Make unsung gems the first port of call

CRUISING offers a fantastic opportunity to visit far-flung locations off the tourist trail. BEN HALL picks out some obscure treats to explore on forthcoming itineraries

CULTURE Bamberg town hall Germany CULTURE: Bamberg town hall, Germany

NAPLES OF THE EAST

Costa Cruises (0845 351 0552/www.costacruises.co.uk) sails to Kyushu island in the south of Japan and overnights in Kagoshima which, for reasons that will be immediately obvious, is known as the Naples of the East. The city lives in the shadow of the massive and temperamental Sakurajima volcano, which – like the Neapolitan Vesuvius – presides over a grand sweep of a bay. There’s an option to climb it, too. Other highlights of Kagoshima include St Xavier Church, a legacy of the first Christians in Japan, the botanical gardens and a regional dish of karukan – sweet cakes made from sweet potatoes and rice flour.

● Costa Classica’s six-night Far East cruise sails from Tianjin in China on August 16 and visits South Korea as well as Japan, costing from £1,189pp (two sharing), including return fl ights from Heathrow and transfers.

Other highlights of Kagoshima include St Xavier Church

LAND OF THE MIDNIGHT SUN

Fred Olsen’s (01473 746175/www.fredolsencruises.co.uk) Balmoral calls at Honningsvag in Norway, on its final approach to the North Cape, the huge wilderness of a promontory that pushes out into the Arctic. In midsummer the sun never sets over the tundra, which is home to reindeer and populated by Lapps. Passengers in this serene and rather surreal place, which is the nearest town to the North Pole, can also visit an information centre that shows the passing of the seasons in a spectacular daily show.

● Balmoral’s 14-night Land of the Midnight Sun cruise departs Dover on June 7 and calls at Bergen and Kristiansund, then cruises the Trollfjord to Honningsvag, the most northerly point, before hopping along Norway’s magnificent coast via Tromsø, Alesund and Eidfjord. From £1,555pp (two sharing).

BIBLICAL MARVELS

Royal Caribbean International (0844 493 2061/www.royalcaribbean.co.uk) features the historic port of Ashdod in Israel, which doubles as the gateway to Tel Aviv and Jerusalem as well as being of interest in its own right. The port, Israel’s largest, was fi rst settled during the Canaanite era and is mentioned in the Bible. Its history is best told in the Korin Maman Museum, which has an archaeology exhibition called Philistian World as well as various art exhibitions.

● Ashdod features on a 10-night Holy Land cruise aboard Vision of the Seas, which departs Istanbul on October 9 and calls at Kusadasi (for Ephesus), Rhodes, Haifa, Port Said and Alexandria before arriving at Athens (Piraeus). From £1,523pp (two sharing), including flights from London to Istanbul and return from Athens.

SLOW BOAT TO TORTOISE ISLAND

Noble Caledonia (020 7752 0000/ www.noble-caledonia.co.uk) can take you to a place untouched by the modern world mainly thanks to there being no landing strip and a shortage of fresh water. The island of Aldabra in the Indian Ocean is most famous for being the last breeding ground of the giant tortoise, which passengers will see on their three-day stay, along with likely sightings of dolphins, turtles, whales and countless birds.

● Zanzibar to the Seychelles aboard the MS Island Sky, a 116-passenger all-suite deluxe vessel, is a 12-night expedition cruise, which explores Aldabra, Mozambique and Mayotte. Departing March 11, 2010 from £3,895pp (two sharing), including return flights from Heathrow and all shore excursions by Zodiac inflatable.

SWEET DANISH TREAT

Saga Ruby (0800 056 5880/www.saga.co.uk/travel-shop) sails to the charming island of the Bornholm, which is part of Denmark but actually closer to Sweden, Poland and Germany. Near the harbour at Ronne, the capital, is an area of 17th and 18th-century houses but since this pretty wooded and farmed island is only 25 miles tip to tip, dotted with a number of tiny fishing villages, it makes an ideal rural interlude between the big cities invariably featured on a Baltic cruise.

● Ruby’s Tall Ships in the Baltic 17-night cruise sails from Newcastle on July 3 from £2,609pp (two sharing).

BAVARIAN BEAUTY

Peter Deilmann (020 7436 2931/www.deilmann.co.uk) can steer you to medieval Bamberg, an architectural showcase the winding streets of which are fi lled with Baroque patrician houses while its 11th-century cathedral houses the tombs of both a Pope and a Holy Roman Emperor. It also has nine breweries including the Schlenkerla, famed for its smoked beer. The town features on the MS Casanova river cruise from Passau to Stuttgart mostly along the Danube and the Rhine, calling at Heidelberg, Wurzburg, Regensburg and other middle European gems.

● One week (leaving June 27) from £1,625pp (two sharing), including five “touring experiences” but excluding flights.

JEWEL OF MONTENEGRO

Oceania Cruises (01344 772344/ www.oceaniacruises.co.uk) calls at Kotor, 40 miles south of Dubrovnik, built on a beautiful sunken river inlet, Europe’s most southerly fjord. The walled Montenegran city, a Unesco World Heritage site, has, pink-paved streets and architecture that reflects the Byzantine and Venetian influences that extend along the Adriatic coast.

● Insignia’s Radiant Legacies 12-night cruise sails from Athens on October 22 and calls at Kotor en route to Venice, as well as other ports in Croatia, Greece, Albania, Turkey and Italy. Prices from £2,368pp (two sharing), excluding flights.

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