Set sail on an island-hopping cruise

Explore some of the world's most spectacular isles by boat, whether it's the Hebrides or the British Virgin Islands

Stop off at Virgin Gorda on a Caribbean cruise (Shutterstock)

On a round-Britain cruise I had been looking forward to the day of scenic cruising in the Hebrides, but when the day came I was disappointed. Encountering the Norwegian captain relaxing on deck (while his staff captain navigated the Minch) I pointed to the island we were passing slowly on the port side and asked him its name.

“It is the Hebrides,” he replied. “Yes, but what is the name of that island?” I pressed him. “There are many islands in the Hebrides, with many different names,” he said dismissively, making it plain that, along with most of the passengers, he wasn’t bothered whether it was North Uist or Skye, just somewhere between our last port of call in Orkney and the next, Liverpool.

My reaction was to book myself on board Hebridean Princess (hebridean.co.uk) as fast as I could. The former inter-island car ferry specialises in pottering through the Scottish Highlands and Western Islands from Oban and I spent a wonderful week never out of sight of land, anchoring in inlets overnight and going ashore, sometimes two islands in a day to visit castles, ruins and gardens and take hearty walks.

Some people choose a cruise for the variety of destinations. On most Mediterranean cruises you’ll dip into three or more countries in a week – Spain, France and Italy on Western Mediterranean itineraries, or Italy, Croatia, Greece and Turkey on the Eastern Mediterranean – but cruising can also be a relaxing way to explore one region or group of islands in more depth.

Celestyal Cruises (celestyalcruises.com) has two ships offering Aegean cruises of three, four or seven days from Athens and Istanbul, with a variety of itineraries that include islands such as Rhodes, Symi, Crete, Santorini, Chios and Mikonos plus Kusadasi, the Turkish port for the Ancient Greek city of Ephesus. Greek dancing, cooking and language lessons are offered on board and food and drink themed excursions ashore. Departures are from April to October with cruise-only fares starting at £275pp.

Celestyal Cruises offers Aegean itineraries

Star Flyer, with four masts and acres of white sails, spends five days in the British Virgin Islands, beloved of yachties but off-limits to larger cruise ships on an 11-night Treasure Islands cruise round trip from St Maarten that also includes St Kitts and St Barts. You can climb to the crow’s nest, help sail the ship and borrow kayaks and snorkels. Voyages departing on 4 December 2016, and 11 and 25 March 2017, start at £1,310pp for cruise only with Star Clippers (starclippers.co.uk).

The far flung and rarely visited Outer Seychelles, including the world’s largest coral atoll Aldabra, rich in bird life and Picard Island inhabited by thousands of tortoises, as well as the better known beauties Praslin, La Digue and Aride of the Inner Seychelles, are offered on one 14-day expedition cruise by Noble Caledonia (noble-caledonia.co.uk). Departure is on 6 December 2017. The cost, from £5,895pp, includes flights.