Malaga to Lisbon small ship cruise
Highlights
Malaga | Nerja | Motril | Granada | Alhambra Palace | Tangier | Cadiz | Seville | Jerez | Huelva | Moguer | El Rabida | Portimao | Silves | LisbonDescription of Malaga to Lisbon small ship cruise
Discover the cities and natural beauty of southern Iberia on a Malaga to Lisbon small ship cruise. You’ll cruise quietly through the night and arrive each morning at a new destination – a leisurely way to explore the south of Spain and Portugal, with a stop off in Tangier, too, so you can experience Morocco. You’ll disembark each day to explore pretty towns and unforgettable sights, including the Alhambra Palace, with guided walking tours bringing the destinations to life.Sail from Malaga to the pretty towns of Nerja and Motril, before heading to Granada where you’ll visit the Alhambra but also tour the city, too. Nip over to Morocco for a day in Tangier, where you can visit the medina with a local guide, and tuck into some Moroccan cuisine. Cadiz, Seville and Jerez make a trio of treats on a single day – don’t forget to buy some sherry – and from here visit Huelva, a region soaked in Christopher Columbus history, as the great explorer set off for the new world from nearby Palos de la Frontera. From here, enjoy the rugged beauty of the Algarve coast, and visit Silves, with its Moorish castle and ancient bridge and cathedral, before finally sailing to Lisbon, where the tour ends.
Along the way, enjoy the region’s delicious food, relax and sunbathe on deck and learn more about this region’s long history. This is a small cruise ship, with 30–50 other passengers on board, and the cruising style is relaxed, with no formal dress code, just lots of fresh air, sea views and time to relax.
Travel Team
If you'd like to chat about this holiday or need help finding one we're very happy to help. The Travel Team.
01273 823 700 Calling from outside the UK? rosy@responsibletravel.comCheck dates
2022: 30 Jul, 27 Aug
Responsible tourism
As the pioneers of responsible tourism, we screen every trip so you can travel knowing your holiday will help support conservation and local people.

Travelling by small ship has a much lower impact on the environment and specifically, on the towns and rural areas that we visit. We are not impacting the local communities and countryside in the same way that large scale coach touring may.
Rubbish is segregated on board in food waste, paper, plastic, aluminium and glass. After, they are given to shore facilities where available. There is also a sewage treatment plant on board. Every passenger receives a water bottle to reduce plastic cups. In addition to water bottles the ships are equipped with FW evaporators (reverse osmosis systems) that produce fresh-potable water that is triple filtered.
Bio-degradable soaps are being used on our ships. We also follow the eco-friendly system for towels due to the amount of water used to wash towels that have only been used once is overwhelming. If passengers are happy to reuse their towel for another night they hang it up, if they would like to replace it stays on the floor.
The Impacts of this Trip
Compared to large ship, all-inclusive touring, small ship cruising gives many more opportunities for our clients’ money to be spent in local communities. We don’t include all meals so there will be opportunities on most days for passengers to experience local cuisine and dine in local establishments.
Our leaders are local so will be able to make recommendations spreading the business around in any town we visit at meal times. For example, on this trip we will tour the medina with a local guide, sip mint tea in a cafe in Hafa, and perhaps opt for a group lunch at a local restaurant to sample some of Morocco's finest. Stop in Jerez to sample some sherry, as this is the one and only home of this fortified, sweet yet often deliciously dry wine where none of the big ships visit. Out tour guides will be local and will also organize for home cooking activities in Morocco.
We have a Foundation which was set up to empower travellers to have a positive impact on the communities they visit. Our Foundation now supports over 50 local, grassroots projects around the world. Over the past 15 years, The Foundation has distributed over AU $5 million to projects tackling areas such as sustainable development, human rights, child protection, environmental conservation, wildlife protection, education and healthcare. While we do not visit a project during this trip, our Foundation supports a project in Morocco called Horizon Association. The project empowers individuals with disabilities in Morocco, providing medical assistance and vocational training so they can support themselves and thrive.


Travelling by small ship has a much lower impact on the environment and specifically, on the towns and rural areas that we visit. We are not impacting the local communities and countryside in the same way that large scale coach touring may.
Rubbish is segregated on board in food waste, paper, plastic, aluminium and glass. After, they are given to shore facilities where available. There is also a sewage treatment plant on board. Every passenger receives a water bottle to reduce plastic cups. In addition to water bottles the ships are equipped with FW evaporators (reverse osmosis systems) that produce fresh-potable water that is triple filtered.
Bio-degradable soaps are being used on our ships. We also follow the eco-friendly system for towels due to the amount of water used to wash towels that have only been used once is overwhelming. If passengers are happy to reuse their towel for another night they hang it up, if they would like to replace it stays on the floor.

The Impacts of this Trip
Compared to large ship, all-inclusive touring, small ship cruising gives many more opportunities for our clients’ money to be spent in local communities. We don’t include all meals so there will be opportunities on most days for passengers to experience local cuisine and dine in local establishments.
Our leaders are local so will be able to make recommendations spreading the business around in any town we visit at meal times. For example, on this trip we will tour the medina with a local guide, sip mint tea in a cafe in Hafa, and perhaps opt for a group lunch at a local restaurant to sample some of Morocco's finest. Stop in Jerez to sample some sherry, as this is the one and only home of this fortified, sweet yet often deliciously dry wine where none of the big ships visit. Out tour guides will be local and will also organize for home cooking activities in Morocco.
We have a Foundation which was set up to empower travellers to have a positive impact on the communities they visit. Our Foundation now supports over 50 local, grassroots projects around the world. Over the past 15 years, The Foundation has distributed over AU $5 million to projects tackling areas such as sustainable development, human rights, child protection, environmental conservation, wildlife protection, education and healthcare. While we do not visit a project during this trip, our Foundation supports a project in Morocco called Horizon Association. The project empowers individuals with disabilities in Morocco, providing medical assistance and vocational training so they can support themselves and thrive.

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