A row of lacquered gondolas sat empty, bobbing in the opalescent waters of Venice’s Grand Canal. Several yards away, the white expanse of the city’s iconic Rialto Bridge stretched across the waterway, nearly vacant except for the handful of tourists huddled under its stone arch.
In the summer months, when Venice becomes rife with tens of thousands of daily visitors, this section of the city is usually ground zero for tourist overcrowding. But I was visiting on a chilly morning in late March, with marbled clouds that hung low over the city. That day, the scene felt so vacant that when I approached a gondolier about a ride for my mother and myself, I did so with unease, asking if he was accepting any passengers. He responded with a resounding si, and within moments we were gliding from the Grand Canal through the city’s back channels, where we were the only gondola for practically the entire tour.
This is the advantage of an off-season cruise through Europe: unfettered access to some of the region’s most famous cultural experiences with hardly any of the usual jostling in crowds. Even if the weather might be colder or rainier, a winter cruise in the Mediterranean allows a rare opportunity to enjoy its most iconic cities on their own terms.
We were cruising with Viking, a line that has been operating what it calls “quiet season” voyages through the Mediterranean for a decade. Viking’s quiet season sailings span from late October through the end of March every year. Although a handful of other lines are hopping on the quiet season trend, Viking is the expert in the category, especially for travelers looking for a cultural getaway, as it specializes in immersive and educational journeys.
The cruise line ensures its tours and excursions operate not only at the right time of year, but also the right time of day for an exclusive feel and to get passengers up close to cultural and historical sites. The same morning as our gondola ride, we’d taken an early walking tour with a Viking group through the winding streets behind Venice’s Palazzo Cornoldi, across historic bridges spanning the narrow canals, and onto the famous St. Mark’s Square. Along the way, we saw no one else but the few other Viking tour groups and a handful of locals on their morning jogs through the labyrinth of cobblestone calli.
“Europe during the slow season is such a gem,” says Laura Salas, lead travel advisor and operations coordinator at Court Travel Ltd. in Charlotte, North Carolina. “The Mediterranean coast reveals a different kind of beauty when it’s not 90 degrees and crowded with summer visitors.”
That rarefied beauty was on display in almost every port during our voyage. In Dubrovnik, we toured the city’s picturesque Old Town. Where a crush of tourists normally congregates outside the Pile Gate in summer, we found only a lonely plaza with a few people shuffling by under umbrellas in the drizzling rain. Inside, the medieval city’s tight stone alleyways were practically empty, and we had a walk of the fortified city walls all to ourselves.
Among the thinner crowds, we got up close to the ancient remains of Pompeii, breezed into shops and nabbed prime restaurant tables in Old Corfu, and meandered through the Uffizi Gallery in Florence, where we contemplated showstoppers like Botticelli’s “Primavera” and Titan’s “Venus of Urbino” without throwing elbows.
Cruises, rather than independent tours over land, are an ideal way to travel in the Mediterranean off season because they help travelers bypass some tricky logistics during the quiet time, when the vast majority of hotels and restaurants in smaller ports might be closed: a local in Dubrovnik estimated that 70% of the city’s hotels and restaurants close after October and don’t reopen until early summer.
That’s not an issue for cruisers, who sail into town with their own accommodations and dining options. On board our ship, the Viking Star, we had a comfortable suite with 24-hour room service, a private veranda, and a spacious bathroom with double sinks and heated floors, plus
four restaurants, a theater, spa, and several bars (including the raucous Torshavn, the ship’s night club that’s open until the wee hours). Despite all of its amenities, the ship holds just 930 passengers, which means it never feels too overwhelming on board, and the vessel can call upon some of the Mediterranean’s smaller ports, too.
For a successful slow season cruise in the Med, travelers should opt for itineraries that offer city visits instead of beach destinations, Salas advises. “This isn’t the time for swimming, but it’s perfect for exploring history, architecture, cuisine, and culture,” she says. “Cities like Nice, Palermo, and Rome are ideal—rich in art and gastronomy, and often just a short drive from beautiful vineyards and countryside.”
Viking’s quiet season Mediterranean itineraries offer plenty of opportunities to visit culture-rich cities. The new “Mediterranean & Adriatic Odyssey” voyage includes popular ports like Rome, Venice, and Athens, as well as smaller towns. In Bari, Italy, travelers can tour the nearby UNESCO-listed village of Alberobello, famous for its unique beehive-shaped homes that have been converted into cafés and shops. In Syracuse, Sicily, cruisers can explore the ancient island of Ortigia, known for Roman ruins like the Temple of Athena and Temple of Apollo, which dates back to the 6th century BC.
Other winter sailings from the line focus on Spain and Portugal, offering activities like a tuk-tuk culinary tour of Lisbon and a performance of traditional equestrian ballet in Andalusia, while cold-weather voyages to Malta come with an opportunity to visit the island’s vineyards, explore a small arts village outside Mdina known for its glassblowing, or attend an exclusive concert in Valetta’s St. John’s Cathedral.
“In general, slow-season cruising is about revisiting favorite places with a different lens: lingering longer, savoring the atmosphere, and enjoying destinations for what they are, not just what they look like in peak season,” Salas says.
It was easy to savor one of our last ports: Nice. Our visit fell on a Monday, when the city’s year-round market purveying flowers and produce on Cours Selaya converts to an antique flea market with vintage finds fit for the Cote d’Azure (think Hermes scarves and decanter sets of Baccarat crystal). My mother and I browsed the retro jewelry and home goods, people watching along the way.
Later that day, the sun emerged. Nice was engulfed by a clear blue sky above and skirted by the bright turquoise Mediterranean below. We walked the palm-lined Promenade D’Anglais in front of the sea, its shores dotted with drowsy beachgoers, and stopped at an outdoor café for a classic nicoise salad and a glass of French rosé. Our table overlooked the city’s main thoroughfare, with its steady line of luxury cars parading by, and the promenade, where ambling locals were soaking in the first warm day of early spring. We soaked it in, too: not only the golden Mediterranean light sparkling on the Bay of Angels, but with it, the magic of the quiet season.
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