In response to growing demand for short ‘taster’ cruises, tall ship sailing specialist Star Clippers has added new short break cruises in the Baltics for 2013, in addition to Mediterranean sailings during 2012, including a five-night mini-cruise from Athens to Malta this October for just £999 per person, including flights and transfers.

Departing Athens on October 20, the 170-passenger square rigger Star Clipper sails to the picturesque ports of Monemvasia and Pilos in Greece, both relatively untouched by tourism, followed by a day at sea in which to relax on the warm teak decks, enjoying the autumn sunshine. There’s a day in historic Syracuse, Sicily, before arriving in Malta on October 25.

“We find more and more guests who have perhaps already spent their main holiday on board one of our ships are treating themselves to a second mini-break with Star Clippers,” says Star Clippers’ UK general manager Fay McCormack. “And for first-time cruisers, often people who have seen and admired the ships in port, these shorter voyages are the perfect way to test out life on a magnificent sailing ship before committing to a longer voyage.”

The companies new shorter cruises in 2013 cost from £690 per person, cruise-only, for three nights on Star Flyer (a sister ship to the four-masted Star Clipper), including the `Sailing Parade’ tall ships festival in Hamburg, to £1,025 for a five-night sailing from Monaco to Rome on Star Clipper. Other mini-cruises depart from Venice and Rome, for three and four nights respectively, on the company’s flagship, the five-masted, 227-passenger Royal Clipper.