13 nights, Piraeus (Athens) to Piraeus (Athens)
Explora's name for it: An Extended Journey of Mediterranean Marvels & Timeless Coastal Enchantment
Thirteen nights, twelve calls, and a route that loops out of Athens and back, threading the Cyclades, the Dalmatian coast, the Venetian Lagoon, and the Bay of Kotor before returning to Piraeus. The pace is full. Twelve stops in thirteen nights means most days you are ashore and walking, with little dead time on the ship. The reward is range. You walk into Diocletian's Palace in Split, a Roman retirement complex people never stopped living in, then later trace the full circuit of Dubrovnik's intact medieval walls above the terracotta roofs. Kotor is the rare port where the approach is half the day: the ship threads a deep fjord-like bay for about an hour past Perast and two islets before the town appears, so be on deck, not at breakfast. Rhodes drops you a short walk from the largest inhabited fortified town in Europe.
This itinerary rewards walkers who want history at a steady clip and do not need beach time or downtime. If you want a slow, restful sailing, look elsewhere: twelve port days back to back is a lot, and Fusina, the mainland Venice terminal, adds real transfer time at both ends of that call. The Cyclades calls here lean toward working Greek towns like Ermoupoli on Syros rather than the Santorini postcard, which is a feature if you want the real thing and a miss if you came for the icons.
Explora II is all-suite and all-oceanfront.
The itinerary, port by port
12 calls over 13 nights, round-trip from Piraeus (Athens). Open any port for my full day-ashore guide, what to see, when to go, and how the day actually runs.
Getting there: Flights to Piraeus (Athens) (ATH) are already bookable for these dates. I watch the fare for booked clients so you book at the right moment. When to book your flights →
- Embark
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- Disembark
Fares on this departure, decoded
Reading the fare fine print is the job. Here's what this sailing currently carries:
- Invitation to Discover More
- Explora's discovery fare, available across most of the calendar. Onboard credit where the offer applies.
- Founders Fare
- A founding-era fare on a selected set of sailings. Onboard credit where the offer applies.
The ship and your suite
This sailing is aboard EXPLORA II, all-suite, every suite with a private ocean-front terrace. Suites run from the entry Ocean Terrace to the Owner's Residence; the right tier depends on how you travel. Compare suites → · What's included →