AFTER A FAMILY WEDDING IN DEVON IN JANUARY, MY WIFE AND I AND A FEW OTHERS ARE THINKING OF A SEVEN-TEN NIGHT CRUISE AROUND SPAIN OR FRANCE ALTHOUGH I AM TOLD PARTS OF SPAIN VIRTUALLY CLOSE DOWN. WHAT CRUISE SITES CAN WE CONTACT? AFTER THE WEDDING, THE TRAIN RETURNS TO PADDINGTON WHERE WE MAY NEED TO OVERNIGHT BUT I UNDERSTAND FLIGHTS TO EUROPE FROM THE UK DEPART FROM GATWICK. WHAT'S THE BEST WAY TO GET THERE FROM PADDINGTON?
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D. STARR, EAGLE VALE
Even in January you can find plenty of cruises around the western Mediterranean, and within the seven to 10 day limit you're after. Search on Cruise Critic (cruisecritic.com.au) and you can find many choices from Norwegian Cruise Line, P&O, MSC and Costa. You could also contact Cruise Express (cruiseexpress.com.au) to find out more options. A typical itinerary might include stops at Barcelona, Malta, Palermo, Rome and Marseilles. While it's true that they'll have lost some of their summer vibrancy, these are all big cities and they don't close down in winter. On the upside, the ports will be far less crowded than they are in the warmer months, and crowded here means packed tight.
While some budget carriers do operate their European flights out of Gatwick you can find many direct flights departing Heathrow to southern European port cities such as Genoa, Rome, Barcelona and Marseilles. In that case you'd be fine to stay close to Paddington Station and take the express train to Heathrow.
