marazul

The jousting festival takes place in August for the feast of Saint Louis. It lasts about a week. There are other occasions in the summer, usually for Bastille Day. It is a lot of fun. There is also jousting in other places, but the main site is Sete. Look for the Sete tourist board website to find more about it. They should also have the joutes (jousts) calendar.

@CCJack You can make it, but it is tight. It is a weekday and there is a lot of traffic in the morning. You should be at the airport by 8:30 if you leave at 7:45, but you must prebook transport otherwise you might be cutting it too close. George's Taxi is an excellent transfer company. taxigreece.com

@smurphette Carcassonne is a little bit closer to Port Vendres than to Sete. They are both lovely seaports. However, IMO there is a lot more to see and do in and around Sete. Take a look at other sightseeing opportunities out of each town and see if anything appeals to you more in one of the two.

For wine, order a carafe of house wine. Frequently the choice is just white or red. 😁 The wine will always be a decent or even very good wine. Local fare.

You decide. Here is the average water temps for September: https://www.seatemperature.org/europe/greece/mykonos-september.htm

Try the "multi-city" or open jaw first. It's a RT to and from different cities or countries. Have you used kayak.com or google Flights? https://www.google.com/travel/flights?tfs=CBwQARoVEgoyMDI0LTAxLTE3agcIARIDTVNQGhUSCjIwMjQtMDEtMjFyBwgBEgNNU1BAAUgBcAGCAQsI____________AZgBAw&tfu=KgA

Try doing a multi-city booking Minneaplolis to port and Barcelona to Minneapolis. If that doesn't work, book RT Barcelona to Minneapolis and back to BCN. The airline won't like that you aren't going back to Barcelona, but that works.

As soon as the reservations open. Go to their websire and see how far out they are letting you reserve. It was 60 days at one time.

Day 1 looks fine. You must reserve at Armando way ahead of time. There is no such thing as dropping by to see if they have a table. Day 2. Reserve the Vatican Museum on their website. https://tickets.museivaticani.va/home The time you go to the tour determines the time you get lunch. Pizzarium is fine, but there are many trattorias and pizza places that are very good. If you go to the Vatican in the morning you will have plenty of extra time in the afternoon for other things. For example, Castel Sant' Angelo. the Roman Forum, Capitoline Museum, Domus Aurea, Giudecca, etc., etc. Get a guide book. I haven't been to the Locanda, but I am sure it is fine. Day 3. After Trevi, continue on to Spanish steps and Piazza del Popolo. There is a lot to see in the area. Get a guide book. There is no Colosseum Museum. You visit "the" Colosseum and you must reserve ahead of time. Don't go back to the same places for dinner. Rome is full of wonderful places to eat. Look at the "Italy: All Things Food and Wine Related" thread pinned to the top of this forum. For example, try Roscioli Salumeria con Cucina not far from your hotel. It is wonderful. Reserve. Santorini - good decision Ephesus - you must go on a tour to the ruins and make sure it includes the "apartment" houses. Go to the "Other Mediterranean Ports" forum for lots of info. Staying at the port town (Kusadasi) would be a total waste of time. Mykonos - ok. Then town is very scenic. Consider going to Delos if you are interested in Greek history and mythology. Naples - three main choices: Pompeii, Capri or the Amalfi coast. It all depends on how much time you have in port and your interests. You can't see it all. Lots of info on this board. Are those all your ports?

Ooops.

The only hotel at the airport is a Sofitel. It is just a few steps across the street (or a walkway over the street) from the terminal. It has very good accommodations and a more than decent restaurant with a good breakfast. There are other hotels nearby that may have a shuttle to the airport. Cheaper, but not as convenient. Here is the Sofitel website: https://all.accor.com/hotel/3167/index.en.shtml?utm_campaign=seo+maps&utm_medium=seo+maps&utm_source=google+Maps We use George's Taxi whenever we are in Greece and they are excellent tour and/or transfer providers. We have done something similar to what you want. We arrived early afternoon at ATH and had an early morning departure the next day for an island. We left our bags at the hotel, had GT's pick us up and take an afternoon tour to Sounion and dinner at the beach, and back to the hotel. It worked perfectly. https://www.georgestaxi.com/ Get in touch with them and get a quote on a combination tour/transfer.

@Moon Orchid Good luck with planning Rome. Take control if you can. Here is a suggestion for ship excursions. As you know, when you are planning to book a ship's excursion or a shared independent excursion, each party has to make their own reservations. You should pick the excursion you want at each place. Then give "her" a printed list of the options at each place and tell her that they are welcome to book the same excursion that you have or to choose any other they like. In either case, you will meet afterwards at the ship for drinks and dinner. Leave it up to her and her clients to choose.

