It’s the port that counts

French river port Avignon has been crowned the best cruise destination in the world. The pretty city in the heart of Provence scooped the Top-Rated Port Overall in Cruise Critic’s fourth annual Cruisers’ Choice Destination Awards.

Famous for the Palais des Papes, the largest Gothic palace in the world, the port is just an hour outside Marseille.

Meanwhile, Kirkwall, Orkney, secured the Top-Rated Port Award

for the British Isles as well as Western Europe for the first time.

A Unesco World Heritage site, it is the capital of the Orkney archipelago, a group of 70 islands north of the Scottish mainland.

The small island of Bora Bora, northwest of Tahiti in French Polynesia, stays popular with honeymooners and celebrities, taking Top-Rated Port in the South Pacific.

Glacier Bay is also still a hot favourite, winning the Top-Rated Port in Alaska for the fourth year in a row. And for the second year running the awards also acknowledged the best lines that visit these top-rated destinations, with Princess, Celebrity and Holland America taking three each.

Adam Coulter, UK Managing Editor, Cruise Critic, said: “Global holidaymakers continue to regard the opportunity to visit many destinations in one trip as one of the most compelling reasons to take a cruise, and destination choice consequently remains a key consideration when booking a cruise.” cruisecritic.co.uk

bestwestern.co.uk.

louvreabudhabi.ae

top of tHe docks Avignon takes first prize Best Western GB is serving up free breakfasts at selected hotels until September 30. Full English, homemade healthy options and regional specials – including Bury black pudding, hash browns, Liverpudlian eggs Benedict and the Taunton toastie – will be complimentary for guests who book before July 28 via Four ground-breaking new exhibitions launch at the Louvre Abu Dhabi from September to next April. The Changing Societies displays will explore the impact of art through history and include Rendezvous in Paris: Picasso, Chagall, Modigliani & Co, which looks at the Roaring Twenties, and a Charlie Chaplinthemed perspective of avantgarde artists. Admission is £13.20.