Princess Cruises - The destinations we visited...Corsica

I have recently returned from a 14-day cruise from Southampton around the Mediterranean. I sailed with my family with Princess Cruises on the Crown Princess. The itinerary involved sailing for 3 days to get to the Mediterranean, and also 3 days to sail back on the return journey. We then spent 8 days touring and visited Barcelona, Corsica, Rome, Pisa, Genoa, Marseilles and Gibraltar.

I have already blogged about life onboard the ship, and now want to pass on my opinions and hints about the destinations visited on the trip. As a family of 4 people, excursions can add a lot to the holiday cost as each excursion cost is multiplied by 4. Since we enjoy exploring a place independently we opted not to book the official ship excursions as it is cheaper to do your own exploring. I use cruises to mostly visit destinations I have not been to before so that I can see if I would want to return separately if I think it worthwhile.

Ajaccio, Corsica:

Ajaccio is most famous for being the birthplace of Napoleon Bonaparte. The advantage of arriving on a cruise ship is that the ship docks within walking distance of the historic capital. Even better is that Ajaccio is really pretty. The historic town has pretty alleyways to explore and there is a lovely sandy beach for those that want a swim.

We visited the Napoleon Museum which is in a house that the Bonapartes owned and lived in. The museum is interesting as you can walk the rooms where Napoleon once trod, it has some historic furniture into giving an idea of what life was like, and some information boards (only in French).

What did I think about Ajaccio? We all agreed we would like to visit here again and to stay for longer as it has less of a city feel than Barcelona had.