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Mediterranean Handbook - Ferry routes, islands and ports

Mediterranean Handbook - Ferry routes, islands and ports

Excerpt:
Introduction


Contents List | Introduction | Planning your trip | Using this guide | Route options | Sample Timetables


With two and a half million square kilometres of water, several major sub-seas and thousands of islands, not to mention thousands of kilometres of coastline, the Mediterranean is a world in itself. In terms of history, culture, art, science and just about every aspect of life, it's vast.

All the older European civilizations developed along its shores and the area was the cradle of religions and philosophy. Springing from ancient myths and legends the history of the Mediterranean is that of the individual countries bordering its shores and from their interaction, the one on the other, and later with adjacent other countries so that the whole has become the history of the Western World.

The sea itself provided the means by which its peoples made contact, usually in order to trade and discover but sometimes to try to conquer what lay on the other side of the water. Their sea routes were the links between places, peoples and hence their cultures; many still exist, the last visible survivors of those ancient patterns of communication which have often now been adopted by air travel routes.

But it is still possible to rediscover the magic of sea travel though in more comfort than those ancient mariners. Obviously shipping has changed since the Phoenicians sailed these routes and now, criss-crossing the Med are hundreds of ferries, hydrofoils and catamarans, most of which offer pleasant and relatively speedy ways of getting around. Capable of taking vehicles as well as passengers, they're generally inexpensive.

In this guide we've approached the subject first and foremost as what it is – a sea – and thus have concentrated not on whole countries but on the mainland and island ports, the main sights within easy reach of them, the ferry routes between these ports and the historical background that links them all together.

Mediterranean Handbook - Ferry routes, islands and ports

Excerpts: