Explora Journeys · 19-Night Cruise
An Extended Journey of Alluring Mediterranean Beauty & Timeless Intrigue
19 nights aboard EXPLORA II, round-trip from Fusina (Venice).
Journey Overview
19 nights, 13 ports, 5 countries.
Over nineteen nights this voyage traces the Adriatic and Aegean at a measured pace, opening amid the gilded palazzi of Venice before turning south to Kotor’s walled bay and the Ionian calm of Corfu. Greek islands gather like a string of beads, Paros, Rhodes, Patmos, Syros, Mykonos and Milos, with Bodrum and Athens between them and Istanbul’s minarets beyond. The return drifts back through Bari’s old quarter and the Dalmatian coast at Trogir and Split, closing once more in the lagoon.
The Itinerary
Fusina (Venice), Italy
Embarkation 12:00 – 16:00 · Departure 19:00
Venice unfolds across the water, a city of churches, campi and palazzi reflected in green canals. Glide the Grand Canal by gondola, watch glass take shape on Murano, then reach Piazza San Marco for the Basilica and the Doge's Palace. The Bridge of Sighs and a tangle of quiet passages reward those who wander away from the crowds.
A Day at Sea
Cruising
A day held entirely at sea, with EXPLORA II steady beneath an open horizon. The ship's quieter rhythms come forward, an unhurried morning, an afternoon given to the spa or a book by the water, the wake unspooling behind. Let the hours pass without a fixed shape, the only schedule the slow turning of blue.
Sea dayKotor, Montenegro
08:00 – 18:00
The Bay of Kotor draws you deep between dark Montenegrin slopes to a walled medieval town at the water's edge. Within Stari Grad, Romanesque churches and stone bastions speak of carnivals and earthquakes weathered over centuries. Climb the switchback path to the Church of Our Lady of Remedy for a view over red-tiled roofs cradled by the fjord below.
Corfu, Greece
09:00 – 19:00
Corfu carries its layers lightly. Sit beneath the French-built Liston arcades on the Spianada, cross the moat to the Old Fortress, then follow narrow lanes between Venetian-era churches. Beyond the harbour, the wooded coves of Paleokastritsa wait among pines, while Mount Pantokrator rises over Corfiot villages with the Ionian spread wide below.
A Day at Sea
Cruising
Another full day at sea, the coast slipping from view. EXPLORA II carries you across open water while the day stays your own, a long swim, a slow lunch, the horizon unbroken from rail to sky. There is a particular ease to time at sea, the world narrowed to the ship and the colour of the water.
Sea dayParos, Greece
09:00 – 20:00
Paros keeps the gentler spirit of the Cyclades intact. In Parikia, the Byzantine church of Panagia Ekatontapyliani holds centuries of devotion behind plain walls, while Naoussa's old Venetian harbour folds into a maze of whitewashed lanes. Blonde-sand beaches edge the island, and a short crossing reaches the caves and clear water of Antiparos.
Rhodes, Greece
09:00 – 23:00
Rhodes wears its history in stone. The walled medieval town, raised by the Knights of St John, runs along the Street of the Knights past fountains and shaded squares to the pink Suleiman Mosque and its minaret. At Mandraki harbour, twin bronze deer mark where the Colossus once stood, and the hills above hold quiet Byzantine chapels.
Bodrum, Türkiye
09:00 – 19:00
Bodrum gathers an easy glamour around its old fishing harbour. The Castle of St Peter guards the bay, and the scattered remains of the Mausoleum recall one of the ancient wonders. Inland lie olive groves and the still waters of Lake Bafa, while a wooden gulet carries you out to the clear Aegean coves of the peninsula.
Patmos, Greece
09:00 – 21:00
Patmos rewards those who arrive quietly. White houses climb the hillsides toward the fortified Monastery of St John, and within the Cave of the Apocalypse tradition places the writing of Revelation. Sheltered beaches and protected coves ring the shore, and a steady, contemplative calm settles over the island the cult of Artemis once claimed as its own.
