicante, Spain
Kusadasi, Turkey
Barcelona
Malta
Rhodes, Greece

Dubrovnik, Croatia
Valencia, Spain
Gibraltar
The Ports of Israel
Rome and Chivtachechia
Naples, Italy
Ravenna, Italy
Venice
Livorno, Italy
Santa Margerita, & Portofino Italy
Corsica
Santorini, Greece
Corfu, Greece
Palma de Mallorca, Spain
Mykonos Greece
Cartagena, Spain
Malaga, Spain
Villefranche, France
Kotor, Montenegro
Messina Sicily

Northwestern Europe

From the Atlantic coast of Spain and Portugal, to the British Isles and the Scandinavian Baltic ports, Northwestern Europe has an incredible number of experiences to explore as well and shouldn’t be overlooked as a cruise destination.

Amsterdam
Akureyri, Iceland
Cobh, Ireland
Dunmore East Ireland
Flam, Norway
Liverpool, England
Skagen Denmark
Stockholm
Gotland Sweden
Tallinn, Estonia
Warnemünde, Germany
Wales, UK

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Abandoned, Derelict and Thrown Away Ships

What To Do With Ships And Boats That Nobody Wants?

What do you do with hundreds of tons of useless ships that are too costly to have moved and have nothing of value onboard to salvage? Even the scrap steel isn’t worth the cost of moving.

Derelicts Montevideo Harbor
Derelict Montevideo

 

If you travel a lot, especially if you are a cruise enthusiast, you will on occasion come across ship and boat wrecks either grounded or in shallow water. They seem to garner more attention than wrecked and abandoned cars on land. Maybe there is something more intriguing or romantic about ship wrecks because they seem to recall huge tragedies or great seafaring legends. It’s unlikely you’ll find a story titled The Wreck Of The 66 Oldsmobile, but there are accounts that live on about the Andrea Doria, Rubin James, Titanic, Edmond Fitzgerald and more.

Derelicts Montevideo

On a port call in Montevideo, Uruguay we came across what looked like a ship graveyard, right in the middle of the harbor. Derelict fishing boats, tugs and even larger freighters and tankers were left in the harbor, making for a very strange sight. Seeing this surprising, large collection of half sunk, rusting, and abandoned boats and ships in the center of this city’s working harbor raised a number of questions. Who abandoned them and why? How long have they been here? What is anybody doing about them?

Abandoned boats are not a problem unique to Uruguay and we often encounter ships wrecked along coasts, unable to be moved or salvaged. Even in theU.S. you’ll find abandoned boats, usually left on remote and rarely used channels or in out of the way bays. The largest location in the U.S. is the Staten Island, New York graveyard, a well-known graveyard for dumping tugboats and barges since the 1930s. 

Roatan
St. Johns, Antigua

On the west coast of France is Landévennec, an isolated bay where the French Navy has been quietly sending their ships removed from service. One news report called it “out of sight, out of mind”.

Landévennec

The Skeleton Coast, located in Namibia, Africa is a ship graveyard that features the remains of mostly larger ship wrecks resting there for years. The Skeleton Coast originates at the mouth of the River Ugab and extends up to the River Kunene located near the border of Angola. This stretch of coast has been famous for dense fogs and large storms forcing ships to ground for over a hundred years. Today the area is designated the Skeleton Coast National Park (actually named for the whale skeletons left there by whalers). This ship graveyard is regarded by many as the world’s largest graveyard of ships.

Bay of Nouadhibou located in Mauritania, holds more than 300 ships washed ashore, partially sunk or left at anchor. For decades the Bay of Nouadhibou has been used as a ship dumping ground because of rampant corruption of the Mauritian authorities taking bribes to look the other way.

Bay of Nouadhibou

After getting home a little research on Uruguay turned up an article dated 17 June 2015 estimating the number of derelicts in Uruguay at fifty being abandoned by their owners because of debts or liens. It indicated that a plan has been developed that will re-float the boats and have them taken away. The Uruguayan National Port Administration will be in charge of the program.

When we were there in 2019 I counted thirty boats so maybe they have made some progress in the last few years, but Montevideo still has a long way to go.

Abandoned fishing fleet Guatemala

The Wreck Of The Costa Concordia


A famous example of the cost of moving a wrecked ship is the Costa Concordia wreck in Italy. Removing the wreck cost 1 billion euros. And that did not include 100 million for the ship to be broken up for scrap along with the cost of repairing damage to Giglio island.

Update On Montevideo port

Private contractors have completed the removal of many abandoned and sunken ships from the port of Montevideo by the end of 2023 to facilitate navigation in the area.

Going To Argentina’s Iguazu Falls

Accommodations in Puerto Iguazú, Argentina

If your plans for the future include a visit to Iguazú Falls (if you are a traveler – it should) we would recommend staying for a night or two in the area. The falls are truly one of the natural wonders of the world. Learn more from our article on visiting Iguazú National Park in Argentina.

If you are inclined toward deluxe accommodations you can’t do any better than the Gran Melia Iguazu, a five star resort located right at the park with spectacular views of the falls and it’s only a short drive from the airport. All the remaining accommodations are about twelve to fifteen miles away in the town of Puerto Iguazú which boasts almost a dozen four star* rated hotels.

We booked our stay at the Hotel Saint George and were pleased with its location. Overall the staff was very friendly and helpful, the rooms were large, clean and well appointed. The pool patio area was attractive with a nice restaurant, snack bar.

The Saint George is located right in the middle of town and right across the street was the Restaurant Parrilla where we enjoyed pizza and beers in the evening with a tango dance show that was a surprise bonus.

King bed room at the Saint George
Pool patio at the Sa int George

After a day at the falls we went back to the Saint George to clean up and pick up our bags before our flight. Again the staff was most accommodating, providing us with a place to clean up with plenty of towels.

When you start planning your trip and begin reading reviews keep in mind that you are going to be visiting an isolated area and even four star ratings will most likely not rise to the level you’ve come to expect in the U.S. or Europe. After all it is an outpost of civilization a couple of hundred miles up into the South American rain forest. For that reason you should discount many of the negative reviews you read. We did and were generally pleased with our choices for this part of our trip.

Iguazú Falls is a popular tourist attraction and still growing in popularity with Porto Iguazú being a major tourist town with a selection of good restaurants and nice hotels. The town features a number of hotels in the three and four star category that are generally well appointed, clean and with friendly staffs. January is peak season and there are more than a few of these hotels priced at under US$100.

  • Gran Melia Iguazú • 5 Stars $425
  • Falls Iguazú Hotel & Spa • 4 Stars $150
  • El Pueblito Iguazú • 3.5 Stars $85
  • La Aldea de la Selva Lodge • 4 Stars $95
  • Selva de Laurel • 3.5 Stars $75

South of town away from the falls, overlooking the river are some additional accommodations.

  • Tupo Lodge • 4 Stars under $100

If you are exploring on a budget the roads going into town are lined with economy hotels, cabins and a few camp grounds and when we were there in January there were a number of vacancies. Some economy accommodations include:

  • Hostel Haus $20
  • Hostel Bambú Puerto Iguazú $35
  • Jasy Hotel $55


Argentina FYIs

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Literally everywhere you go in Argentina you’ll find people drinking using an odd mug and a metal straw. It’s Mata and it’s a national obsession. Mate (pr. MAH-tay), is a traditional South American herbal drink made from steeping the leaves of the yerba mate plant (Ilex paraguariensis) in hot water, commonly enjoyed with friends using a metal straw.

Like French Fries? In Argents they love fries but the common dip isn’t ketchup, it’s mayonnaise and the universally call it Hellmans.

If you’re a wine lover, the local varietal is Melbec and originally native to Cahors in South West France. With its introduction to the vineyards of Mendoza, Argentina in particular, in just a few short decades Malbec has shot from relative obscurity to international fame and is now better known as the iconic deep red wine grape of Argentina. With incredible pricing don’t pass this one up.

Image Of The Day • Washing Hands

Rather than playing with the water this young man is intent on washing his hands. This was in the town square in historic Visby, Gotland Sweden.

It seems that the Swedes have a fondness for running water in preference to spraying water in fountains. We’ve visited a number of cities in Sweden and almost ever one has something similar to this water feature in Visby.

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Image Of The Day • In A Halifax Pub

It is not unusual to see Scots in Halifax in traditional dress. Scots represent a significant percentage of the population (over 30% have Scottish ancestry) and there are numerous social groups and events.

Starting in 1768, the North British Society (also known as “The Scots”) was the oldest Scottish heritage society outside of Great Britain, recognizing the lasting Scottish influence in Halifax.

Halifax, Nova Scotia was named for ‘New Scotland'” and it has a rich Scottish history dating back to 1620, with a new wave of immigration occurring after the Highland Clearances in the 18th century. The Clearances were a series of forced evictions of tenants in the Scottish Highlands beginning in 1750. Driven by agricultural changes it became responsible for large waves of Scots immigration to North America. 

KC54X8 Walkway to the Town Clock, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Canada

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