Awash with colourful flowers, Corfu is big on beauty. It’s known as the Emerald Isle, and its golden beaches, lush green landscape and colourful villages will have you constantly reaching for your camera.

• Soak up the views at Bella Vista, Corfu’s most famous lookout point. From here, you can peer over sleepy seaside villages like Paleokastritsa, and the island’s entire west coast.
• In Corfu Town itself, stand in the shadow of two gigantic fortresses. See the 16th-century church of Ayios Spyridhon. And then wander round the interesting archaeological museum.
• Relax on the shimmering sands of Glyfada beach, one of the most popular sunning spots on the island. Top up your tan. Take a dip in the crystal waters. Or simply laze beneath a hot sun.

Arrives at 07:00

Few cities on earth have the power to bowl you over quite like Rome. Discover a city packed with historical wonder, artistic splendour and culinary temptation at every turn. Not to mention enough designer shops to keep you browsing for a year.

• Relive the days of the gladiators at the eye-popping Colosseum. Big enough to hold 50,000 bloodthirsty spectators, it’s stood the test of time and remains Rome’s most famous landmark.
• Head for the Vatican City, the heart of the Catholic Church. Feast your eyes on treasures like St Peter’s Basilica, the Vatican Museums and the Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo’s ceiling masterpiece awaits you.

Departs at 19:00

Arrives at 07:00

Naples is Italy’s most red-blooded city. This is the place where the pizza is so good people don’t wait for their slices at restaurant tables, they order it to-go from street side windows. And it’s the city where the soundtrack is the beeping of moped horns. For all its joy de vive, you wouldn’t know Naples is actually one of the oldest continuously-inhabited cities in the world. The city centre is actually a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and it’s dripping with ancient architecture, cathedrals and churches.

• Visit the time-frozen cities of Pompeii and Herculaneum, whose citizens were stopped in their tracks by the famous eruptions of 79 AD.
• Teeter on the brink of Mount Vesuvius, the only active volcano you can climb in Europe.

Departs at 19:00

Arrives at 08:00

From the tangle of timeworn streets to the sickle-shaped harbour dotted with rustic trattorias, it’s easy to see why Shakespeare chose Messina as the setting of his romantic play Much Ado About Nothing.

• Be in Piazza del Duomo for 12 noon. Here, a Norman citadel houses the world’s largest mechanical clock. At midday, gilt figures, including a roaring lion and a host of beautiful angels, emerge from the clock to re-enact the city’s history.
• Don’t miss Sicily’s star turn, Mount Etna. Europe’s biggest active volcano, it’s a contradiction in every sense – fiery and snowy, barren and lush, feared and loved. One of the best ways to see it is from the cutesy carriages of the Circumetnea Railway which follows a delightful route up along the slopes of the volcano.
• Talk about gorgeous. Perched high on a cliff above glittering blue seas, Taormina is arguably the most charming town in Sicily. Lose yourself in the cobweb of narrow backstreets. Put a dent in your holiday kitty along boutique-lined Corso Umberto. And head up to the Greek theatre at the top of town. Like curtains edging a stage, the ruins frame the silhouette of Mount Etna. Cameras at the ready.
• The shady goings on of the mafia underworld was famously showcased in the Godfather trilogy, much of which was shot on location in Sicily. Follow in the footsteps of Marlon Brando, Robert di Niro and Al Pacino around the so-called ‘Godfather Villages’. Take a peek inside the Bar Vitelli watering hole and visit the Church of Annunciation where Michael Corleone’s wedding was filmed. We’re making you an offer you can’t refuse.

Departs at 18:00

Arrives at 08:00

As your ship cruises into Valletta, a magical skyline of soaring steeples and bulbous church domes rises to greet you. This is Malta’s quintessential capital, a captivating city steeped in history.

• Stroll the colourful streets of Valletta, taking in sights like the Grandmaster’s Palace, the House of Parliament and Castille Palace.
• Visit Mdina, the island’s old capital. It’s an impressive walled city dripping in Medieval and Baroque architecture. They call it the Silent City because cars are forbidden. Carriage-laden horses trotting through the streets and the gentle chatter of Mdina’s inhabitants are the only sounds likely to pierce the sleepy calm.
• Take a boat ride to the spellbinding Blue Grotto, an impressive 50 metre-deep cave.
• Sit back and relax on a boat trip around Valletta’s two natural harbours. The waters here have seen their fair share of naval action, standing by as both Napoleon and Nelson staked their claims to them.

Departs at 17:00

Awash with colourful flowers, Corfu is big on beauty. It’s known as the Emerald Isle, and its golden beaches, lush green landscape and colourful villages will have you constantly reaching for your camera.

• Soak up the views at Bella Vista, Corfu’s most famous lookout point. From here, you can peer over sleepy seaside villages like Paleokastritsa, and the island’s entire west coast.
• In Corfu Town itself, stand in the shadow of two gigantic fortresses. See the 16th-century church of Ayios Spyridhon. And then wander round the interesting archaeological museum.
• Relax on the shimmering sands of Glyfada beach, one of the most popular sunning spots on the island. Top up your tan. Take a dip in the crystal waters. Or simply laze beneath a hot sun.