This Sunday the 9th September, I’m flying out from Glasgow to Barcelona with my mum to embark upon a cruise with Holland America. I’m so lucky that this will be my thirteenth cruise, but my first one with Holland America. I’ve heard some great things about them from a number of different people, and with a tagline of ‘A Signature of Excellence’ I figure what’s not to love?!

So where will I be going?

I fly to Barcelona, one of my favourite cities in the world, and embark the ship there. From there it’s onto Monte Carlo, Monaco and France’s beautiful Côte d’Azur. I plan to get the train to Villefranche-sur-Mer, one of my favourite little towns in the world. The scenery is dramatic and the atmosphere is so relaxed. We’re lucky that the cruise ship doesn’t set sail until midnight so my mum and I are already planning to have dinner with a bottle of our favourite French wine and enjoy the gorgeous views.

Villefranche-sur-Mer

From there, the next port of call is La Spezia, Italy. Our plan here is to travel from there to Portofino. Having never been to Portofino before I’m really looking forward to exploring what I’ve heard is a picturesque and tranquil small town with a beautiful harbour.

Next is Civitavecchia where we’ll hop on the train to Rome. We’ve been to Rome many times before so it’ll be a lazy day in the eternal city with plenty of stops for people watching and some serious gelato indulgence.

The Eternal City

Palermo on the Italian island of Sicily is our next port of call. I’ve been to the island before so I’d love if anyone has any different ideas of things I could do and see whilst on the island.

Our penultimate port of call is a brand new country for me, in fact it’s a brand new continent. La Goulette in Tunisia will mark my first visit to the continent of Africa! I’m excited to be visiting a new country and a new continent all in one. I’d love to hear any tips or advice from anyone who’s been to La Goulette before as I’m not sure what to expect.

After Tunisia we have a day at sea to relax and enjoy all the things the ship has to offer. Then the next day it’s back to Barcelona where I’ll be saying goodbye to my mum and spending 24 hours in the city before heading towards Girona for TBEX (for all you non-travel bloggers that’s Travel Blog Exchange, a sort of conference for travel bloggers and industry professionals). It’ll be my first travel blogging conference and I can’t wait!

So that’s what the next few weeks holds for me. I’m looking forward to it all and can’t wait to get out of cold, rainy, autumnal Scotland for 2 weeks of excitement and sunshine!