Star Explorer: 24-Night SOUTHERN EUROPE

Bordeaux is one of France's great cities, a UNESCO-listed urban center on the Garonne River in southwestern France known worldwide for its wine but increasingly recognized for its architecture, food scene, and cultural institutions. The Bordeaux cruise port is unusual: ocean-going cruise ships dock at the industrial port facility at Le Verdon-sur-Mer at the mouth of the Gironde estuary, about 100 km from Bordeaux city center, or occasionally at Bassens or Pauillac closer to the city.

Porto is Portugal's second city, sitting on the steep banks of the Douro River near the Atlantic coast. Cruise ships dock at the port of Leixoes, an industrial harbor in the suburb of Matosinhos about 8 kilometers north of Porto's historic center.

Lisbon cruise port is one of the most atmospheric arrivals in Europe. Ships sail up the Tagus River past the 25 de Abril Bridge (a near-twin of San Francisco's Golden Gate) and the Christ the King statue, with the city rising up on seven hills to the north.

Tangier sits at the northwestern tip of Africa, where the Mediterranean meets the Atlantic and Morocco looks across the Strait of Gibraltar at Spain, just 14 km away. The city has about 1.

Cartagena is a historic port city of about 215,000 people on Spain's southeastern Mediterranean coast, in the Murcia region. Founded by the Carthaginians in 227 BC (as Carthago Nova), the city has been contested by Carthaginians, Romans, Moors, and Spanish kingdoms, and its layered history shows in the archaeological sites scattered through the compact center.

Valencia cruise port is Spain's third-largest cruise port (after Barcelona and Palma de Mallorca) and a rising star on Western Mediterranean itineraries. Valencia sits on the east coast of Spain about 350 kilometers south of Barcelona and 350 kilometers east of Madrid.

Barcelona cruise port is the busiest in the Mediterranean, handling millions of passengers a year across multiple terminals. The city behind it earns that traffic.

Monaco is a sovereign city-state on the French Riviera, just 2 square kilometers in size with about 39,000 residents, making it the second-smallest country in the world. Monte Carlo, its most famous district, is synonymous with wealth, casinos, and Formula 1 racing.

Cannes is a Mediterranean resort city of about 75,000 people on the French Riviera, known worldwide for its annual film festival but offering far more than red carpets and paparazzi. The city sits on the Golfe de la Napoule with the Esterel massif's red porphyry cliffs rising to the west and the rolling hills of Provence behind.