Mediterranean cruise or land tour for first Europe trip with kids?
![[Post New]](/jforum/templates/default/images/icon_minipost_new.gif){kind=icon}
Anonymous
|
Our family just started planning our first trip to Europe for June 2026, and we’ve narrowed it down to Spain or Italy. A coworker recommended a Mediterranean cruise, and I found a 7-day Norwegian cruise that starts in Rome and ends in Barcelona. Our kids will be 10 and 12 at the time, and none of us have ever cruised. Has anyone done a Mediterranean cruise with kids around that age, or would you recommend a more traditional land-based itinerary like Rome-Florence-Venice or Barcelona-Madrid-Seville? |
Anonymous
| Land-based FTW |
Anonymous
|
Definitely land based and we are a family that cruises. I think the Med cruises have three distinct drawbacks —
1) many of the best cities are not accessible by cruise ship. Like to to Rome you dock at cotivecchia and then take an hour bus ride to Rome. In Spain. Madrid is inland as are a lot of the cool medieval cities like Avila, Toledo, Granada, etc. the cruises basically take you to overwhelmed tourist locations. 2) for both these countries, rambling around is a big part of the experience. Hard to do that with cruise itineraries. 3) for all of the med, the food is one of the highlights. But with a cruise, you are paying for on board food that will be definitely worse than the food on land. I will temper this buy saying that if you have a family member with allergies, a cruise might be worth it as you can control the food install so much more easily. Also, I looked into potential cruises for our third trip to Europe … I decided that these would all be good options that would provide benefits a land trip would not: — disney adventures Adriatic cruise (small ship depart from Venice, very pricey though) — aza river cruise Danube — costa cruise from heel of boot Italy to Greece, Dubrovnik and Venice …. This is an Italian cruise line and after extensive research I decided their baseline “cruise food” looked a lot better than the American baseline “cruise food”. |
Anonymous
|
I think a cruise could be ok, especially with those age kids. Do they like summer camp? That’s kinda what the kids club on the cruise would be like.
Yes, the port in Rome isn’t anywhere near Rome but that really only matters if that’s a stop not the embarkation point. You fly to Rome a few days early and hit the sights and then go to the ship. What are the other ports of call? |
Anonymous
| Land based is my vote. We visited Italy in 2023: Rome > Venice > Amalfi > Rome. Italy was very easy to visit. We did not use rental car and used mostly train and taxis. The people were incredibly welcoming and their English was worlds better than our Italian. The sites and food were amazing. |
Anonymous
Thanks, all. This is what I was considering, staying a couple of days early in Rome and a coupe days late in Barcelona. Here are the ports: • Rome (Civitavecchia), Italy • Naples, Italy • Florence/Pisa (La Spezia), Italy (overnight) • Florence/Pisa (La Spezia), Italy • Portofino, Italy • Nice (Villefranche), France • Provence (Marseille), France • Barcelona, Spain |
Anonymous
| Land 100% and I would plan it yourself and not do a tour. I really hate the feeling of being rushed and having everything planned out. Go in with an idea of what you want to see and do and then wander. |
Anonymous
|
land based
rome, florence, venice became a huge gelato, pasta adventure also loved the ruins as well barcelona was full of tapas, the beach & ramblas wanderings. got some gaudi architecture in as well buen viaje! |
Anonymous
I did my first trip to Europe as a combined land trip and Mediterranean cruise. We were a bargain hunting family on a long trip and my grandparents paid for the cruise. I was about 10. I liked both the land and sea portions of the trip. What was most important to me were the sights at the destinations, not the mode of travel. I would say some of the ports/stops you have listed above are not going to be as fun for kids as a land trip to different places. My Mediterranean cruise went to: Genoa, Palma De Mallorca, Barcelona, Tunis (Carthage), Malta, a Sicilian port, Naples (Pompeii) and back to Genoa. So a bit more exotic than OP's cruise and more focused on archaeology. It was a Costa cruise. There were no kid activities beyond a costume competition. On board, you don't see a lot of recognizable landscapes so you don't learn how the areas look different from a close-up perspective. You also can't control the length of your sightseeing excursions. The cabin may be dark and small compared to a hotel. Have you looked at the Rick Steves family bus tours? That might be more interesting to kids. https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/europe/family-europe-london-florence I would expect Paris, Rome, and Venice to be more fun than some of the above port cities, based on my kids' experience. Venice really sticks out because it's so memorably different. My kids did not like Florence very much (13 and 10) compared to Rome and Venice. Kids do get tired of museums and churches. Be aware that 2025 is a pilgrimage to Rome year called a Jubilee. |
Anonymous
| I think you should consider if your kids are good travelers and sleepers. A cruise offers only having to unpack once and the same bed each night. Also will offer a kid’s club if you want a couple hours to yourself. But I do think land is a better way to see the sights. But a cruise might be a better way to travel. |
Anonymous
|
Choose a couple of cities and spend several days in each.
