Corsica, Marseille and Malta - March 2026

I'm finally getting back to this blog. Arriving on an Iberia flight from Madrid, we had a couple of nights before departing on our Viking Saturn cruise. Once underway, our first port stop was Marseille, France.

Marseille: Our all-day bus excursion from the port brought us to the small village of Saint Remy de Provence. There, we had a guided walk through the cobblestone streets and some time to visit a few small bakeries, cafes and shops. We purchased some truffle flavored salt, tapenades and thin slabs of almond nougat. The next stop from the village was the psychiatric hospital that Van Gogh resided for a year. From the hospital, Van Gogh painted several of his well-known pieces, focusing on Iris flowers, olive orchards, blooming almond trees, and the hospital grounds and buildings. We were able to view similar, if not the same, views around the hospital that influenced these paintings. After our hospital visit (it is in operation today), we continued to Les Baux-de-Provence. We had lunch at Le Petit Rocher and time to explore the village for a short time. Les Baux-de-Provence was gifted by Louis XIII in 1642 to the Grimaldi family, in recognition of the Prince of Monaco's support of the French Crown.

Van Gogh's Bedroom

Rear of Hospital - Note Flowering Tree on Right

Corsica: Our morning walking excursion was in Ajaccio. The island of Corsica was the original residence of the Napoleon Bonaparte family. The family house is now a museum and we had time to enter and view the interior. Our tour led us past the former island fortress and a monument to Pascal Paoli, who wrote Corsica's first Constitution (1755), which influenced the content of the US Constitution. We learned that Corsica played an essential role in WW2. In 1943, it hosted and allied airbase that supported the Mediterranean war theater.

Our visit was on a Sunday and many shops and cafes were closed.   

Valleta and Malta: Our Viking Saturn stopped at the port of Valletta. From there, we had a private guide excursion of Valletta and an overnight at the Xara Palace hotel in Mdina. We opted to take advantage of the ship's overnight in Valleta and have the opportunity for to visit to Mdina and Rabat during the evening and morning - without the need to return to the ship at night.

Our guide arranged taxi support to make the best use of time. In Valletta, we toured the former harbor fortress, Parliament, Merchant streets, Knights of Malta auberges wharf area, Prime Minister's office, Upper Barrack Gardens, St.John's Cathedral and Hager Qim Archeological Park. We even had time to try a pastizzi (a baked pastry filled with Ricotta cheese).

At the end of our Valletta day tour, our guide and driver brought us to the Xara Palace hotel in Mdina. This hotel is a 17th century palazzo, originally built for the noble Moscati Pariso family. It is now a Relais and Chateau hotel, featuring baroque architecture, original beams and antique-filled rooms. The palazzo was acquired by Zammit Tabona in 1996 and restored and opened as a 17 room hotel. It is the only hotel located within the walls of Mdina.

After dinner, we took a stroll through Malta and enjoyed the evening lights and local preparation for Easter processions.

In the morning, we met our guide and had a walking tour of Rabat and a visit to St.Anton Park. We returned to the ship in plenty of time before our 2pm port departure to Tunisia.

View of Valletta from Arrival

 

St John's Cathedral, Valletta

Overlooking Interior of Zara Palace Hotel

Hotel Lobby

Hallway

Room Interior

St Anton Garden

Walking Entry to Malta

Malta at Night

Tunesia, Algeria and Morocco - March 2026

Tunesia: We had an all-day tour, starting at the Bardo Museum to view its many historic Carthage and Roman mosaics. Many of the mosaics were removed from the floors of archeological sites and mounted on the museum walls.We learned about the mythological and life symbolism depicted in the mosaics. 

From the museum, we had a short bus ride to the souks (market) area. Before giving us time to tour the area, we were warned to refrain from getting confused and lost in the wandering side paths from the main walkways. Heeding this warning, we limited our wandering to a rug store and 'window' shopping close to our meeting point. 

Leaving the souks, we were driven to a restaurant in La Goulette for lunch. Actually, lunch spots were somewhat limited as our visit was during the final week of Ramadan - where most residents and shop owners either close their shops or limit service to tourists.

After lunch, we reboarded our bus and were taken to the remaining structures of Carthage. It was challenging to understand the height and expanse of this area and only small pieces remain to be seen. Our final stop was a Roman Zaghuon Aqueduct, an 83 mile canal and storage structures running from the mountains to the city of Carthage. 

Algiers: We had an afternoon walking tour in Algiers. Frankly, tourism in the city (vs Sahara Desert) is still immature. It is very difficult (almost impossible) to arrange private guides and the independent tourist visas are very expensive for only a day. 

We had two stops on our tour, first the Botanical Garden Hamma, with its French and English sections. There weren't any meandering beautiful garden paths but large walkways along mature trees and bushes. Vehicle traffic through the central city was very heavy and our second stop was the Basilique de Nortre Dame le d'Afrique. Luckily, this was a Viking excursion as our bus returned to the ship past the 'all aboard' time. 

Casablanca, Morocco: We left the ship at 8:20 with a private driver and guide for a day tour of Casablanca. We met our guide at the UN Plaza, a short shuttle bus ride from the port. Our tour ran until 3:30pm, with stops and/or views at:

• Great Hassan II Mosque - This structure and grounds were amazing and beautiful. It is one of the largest mosques in the world. A maximum of 105,000 worshippers can gather at the mosque, with 25,000 in the mosque and 80,000 on the mosque's 22 acre grounds. 6,000 Moroccan artisans worked on the structure for five years The mosque was formally inaugurated in 1993.
• Corniche Seaside
• Working Class Housing, Bathhouse and Market - The high-rise residences were decorated with tall murals of cultural images.  
• Wealthy Residential Area
• Moroccan Restaurant for Lunch
• French-built Central City Area
• Medina Market
• Squala Fortifications
• Habous Market

If you travel during Ramadan, be aware that vehicle traffic grows starting at 3pm, as locals rush home to prepare family meals to be served after sunset. It is best to leave additional time to return to your cruise ship and avoid worrying about reaching the port before ship departure time.