Spending your holiday cruising in the Mediterranean Sea means having the opportunity to combine fun, sun and culture

Summer is coming and now is the time to decide what type of holiday I am going to have.

I am therefore spending a lot of time browsing between the hundreds of different possibilities that the market of holiday offers now. As I love the sea, I am on the point of choosing a cruise (and, in particular, a Mediterranean cruise) for my holiday, which should be an interesting and totally new experience for me.

I have collected much information that I think may be helpful if you are choosing the same solution for your holiday.

First, I suggest that you choose the right size of the cruise ship. They are generally classified from “very small” to “huge” in relation to the tonnage and the maximum number of people that may carry.

This may help you to decide how many people you want to spend you day aboard with. Some like very much to be in a large crowd, others prefer smaller environments.

Then, if you travel with your children, a Mediterranean cruise offers you several children's facilities and programmes that make a cruise a fantastic family holiday. Your children will have so much to do that you will be able to spend your time in your favourite activities without worrying about them because the cruise ship environment is absolutely secure and safe.

A Mediterranean cruise may be a pleasant solution if you are a single traveller because it provides an enjoyable environment where meeting people and making new friends is very easy. In addition, many activities and social events are organised to spend your daytime and your nighttime as much nicely as possible. Some cruise companies offer the possibility of having single cabins too but remember to book in large advance because these options are sold very quickly.

If you are planning to book a Mediterranean cruise, I suggest that you go from May to October, when the weather is usually dry and temperatures range from warm to hot, definitely ideal for cruising.

I recommend a Mediterranean cruise because, even if you are not used to travel by boat, you will not feel uncomfortable as the routes are short and there are not long distances between the seaports.

Moreover, spending your holiday cruising in the Mediterranean Sea means having the opportunity to combine fun, sun and culture. This area is in fact the place of birth of civilisation as the endless range of historic cities prove, offering at they same time delightful islands and breathtaking sceneries in lovely weather conditions.

You only have to choose whether you intend to visit Western Mediterranean or Southern Mediterranean rather than Eastern Mediterranean.

The tourist attractions of the Western Mediterranean are the beaches of the different rivieras (French and Spanish, above all), historic sites and many cosmopolite cities. You can cruise from Spanish ports, such as Barcelona and Palma, which allow you to visit Valencia, Malaga, Cadiz and Seville, then reaching the famous French Riviera, where Nice and Monte Carlo are the most visited sites.

Going towards Italy, you can visit Corsica and Sardinia, which provide spectacular sceneries, before reaching Italy, where you would have only the embarrassment of choosing.

A cruise in Southern Mediterranean is heartily recommended if you plan to cruise in winter. The warm temperature and the historic sites located in Cyprus, Egypt and in all North African Coast make such cruise a very interesting option.

Last but not least, a cruise in the Eastern Mediterranean will offer you the hundreds of Aegean Sea islands to visit in the typical and friendly atmosphere, combined with the possibility of discovering the dozens of archaeological and ancient sites that only Greece offers. Cruising from Venice, Athens and Istanbul will allow you to visit the Croatian coast, Dubrovnik, Corfu, Mykonos, Rhodes, Santorini and Crete, which are all now regular ports of call in such cruises.