Spain will be very hot - I wouldn't go there. I wouldn't do a cruise either. |
Anonymous
|
My kids loved the train in Italy — very comfortable, fast, beautiful views, they being around a snack trolley.
La spezia to Florence is almost a two hour drive so that seems really suboptimal to do as a day trip from the ship. I would do Rome, day trip to Pompeii Naples if you want (but Pompeii will be incredibly hot in summer), train to Florence with some day trips from Florence as a base. You could probably then get a hop flight from Florence to one of those other cities if you wanted a third location. I might just fly to Paris and see Paris jnless you really wanted beach time — and if you wanted beach time I might do Sardinia or Elba instead of Nice. I think Provence will be hot in the summer too. FYI but Barcelona has had a lot of protests about the cruise ships….so that might be ubpleaaant. Also note PP comment about the jubilee year….might not be the best year for Italy. If it were my kids first visit to Europe with kids that age and summer heat, I might do something like start in London (lots for kids there and lots of fun day trips), train to Paris, a couple days in Paris and then Normandy and maybe even Paris disney before flying home (disney is right next to the airport). Or Madrid with Avila, Segovia and then northwards for cooler weather—if you want the south of France beaches like Biarritz you can get there easily from north of Spain. You could probably go Biarritz to Paris and then fly home from Paris. |
Anonymous
|
Did a Med cruise on Royal Caribbean with kids ages 18, 15, 13 and 9 a few years ago. I would also recommend land touring unless you have someone in your family who is especially bothered by changing hotels, etc. I spared no expense on private drivers picking us up at the pier and skip-the-line tours and still regretted having so little time in Rome and Florence. That said, I think your itinerary is potentially too ambitious. (And Pisa is kind of a waste of time.) Spend the next months having fun with your kids learning about the Renaissance, Ancient Rome, etc. My 9 year old was so excited to see SPQR all over Rome because he knew what it was!
Now when we cruise, we choose small ships so that we don't have to waste a lot of time tendering and we only cruise to places where the views from the water are part of the experience (just did the Norwegian fjords this past summer.) Love river cruising, though. |
Anonymous
My kids loved Florence. It totally depends on their level of knowledge before going. There are lots of very cool and exciting stories in the history of Florence that you can share before going (and specialized tours when you go). |
Anonymous
PP. I understand. I can't help their reactions. They liked what they liked. We stayed in a cool hotel with a tower (Hotel Torre Guelfa). They liked that and gelato. Also a kid's museum with DaVinci machines. They were a little scared of the Duomo climb. Not interested in the outdoor David replica, the Duomo, Baptistery, Duomo Museum, Uffizi, Palazzo Davanzati, Dante house museum or the market with the bronze boar, or the bridge. We did suboptimize food there to save time. I enjoy Renaissance history and I laid out the itinerary based on my priorities. My kids often receive pre-education materials. But they sometimes find prepping for vacation to be "too much". Venice was a real hit. We stayed in an attic hotel near the Rialto Bridge. |