Sailing in Europe tips?

[DeckieGirl89]

Looking to do a sailing holiday somewhere in Europe this Summer to escape COVID! Any tips on where to go and more specifically where has both good clean facilities and nice things to do/places to eat in harbour?

TIA.

[Dogscout]

Porto Montenegro is nice. Grand Harbour Malta is better. Greece passed me off, so I'll never rwcomend them. Ill be in Croatia in a few weeks, so we will see.

[Ded reckoner]

How much time do you have? What's your budget? Do you have any destination restrictions? How would you rank sailing experience against shore experience?

[boatman61]

Looking at the Green List I would suggest Palma de Mallorca.. your 80nm from Ibiza and just 25nm from Minorca.. all very nice islands though the sailing can suck with windless days, but plenty of places to hang out after a day on the water and with Minorca and Mallorca plenty of anchorages unless the buzz of the marina is more your style.
This also depends on how restrictive your charter is.. unless you tug a member based there..

[Chalifour]

Quite the contrary to a previous post, the Greek islands are fantastic! The Ionians from Corfu, the Dodecanese from either Rhodes or Kos, the Cyclades from Naxos or the Sporades and northern islands from Samos. Avoid Santorini unless by ferry from Ios. The Turkish coast from Bodhrum, Narmaris (SK-Yachting is quite reliable charter co) or Fethiye.

[chrisr]

imho the stockholm archipelago is one of the most underrated cruising areas in the world

you may only get a short - and comparatively cool - summer season, but it's pristine, quiet and so beautiful it takes your breath away

but i'm probably biased

cheers,

[Stewie12]

I would have to go along with the Balearic Islands of Mallorca and Ibiza. Palma de Mallorca is a fantastic old city with great food. Formentera to the east of Ibiza is a great anchorage with mud baths that you can float in.

[Flemming Torp]

As a Dane, having enjoyed sailing in Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, and Baltic states waters - The Baltic, for several years, it is hard not to recommend the wonderful archipelago along the Norwegian west coast and the Swedish east coast to Åland and Finland.
Many international sailors enjoy the waters around Denmark with many beautiful, idyllic, small islands - for example south of Funen, north of Germany ...
But the summer season is pretty short - July and August ...

In our primitive blog - https://flemmingtorp.blogspot.com/ - there are some photos from some of our summer holidays, that can give you an idea of what to expect, even without knowing the Danish language ... ...

[chrisr]

Originally Posted by Flemming Torp

As a Dane, having enjoyed sailing in Norwegian, Swedish, Finnish, and Baltic states waters - The Baltic, for several years, it is hard not to recommend the wonderful archipelago along the Norwegian west coast and the Swedish east coast to Åland and Finland.
Many international sailors enjoy the waters around Denmark with many beautiful, idyllic, small islands - for example south of Funen, north of Germany ...
But the summer season is pretty short - July and August ...

In our primitive blog - https://flemmingtorp.blogspot.com/ - there are some photos from some of our summer holidays, that can give you an idea of what to expect, even without knowing the Danish language ... ...

yep...aland is wonderful & the maritime museum there is not to be missed (one of the best in the world)

and we haven't even mentioned gotland yet !

go there !

cheers,

[jim King]

I also loved cruising in Greece and will be going back again this September. Great facilities, inexpensive and great dining, world heritage sights everywhere.
What's not to like?
Croatia also has great island hoping and world heritage sights.
If you are going to charter, be sure to bring your 104 or equivalent. They'll require it everywhere you charter in the med to be sure you meet their standards.

[A.Sailor]

Originally Posted by Chalifour

Quite the contrary to a previous post, the Greek islands are fantastic! The Ionians from Corfu, the Dodecanese from either Rhodes or Kos, the Cyclades from Naxos or the Sporades and northern islands from Samos. Avoid Santorini unless by ferry from Ios. The Turkish coast from Bodhrum, Narmaris (SK-Yachting is quite reliable charter co) or Fethiye.

[A.Sailor]

I will be there september as well. Where and when You start?

Originally Posted by jim King

I also loved cruising in Greece and will be going back again this September. Great facilities, inexpensive and great dining, world heritage sights everywhere.
What's not to like?
Croatia also has great island hoping and world heritage sights.
If you are going to charter, be sure to bring your 104 or equivalent. They'll require it everywhere you charter in the med to be sure you meet their standards.

[nightowle]

I've done bareboat sailing charters in Croatia and the Napoli coast of Italy. Both were marvelous. Each was distinctive in different ways. Better food in Italy, but Croatia has quite a few UNESCO heritage towns that are remarkable. The Italians working the marinas were far more friendly and helpful than those in Croatia. But it wouldn't stop me from going back to either place.

[A.Sailor]

Sicily and Eolian Islands! ...and Malta is not very far ��

[David B]

Originally Posted by DeckieGirl89

Looking to do a sailing holiday somewhere in Europe this Summer to escape COVID! Any tips on where to go and more specifically where has both good clean facilities and nice things to do/places to eat in harbour?

TIA.

Malta - amazing place.
Corfu - wonderful
Croatia - busy but old and interesting
South of France - good and varied
Corsica and Sardinia - great adventure and Bonifacio worth several days by itself
Venice - could spend weeks there (have done ....)
Sicily - mostly great