How to pair the Med's finest coastline with Tuscany's lesser-known gems

Telegraph

4 days ago

Let's just say it wasn't your average Mr Whippy. This gelato came with a sheepish backstory – pecorino-flavoured, and salty. The cheese is everywhere in the little town of Pienza, famed for its pecorino as well as for being the perfectly proportioned Renaissance town.
And while I wasn't mad about the ice, the architecture was another thing altogether: pretty palazzos, an octagonal bell tower rising from the cathedral, and quaint alleys filled with the smell of fromaggio.
Back in the 15th century, Pope Pius II razed his unremarkable birthplace of Corsignano, enlisting the era's top talent to craft his 'ideal city'. It's perfect.
From the walls, Italy's Val d'Orcia rolls out below like the Tuscany of your imagination – cypress-lined lanes, hilltop towns in terracotta tones, abbeys and chapels folded into undulating vineyards and olive groves stretching to Monte Amiata, mainland Italy's highest (and mercifully extinct) volcano.
It's no surprise that both town and valley are UNESCO-listed. Or that Franco Zeffirelli filmed some of Romeo and Juliet in Pienza. If you're after brooding romance and real drama, this is the stage – one where you'll want to stay for a multi-act performance.
Fortunately, although I was visiting as part of a ship excursion, there was no sprint for the coach for a lengthy transfer back to the ship. This particular cruise add-on came with a bed in the picture itself, at Castello di Velona, a 1,000-year-old hilltop fortress where I could literally soak up the surrounding scenery from the outdoor thermal pools, heated to hot-bath temperature by the volcanic terrain.
My Tuscan sojourn was part of a new line of Abercrombie & Kent land extensions for passengers on Crystal cruises called 'By A&K', which I was the first journalist to try.
Our voyage had run from Spain's Tarragona to Rome; now I was finishing with a flourish on land, where I could gorge myself on truffles, pecorino cheese, Brunello wine, and those amazing vistas.
Other A&K bolt-ons are similarly alluring: depending on the cruise, you could tag on time in the Denali wilderness in Alaska, go tiger spotting and see the Taj Mahal in India, or marvel at the wildebeest migration in the Serengeti after docking in Mombasa.
It's a far cry from the frankly disappointing excursions I took in 2023 on the relaunched cruise line, which A&K had bought the year before, promising to be exceptional on both land and sea.
'It's taken this amount of time because you have to prebook all the top guides along with the best hotels and lodges,' Geoffrey Kent, A&K founder and chairman emeritus, told me on our voyage, adding that he'd originally been sceptical about cruising.
'I'm an adventure guy – I jump out of planes and helicopters and I dive, so I thought I'd get bored sitting on a big cruise ship,' he said. 'It's exactly the opposite. And it's very spoiling.'
He's not wrong. Crystal, now celebrating its 35th anniversary, leans into the traditions of old-school cruising. There's an art deco-style lounge for tea, dancing and cabaret, a teak promenade deck, a gym, spa, and suites with butler service. And there's oodles of space to be shared by a maximum of 606 guests, with nearly as many staff to look after them.
It's polished, calm, and makes a great base from which to explore the Med, whose scenic shores are delivered direct to your (very sizeable) balcony.
In Menorca's Mahón, we sailed into one of Europe's largest natural harbours, almost scraping the sides of the Isla del Rey (now home to a Hauser & Wirth gallery) and moored close enough to the distillery at Xoriguer to imagine a faint whiff of juniper.
I chose to explore the island by bike, cycling 25km as we passed through low-slung whitewashed villages with bougainvillaea-draped alleys, and up (with battery assistance) to a 14th-century watchtower at Sant Lluís. The narrow lanes, lined with dry stone walls, were blissfully quiet – just our cycling group, the sun, and one unbothered tortoise.
The exercise helped justify the food back on the ship. Crystal includes a handful of top restaurants in the price of the cruise, including the only Nobu at sea, where you can order black miso cod, wagyu, lobster tacos, and sake like it's going out of fashion. Drinks are also complimentary: cocktails, spirits and wine are all poured with enthusiasm.
More wine awaited at Italy's Cinque Terre. Our boat excursion skirted beneath the improbably stacked vineyards and pastel-coloured houses of the five former fishing villages clinging to the cliffs.
We squeezed in a stop in Vernazza for a climb to the old watchtower and enjoyed a glass of crisp Cinque Terre DOC in Riomaggiore, but I would have liked to linger longer on the rugged Ligurian coast.
That made our immersion in Tuscany's Val d'Orcia, a three-hour drive from the sights of Rome, even more special. Time slows right down in this valley. I spent four hours over lunch at Podere Il Casale without even trying, admiring the view and learning how to make cheese with Ulisse Branli, who long ago swapped his homeland of Switzerland for Tuscany.
'Thirty years ago, this valley was just for farmers,' he said. 'Then they filmed part of The English Patient at the monastery outside Pienza. Now people come here for the view and our farm-to-table food, including cheese.'
Of course, where there's cheese, there's wine. The medieval village of Montalcino is home to Brunello wine; there are even vines and a wine shop within the medieval fortress.
I sampled it instead at Podere Le Ripi, trying a handful of biodynamic wines alongside a delicious dinner in the brick winery, built in spiral formation with a roof akin to that of Rome's Panthéon.
Founded by Francesco Illy from the coffee clan, this vineyard comes with a terrace view that ought to have its own tasting notes. It's a place to sit and stare a while, not dash through.
But that's the point of A&K's new land adventures: to swap box-ticking for something slower, richer and more rooted, part of the perfect hybrid holiday where both land and sea get their moment in the sun.
It's the future of luxury cruising – and it has a glass of Brunello (not a pecorino-flavoured gelato) firmly in its hand.
Essentials
An eight-night cruise on Crystal Serenity costs from £3,800pp, all inclusive, plus flights. Including stops at Civitavecchia (Rome), Mahon and Porto Venere for the Cinque Terre, as well as Monaco for the Grand Prix.