From Malta to Athens: An Ancient Mediterranean in Nine Nights

The Mediterranean has been a crossroads of civilisation for thousands of years, and few ways of exploring it reward the curious traveller more than from the deck of a small ship. This nine-night voyage from Valletta to Athens aboard the MS Monet traces a sweeping arc through some of the ancient world's most compelling corners — Sicily, the heel of Italy, Albania, and Greece — without ever feeling hurried or overprogrammed.

This is not a cruise of bucket-list box-ticking. It is something more considered: a carefully threaded itinerary that balances genuinely significant archaeological sites with charming, lesser-visited ports, and leaves space for the kind of independent wandering that turns a good holiday into a memorable one.

By the time you transit the narrow Corinth Canal on your final afternoon at sea, you will have walked through two and a half millennia of Western history — and felt remarkably at ease doing so.

What makes this voyage distinctive

The itinerary moves between the famous and the quietly overlooked with equal confidence. Delphi and Ancient Corinth sit alongside Butrint in Albania and the Baroque hilltowns of Calabria — places that rarely feature on mainstream Mediterranean itineraries. The result is a voyage that feels genuinely curated rather than assembled from a standard template. Small-group guided excursions keep things personal, and ample free time at each port means you are never simply shepherded from one sight to the next.

Ancient worlds: Sicily and Magna Graecia

Sicily offers one of the most striking concentrations of Greek antiquity outside Greece itself. The Valle dei Templi near Agrigento is extraordinary — a ridge of Doric temples set among olive and almond trees, including the Temple of Concordia, one of the best-preserved Greek temples anywhere in the world. At Syracuse, founded in 734 BC, the Neapolis Archaeological Park reveals a Greek theatre carved directly from limestone, alongside the famous Ear of Dionysius, a vast grotto whose peculiar acoustics have puzzled visitors for centuries.

Further north along the Italian coast, the port of Crotone marks the site of ancient Kroton, where Pythagoras established his school in 530 BC. From here, an inland excursion leads to Santa Severina, a Norman castle town perched above the Neto River valley, its cathedral and Byzantine baptistery speaking to centuries of layered occupation.

Baroque Italy: the South's hidden splendour

Gallipoli, often called the Florence of the South, earns its epithet through a remarkable collection of Baroque architecture. The Santa Croce Basilica and the Piazza Duomo are among the finest examples of the style in southern Italy, and the old quarter retains a whitewashed, vaguely Hellenic charm that rewards an afternoon's unhurried exploration. The contrast between the grandeur of its churches and the quietness of its streets is part of what makes this port so appealing.

Albanian antiquity: Butrint and beyond

Few stops on this voyage surprise travellers more than Sarande, the Albanian port that serves as the gateway to Butrint. This UNESCO World Heritage Site layers Hellenistic, Roman, Byzantine and Venetian remains one upon another in a wooded, almost dreamlike setting beside a lagoon. A 4th-century BC theatre, Roman baths, early Christian basilicas and a Venetian watchtower all coexist within walking distance of one another. It is one of those places that rewards the genuinely curious, and which a larger ship — or a more conventional itinerary — would simply never reach.

Greece: oracles, islands and ancient crossroads

The Greek portion of the voyage is rich and varied. Corfu, praised by Homer and used by Shakespeare as the setting for The Tempest, offers a morning that takes in the Byzantine Monastery of the Virgin at Paleokastritsa and the former British Governors' residence at Mon Repos Palace. At Itea, the hillside ruins of Delphi await — the Sanctuary of Apollo, the Sacred Way, the Treasury of the Athenians and a theatre dating from the 4th century BC. Ancient Corinth, strategically positioned on the isthmus that once controlled Mediterranean trade routes, completes the picture, with the Temple of Apollo and the Roman Forum among its considerable highlights.

Food, wine and Calabrian hospitality

Not everything on this voyage is ancient history. A visit to a local Calabrian farmhouse on the return from Santa Severina offers a tasting of regional food and wine that provides welcome grounding in the living culture of the south. It is a small detail, but one that speaks to the philosophy of the whole trip: that the best travel writing — and the best travel — finds room for both the monumental and the quietly pleasurable.

Why the ship suits this voyage

At 220 feet and carrying no more than 50 guests, the MS Monet is precisely the kind of vessel this itinerary demands. The Corinth Canal, just 21.5 metres wide, is navigable only by small ships — making the transit on the final afternoon a genuinely exclusive experience. Beyond that single dramatic moment, the ship's scale creates an atmosphere closer to a private yacht than a cruise liner: informal, unhurried, and attentive. Originally built in 1970 and fully renovated in recent years, the Monet is comfortable rather than showy, which suits the spirit of the voyage perfectly.

Who would enjoy this voyage?

This is a trip for travellers who come armed with curiosity rather than a checklist. Those with an appetite for ancient history, classical civilisation and the art and architecture of the Mediterranean world will find it deeply satisfying. It also suits anyone who has always found large ships faintly exhausting, and who would rather explore in small groups with knowledgeable guides than jostle through crowded tourist sites. A reasonable level of walking is required at some sites, but the pace overall is thoughtful rather than relentless.

From the temples of Sicily to the oracle at Delphi, this is a voyage that earns its name — explore it further on GoCruise the World.