9 Night Cruise sailing from Rome to Athens aboard Silver Wind.

Silver Wind, launched in 1995, was the second ship introduced by Silversea. Much like its sister ship, Silver Cloud, the Wind is a shining example of intimate Italian cruising. Fewer guests, combined with more space and Silversea's signature six-star personalised service make for the ultimate sailing experience. This elite vessel is as a grand hotel, as gracious as a long-time friends' home. Each all ocean-view suite provides a sumptuous retreat. Each public space is intimate yet inviting. It's a warm feeling of home upon the seas of the earth.

Aboard Silver Wind you will find a most accommodating place to view our world. Whether it's delicious onboard diversions, world-class cuisine, memorable dining venues or staying connected from anywhere, Silversea's impeccable standards apply to every detail of your voyage.

Highlights of this cruise:

Rome
Rome is a heady blend of artistic and architectural masterpieces, classical ruins, and extravagant baroque churches and piazzas. The city's 2,700-year history is on display wherever you look; the ancient rubs shoulders with the medieval, the modern runs into the Renaissance, and the result is a bustling open-air museum. Julius Caesar and Nero, the Vandals and the Popes, Raphael and Caravaggio, Napoleon and Mussolini are among the countless luminaries who have left a mark on the city. Today Rome's formidable legacy is kept alive by its people, their history knit into the fabric of their everyday lives. Raphaelesque teenage girls zip through traffic on their motorini; priests in flowing robes stride through medieval piazzas talking on cell phones. Modern Rome has one foot in the past, one in the present-a fascinating stance that allows you to tip back an espresso in a square designed by Bernini, then hop on the metro to your next attraction.

Trapani
Trapani, the most important town on Sicily's west coast, lies below the headland of Mount Erice and offers stunning views of the Egadi Islands on a clear day. Trapani's Old District occupies a scimitarshaped promontory between the open sea on the north and the salt marshes to the south. The ancient industry of extracting salt from the marshes has recently been revived, and it is documented in the Museo delle Saline.

In addition to the salt marshes,Trapani's other interesting environs include the beautiful little hill town of Erice, the promontory of Capo San Vito stretching north beyond the splendid headland of Monte Cofano, the lovely island of Motya and the town of Marsala. Trips farther afield will take you to the magnificent site of Segesta or the Egadi Islands, reached by boat or hydrofoil from Trapani Port.

Valletta
Hulking megalithic temples, ornate baroque churches, narrow old-world streets, and hilltop citadels are Malta's human legacy. Dizzying limestone cliffs, sparkling seas, and charming rural landscapes make up its natural beauty. In its 7,000 years of human habitation, Malta has been overrun by every major Mediterranean power: Phoenicians, Carthaginians, Romans, Byzantines, and Arabs; Normans, Swabians, Angevins, Aragonese, and the Knights of the Order of St. John of Jerusalem; the French, the British, and now tourists. The islands' history with the Knights of the Order of St. John has given them their lasting character. In 1565, when the forces of Süleyman the Magnificent laid siege here, with the faithful backing of the Maltese, the Knights sent the Turks packing. The Germans and Italians tried to take it in World War II-their air raids were devastating-but could not. The handsome limestone buildings and fortifications that the wealthy Knights left behind are all around the islands.

Athens
If you come to Athens in search of gleaming white temples, you may be aghast to find that much of the city has melded into what appears to be a viscous concrete mass. Amid the sprawl and squalor, though, the ancient city gives up its treasures. Lift your eyes 200 feet above the city to the Parthenon, and you behold architectural perfection that has not been surpassed in 2,500 years. Today this shrine of classical form, this symbol of Western civilization and political thought, dominates a 21st-century boomtown. To experience Athens fully is to understand the essence of Greece: tradition juxtaposed with a modernity that the ancients would strain to recognize but would heartily endorse. Ancient Athens is certainly the lure for the millions of visitors to the city, but since the late 1990s, inspired by the 2004 Olympics, the people have gone far toward transforming Athens into a sparkling modern metropolis.