Italy, France, Spain, Gibraltar, Morocco, Portugal, United States

Naples is an historic city over 2,500 years old, sitting on the west coast of southern Italy by the Gulf of Naples. Located halfway between two volcanic areas, Mount Vesuvius and Camp Flegrei and with numerous tours and cruise excursions available at the port, one may be inclined to miss out on what Naples itself has to offer. It has some of the world's best opera houses and theatres, and is often called an open-air museum because of its many historic statues and monuments. Read more about Naples, Italy

Livorno is the third largest port on the west coast of Italy, and is well known for supporting cruise ship tourism to Florence, the Tower of Pisa, the hill towns of Tuscany, Cinque Terre with its enchanting villages, and the Chianti wine region, generally with time allowed for visiting some famous outlet stores of famous fashion houses. However the port of Livorno itself has a lot to offer visitors. Criss-crossed by Medicean canals that are still navigable, and with its port overlooked by towers and fortresses, this well-planned city is most appealing. Read more about Livorno, Italy

Located on the SE coast of France on the Mediterranean Sea, Marseille is France's largest commercial port, and is also the largest French city on the Mediterranean coast. It serves as a gateway to the lush fertile region of Provence and all its cultural contributions to gastronomic excellence, impressionistic art, and ancient architecture. This cosmopolitan city with 300 days of sunshine a year, clear blue skies and the down-to-earth warmth of its residents, boasts a trading history that goes back more than 2,500 years. Read more about Marseille, France

Barcelona, located in Catalonia Spain, is Europe's largest metropolis on the Mediterranean coast, and one of the world’s major global cities. Today, Barcelona balances itself on the cutting edge of architecture, intellectual life, and style. Indeed Barcelona won the 1999 RIBA Royal Gold Medal for its architecture, the first time that the winner has been a city, and not an individual architect. Read more about Barcelona, Spain

Alicante lies on the east coast of Spain and is Valencia region's second-largest city. Famous for its excellent weather and its long stretches of sandy beaches such as San Juan, thousands visit each year. Its most notable feature is undoubtedly the Castle of Santa Barbara situated on Mount Benacantil that dominates the city. Read more about Alicante, Spain

Gibraltar shares a northern border with Spain, but is a UK Overseas Territory located near the southernmost tip of the Iberian Peninsula, overlooking the Strait of Gibraltar. It has an area of 6 sq.km. and a 1.2 km border with Spain. Read more about Gibraltar, Spain

Cadiz is a city and port in SW Spain. It is the capital of Cadiz Province, an autonomous community of Andalusia. Due to its small size one is never more than a few blocks from the sea, and this engenders a safe, relaxed, and easy-going atmosphere. Read more about Cadiz, Spain

Africa’s second largest city and Morocco’s largest city and chief port, Casablanca (Portuguese for ‘white house’), is located on the Atlantic Ocean in the west of the country. The city has passed through Arab, Portuguese, Dutch and French control, and the famous 1942 film Casablanca reflects its colonial status in the 1940s. Today it is the largest city of the Maghreb (Barbary Coast), land of the Berbers and Moors. Read more about Casablanca, Morocco

Las Palmas, the ninth largest city of Spain, is situated on one of the smaller islands of the Canary Islands that are located just off the NW coast of mainland Africa. About twenty percent of all inhabitants of the entire group of islands live in this city. It is set in magnificent scenery of two bays and their beautiful beaches. Read more about Las Palmas, Spain

Funchal is the capital of Portugal’s Autonomous Region of Madeira an archipelago 880 SW of Portugal and 600 km NW of Morocco, in the north Atlantic. Funchal’s harbour offers plazas lined with shops, colourful houses spilling down hillsides, due to its almost amphitheatre-like formation, and a profusion of flowers. For a fine view of the magnificent bay, take the unique downhill basket sledge ride. Read more about Funchal (Madeira), Portugal

The largest town in the Portuguese Azores Islands and capital of the island Sao Miguel, Ponta Delgada is built on gently rising ground between green hills. With its many churches, its trim white houses and the lush gardens on its outskirts, it presents an attractive spectacle to visitors arriving by sea. The marina at Ponta Delgada also welcomes many yachts and private sailors from around the world. Read more about Ponta Delgada, Portugal

The largest town in the Portuguese Azores Islands and capital of the island Sao Miguel, Ponta Delgada is built on gently rising ground between green hills. With its many churches, its trim white houses and the lush gardens on its outskirts, it presents an attractive spectacle to visitors arriving by sea. The marina at Ponta Delgada also welcomes many yachts and private sailors from around the world. Read more about Ponta Delgada, Portugal

Boston is the capital and largest city in Massachusetts, USA. Calling this quaint and delightful city the 'Athens of America' might seem a bit pretentious, but the city's 19th-century glory radiates through its grand architecture, and its world-renowned academic and cultural institutions. Disastrous 'urban renewal' projects in the 1950s provoked such a furious backlash that Boston now has some of the best preserved historic buildings and neighbourhoods in the country. Read more about Boston, USA

Boston is the capital and largest city in Massachusetts, USA. Calling this quaint and delightful city the 'Athens of America' might seem a bit pretentious, but the city's 19th-century glory radiates through its grand architecture, and its world-renowned academic and cultural institutions. Disastrous 'urban renewal' projects in the 1950s provoked such a furious backlash that Boston now has some of the best preserved historic buildings and neighbourhoods in the country. Read more about Boston, USA

New York is situated on the Atlantic coast of NE United States. With its world-class museums, big statues, even bigger buildings and being the most linguistically diverse city in the world, the Big Apple’s hyperactive rush keeps drawing more and more people to it. The City of New York is a densely packed mass of humanity and all this living on top of one another makes the New Yorker a special kind of person. Read more about New York, USA