Agree. Versailles is practically a suburb of Paris. You may save a little time getting there since you would avoid the traffic in central Paris. Still, close to three hours each way. I am not sure there are direct trains from Le Havre to Versailles. You may have to transfer in Paris.

@martyap- Have you been the the Hospital de Sant Pau? It is an art Nouveau masterpiece by a contemporary of Gaudí. It is well worth a visit. https://santpaubarcelona.org/en/visites/ Another place would be the Palau Güell near the bottom of the Ramblas: https://inici.palauguell.cat/en/ If you don't have BDT take you to Montserrat, they could give you a tour of both those places if you don't want to do them on your own.

Hi @Hlitner, the OP only asked about taxis, so that is all I answered. The OP wants to be free to decide on the spot how long they stay. That doesn't work well with prearranged transportation or a tour, but it does work with renting a car as you said. (And Happy New Year!) @Karysa - We have stayed in Taormina and driven to Taormina. We have also taken taxis there, but our ship tenders to Giardini Naxos, just down the cliff from Taormina. There are plenty of taxis available at Taormina. The issue is the distance to Messina, not finding a taxi. As I said, the main pitfall using taxis is finding a willing driver and negotiating the price. Another pitfall is that once you are up in Taormina hiring a taxi to get back to the port, the drivers might really overcharge taking advantage of your situation. You have no other choice to get back and they know it. It may not happen, but it certainly could. You could rent a car which you don't seem to be interested in. If money is no object, you could have an open booking with a transfer or taxi company where you pay them by the hour to wait for you until you feel like getting back. So this is a situation where it may not pay to be spontaneous. It would be more practical to prebook private transportation or take the ship's bus, both with a set time to leave. I really doubt you will find anyone who has done the taxi thing you want on a cruise stop. Good luck.

Rome is expensive, especially after covid. Yes, that is about par for the location. And I do hope "she" doesn't read CC! 🤣🤣🤣

@Karysa There are plenty of taxis available at both places. However, it is a 40 mile drive and it could cost you about 70-80 euros each way. The driver has to return, so they might charge you extra. You have to find a willing driver and negotiate the price. Most ships offer a transportation only transfer to Taormina, or a walking tour with free time.

This is one of the booking platforms that small, independent hotels use to process their bookings. They are safe and reliable.

"Some" means enough to pay for your transportation to the hotel in case of emergency. The idea is to obtain euros at a bank ATM so you can get the best possible exchange rate. There are ATMs at the airport, terminal and all over the place. However, for your peace of mind, have enough to get to the hotel where they can direct you to the closest ATM if you need more. And use your credit card as often as you can, even for small purchases. Frankly, 100 euros is probably more than enough to have with you when you arrive. With 200 you could have enough left over to bring back on your next trip. Check the many threads here on exchange rates and ATMs, and on tipping. For example: https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2917954-euros-to-bring-along-on-a-cruise/#comment-64887196 https://boards.cruisecritic.com/topic/2909119-tipping-in-italy/#comment-64685924

Add if you can, but threedays at both ends is reasonable. A little more time in each will let you see much more and avoid time lost because of jetlag, flight times, etc.

I think Hoya meant renting a car at the falls to look around, not to drive there from BA. If Cataratas is not available, check on the Gran Melia. You won't be sorry you did. Instead of renting a car we hired a taxi driver to take us around.

We always try to use ATMs that are either in the lobby or outside the bank office. And preferably during office hours. If there are any problems the bank can help you out immediately. Also, these ATMs are the least likely to be compromised with a "skimmer." If using them at the airport, we try to find an ATM within the secure area, not out in the public concourse. Always have one person watching the other's back. And immediately stick the cash in a front pants pocket or a secure bag. Don't stand around in public arranging it in your wallet.

I don't use name brands either. They are a dead giveaway for a nervous tourist. I also attach my wallet with a strap inside an inside zipper pocket. That lets me use the wallet while it is still attached to the bag. The strap came from a Baggalini bag i once had.

It was a while back but yes, we went post-cruise. By all means, don't miss the Falls. We stayed at the Sheraton (now the Gran Melia Iguazu) at the park and walked the trails, took the boat under the falls (got soaked), saw wonderful scenery and animals.

Be aware that some of the pickpockets are children or young teens. We were outside the Uffizi when we saw two young girls carrying a baby approach two women ahead of us. The girl with the baby approached the women begging for money while the other girl opened the zipper of one of the women's handbag. We screamed at them and they ran away, but the woman's wallet was half way out of the purse. One more second and it would have been gone. Later that day we saw the girls and baby again walking around in the crowded San Marco market. They were still at "work." One small hint. Carry a purse with many inside zippers and carry your wallet inside one of the inside zippers. No need to make it easy for nimble-fingered pickpockets.