Syros, Greece
09:00 – 19:00
Syros sits a short way from Mykonos yet keeps an entirely different temper. Its capital, Ermoupoli, was once the merchant heart of the Aegean, and marble boulevards lead to the Apollo Theatre and the grand houses of Vaporia above the sea. Climb to Ano Syros, the Venetian hilltop quarter crowned by the cathedral of San Giorgio.
Piraeus (Athens), Greece
07:00 – 20:00
Athens layers the ancient and the everyday without strain. The Acropolis and the Parthenon hold the skyline, while below them galleries, markets and small tavernas fill the streets of Plaka and Monastiraki. Toward evening, return to the harbour at Piraeus, where fishing boats slip out and the salt air carries the sound of the city winding down.
A Day at Sea
Cruising
A day at sea between the Aegean and the waters ahead. EXPLORA II holds her course while the hours soften, time for the spa, an unhurried table, an afternoon doing very little at all. With nothing fixed and nowhere to be by a certain hour, the rhythm of the ship becomes its own quiet reward.
Sea dayMykonos, Greece
09:00 – 23:00
Arrive early and Mykonos belongs to you. Whitewashed lanes wind past Cycladic chapels and the old windmills above Little Venice, where the sea reaches the doorsteps. A short crossing leads to Delos, the sacred island laid bare in temples, theatres and shrines. Back in Chora, a harbourside table holds the island until the sundowner hour.
Milos, Greece
09:00 – 21:00
Milos curls in a volcanic horseshoe at the edge of the Cyclades, the island where the Venus de Milo came to light in 1820. Sarakiniko's wind-carved white rock has a lunar strangeness, and elsewhere the cliffs run russet and pink above sea caves and clear water. Climb to the castle ruins at Plaka for the view across the bay.
A Day at Sea
Cruising
A last full day at sea before the Italian coast. EXPLORA II moves on through open blue, the wake the only mark on the water, the day given over to whatever pace you choose. There is room now to rest, to read, to watch the light shift across the sea, the ship unhurried beneath an empty horizon.
Sea dayBari, Italy
08:00 – 19:00
Bari Vecchia tangles together medieval lanes, Romanesque churches and Baroque facades, with grandmothers shaping orecchiette in the doorways. The Basilica of San Nicola holds the saint's relics, and the Norman fortress guards the old quarter. Beyond the city lie the coves of Polignano a Mare, the conical trulli of Alberobello and the cave dwellings of Matera.
Trogir, Croatia
08:00 – 17:00
Trogir is a compact island of marble lanes and pale stone, layered in Romanesque, Renaissance and Baroque. Its medieval square has gathered the town for centuries beside the Cathedral of St Lawrence, whose bell tower repays the climb. Nearby Split shelters Diocletian's Palace within its old centre, while Krka's waterfalls thread the hills inland.
Fusina (Venice), Italy
Arrival 08:00 · Disembarkation 09:15 – 10:30
The voyage closes where it began, back in the Venetian lagoon. There is time for one more turn through the city, the Grand Canal by gondola, a quiet church reached down a side passage, the Doge's Palace and the Bridge of Sighs. Venice keeps its gilded, watery beauty to the last, a fitting place to step ashore.
Explora Journeys · All-Inclusive
Every journey includes
- All dining across the ship's six restaurants, cafés and 24-hour in-suite dining
- Fine wines, champagne, spirits, cocktails and specialty coffees, anywhere on board
- All gratuities and service charges
- An in-suite bar, replenished daily to your taste
- High-speed Wi-Fi throughout the ship
- Curated shoreside experiences and port-to-town transfers where offered
Your Ship
EXPLORA II
Explora's ships are all-suite and ocean-front — there isn't an inside cabin on board. Pale, calm interiors borrow the codes of the grand European hotel rather than the megaship: six restaurants plus a dozen bars and cafés, four pools including a retractable-roof Conservatory, and one of the most generous spa and thermal areas at sea. At roughly fifty gross tons per guest, the space-per-person ratio is close to double that of a mainstream cruise ship.
More on Explora JourneysSuites
461–463
All ocean-front
Guests
~922
Double occupancy
Restaurants
Six
Plus cafés & bars
Pools
Four
Incl. the Conservatory
