Do you like to think of your vacation as a great cruise where you can relax, contemplate the sea, enjoy quality services and visit cities as an excursion? Then, cruises in the Middle East, North Africa and the Eastern Mediterranean offer you surprising proposals. And Mandala Tours agencies can organize it for you. In this post we throw some ideas at you.
Cruise on the Nile, a very ‘ours’ classic
If we talk about cruises, our star product is undoubtedly the Nile River cruise. Our agency Egypt Exclusive specializes in this experience, either as part of a broader tour of the country or as a trip in itself. They can be done by motorboat or dahabiya, the latter being the slowest and most traditional option, but precisely for this reason the most premium and relaxing. During the route, which usually connects Aswan with Luxor, you will visit temples as spectacular as Kom Ombo, Karnak or Edfu, as well as the fascinating tombs of the Valley of the Kings.
Morocco and its booming coastal cities
Morocco has been fully inserted in cruise tourism, with some of its main ports as star stops on international tours of the Atlantic and the Mediterranean. Special mention should be made of Tangier, with its charming location in the Strait of Gibraltar, and Casablanca, where the minaret of the Hassan II mosque is imposing upon arrival. These two cities are often integrated into longer routes with other ports in Spain, Italy or France. And Agadir has also gained prominence, sometimes with cruises touring the Spanish Canary Islands.
Turkey, the perfect match for the Greek Islands
If there is one destination worth visiting on a Mediterranean cruise, it is the idyllic Greek Islands. And fortunately for our clients, there are numerous routes that also pass through the Aegean coast destinations in Turkey, such as Bodrum. On many of them, the icing on the cake is a visit to Istanbul, the great Turkish capital, which can also be explored as an excursion on these cruises.
Israel and Egypt, united on different routes
Israel is often associated with trips to the Holy Land, but it also has a lot to offer in terms of sun and beach tourism, even on board cruise ships. The two ports that are usually present in the easternmost Mediterranean tours are Haifa and Ashdod. In addition, it is common for these cruises to stop in Alexandria, Egypt’s main Mediterranean city, with interesting vestiges of the Ptolemaic period, the epilogue of the Pharaonic civilization.
The Red Sea and its enormous possibilities
The Red Sea is a sun and beach destination that can be visited at any time of the year. And precisely for this reason, many travelers take advantage of the winter in the northern hemisphere to take a cruise through its waters, including some Egyptian cities of great interest (Sharm el Sheikh, Hurghada), as well as the jewel of southern Jordan: Aqaba. One of the attractions of the stops during these cruises is precisely to dive in its crystal clear waters, where you can enjoy diving and snorkeling of authentic magic. In addition, excursions to the Sinai Peninsula (St. Catherine Monastery, Mount Sinai) or to the Nabataean city of Petra are not to be missed on these tours.
For all these reasons, even though our tour catalog is wide and has a terrestrial development (with possible internal flights), the truth is that we can also organize cruise vacations in one or several countries where we work. If you are seduced by this idea, do not hesitate to contact us.
