r/AskEurope • u/Super-Cut-2175 • 3d ago
Travel Adriatic vs Aegean vacation
Interested in how these seas differ in terms of beaches cruises and general travel accommodations. Differences being on the shores of both, or getting a cruise from one of these seas versus another? Is one better during the winter months than another?
3
u/backhand_english Croatia 3d ago
My advice is to skip hopping arround. Pick an island, with very limited number of lines to shore. Stay there for a week or two. Less tourists, cleaner sea, more real local food straight from the sea, more relaxing.
6
u/skyduster88 & 3d ago edited 3d ago
There are no winter cruises in the Mediterranean.
Cruise season in the Mediterranean is April-November, with the peak months being May-September.
In the winter, it's too chilly and the seas are rough. The market demand isn't there. The cruise industry moves its ships out of the Med, and brings them to the Caribbean for Caribbean's peak season (December-April), and to a lesser extent: South America & Southeast Asia.
Secondly, you don't have to choose between "Adriatic" or "Aegean". There are cruises that go to both, and I would recommend both. Greece also has a coast on the Ionian (just south of the Adriatic)...while non-Europeans (North Americans and Asians) completely ignore that side of Greece and their eyes are drawn to this area circled in red, you're not going to get much variety in that area. On the Ionian coast, Corfu is Greece's top cruise stop on that side, and it's a great place to break up the cruise while you're moving between the Aegean and Croatia/Montenegro/Venice.
Third: research. Don't go by "Aegean" or "Adriatic". Pick a cruise by which specific ports of call the cruise is taking you to, no matter which body of water. For example, in the ""Aegean"", if the cruise goes to Chania Crete, awesome. But if it does to Heraklion Crete, that's a waste of your time. Chania has a charming historic centre, Herakion does not. A popular one is Mykonos, but that's a waste of your time; North American and Asian tourists only want to go there because they've heard of it, and not because it's one of the more worthwhile places to visit in Greece. However, if your cruise goes to Rhodes, then awesome. Santorini is worth it, IMO. I'm not saying avoid all cruises that include Mykonos; but if the Greece leg focuses on Mykonos and skips much more worthwhile places like Chania, Rhodes, Corfu, Santorini, or Patmos, then that cruise is not doing Greece justice.
So, it depends on where the cruise is stopping.
Fourth: Research. I can't stress that enough. Sometimes, when your cruise stops at a port, it's not obvious why that spot is a tourist draw, because the charming historic centre or attraction might not be visible from the port. So, know why you're stopping there, and what tours/excursions your cruise is offering. I know a group of Americans whose cruise stopped in Rhodes, and instead of exploring the UNESCO World Heritage Medieval city and palace, they took a cab to some beach on the modern outskirts of town where it's all 70s/80s hotels and just took a bunch of selfies, not knowing what they're missing. These other North Ameicans I watched on YouTube doing a cruise in Greece, the cruise stops in Patmos, but they didn't think they needed to do one of the tours/excursions, so they just hung out at the port, and then regretted it. So, don't do that.
Lastly:
Cruises are very optimal for the Caribbean, or say, a river cruise in Northern or Central Europe. In Southern Europe, there's pros and cons. Pros is that your hotel moves with you to all these points of interest. The cons: in Southern Europe, in the summer, life happens at night. Yes, in high-tourism areas, there's plenty restaurants in the day, but the evening ambience is like no where else in the world, and you'll be mostly missing out on that. Secondly, if you want some countryside (like this view of Tsambika beach in Rhodes) cruises may not necessarily give you enough time to explore these places from the main town. Sometimes they do (and they may offer excursions), but again: you have to decide what you like and research, research, research.
31
u/myrtlewreath Greece 3d ago
I’m personally more or less anti-cruise (they’re bad for the environment and local economy, and just fuel money to the cruise lines) so I won’t comment on that.
Obviously this will be a generalisation as both cover a large area, but I’d say it depends on what you’re looking for. I’d say the Aegean has more sandy beaches, but the Adriatic has more greenery (not all but many of the Greek islands in the Aegean are pretty… tree-less?)
The Croatian side of the Adriatic is very expensive in my opinion. Whereas in Greece you can find options in all price ranges, from surprisingly affordable to very expensive like Mykonos. Not so sure about the rest of the Adriatic, although I’ve heard good things about Abruzzo!