hkto
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Posts posted by hkto
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Both Sintra and Cascais are reachable under 1 hr travel on public transit and cost couple of euros to get there. So why ship tour is necessary? Sintra got castles, 5 or 6 of them which are impossible to visit all in 1 day. Cascais is a pleasant seaside town without any major significant tourist attractions.
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Yes its possible to get to Camara on Funchal city bus #1 (Linha Verde), get off at Hotel Orka, go down and walk along the sea promenade. However that'll take long time, probably over 1 hr or more. City bus is slow and stops a lot but the advantage is seeing all big hotels along the way. IMHO there is not much to see in Camara, its claim to fame is multicoloured fishing boats, drying fish on the sticks and that W.Churchill painted it.
I've created a small album from my 2012 pixs https://picasaweb.google.com/104501985950388024465/Jan212016
Funchal proper has things to see like couple of nice municipal parks with exotic flowers, botanical gardens, Monte and market. All in walking distance from port except Monte.
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Yes, Rodoeste bus will get you there. All buses go from Avenida Do Mar near the waterfront, just different stops for different destinations. Taxi can be negotiated in advance, its not far may be 15-20 min away from waterfront so may be 30-40 euro for R/T.
However for short amount of time ship stops there I'd rather suggest to go on excursion where you'll see places that are not accessible by public transit and things beyond Funchal including overview of Camara Da Lobos, Cabo Girao, etc Try contacting madeirahappytours.com online and make some arrangements. They do inexpensive cruise tours all the time.
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Train goes via Pisa. Haven't been to Viareggio but my my understanding that most of the beach is not free and umbrella/chair fees quite steep.
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Can try shuttledirect.com (I used them once, pretty reliable) they quote 140€ for 12. Also http://www.booktaxibcn.com/ slightly cheaper quote 132€ for 12 pax bus. Frankly 3 cabs should be less. The approved port to airport fixed price is 39€ (T-4 rate) http://www.aeropuertobarcelona-elprat.com/ingl/barcelona_airport_taxis.htm The lines for taxi not necessarily long just depends, on timing (we didn't wait at all).
Also its hard to prebook pickup for specific time unless you take luggage down yourself and don't reply on port luggage carousels and cruise line approximate time slots. It takes around 10-15 min to get from ship to taxi stand on your own.
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Tickets ate explained here https://www.fgc.cat/eng/bitllets_oci_turisme.asp Cheapest tickets is COMBOS MONTSERRAT R/T TRAIN + RACK TRAIN zone 4 at 19.30 euro. Then they go up from there depending what one wants. Other tickets include funiculars in Monserat, lunch, etc.
Network map is here https://www.fgc.cat/eng/planol.asp Train is R5 to Manresa.Schedule is here https://www.fgc.cat/downloads/horaris/R5_Manresa_juliol2012.pdf
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There is luggage hold service in S.Lucia train station. Should be open at 6am already.
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Last time I was in SS I saw a group on a pintxos tour around San Telmo. Most bars were full and they couldn't get in. I am not sure what is the value added in the tour as pretty easy to order what one wants. Basically cold pintxos are laid out on the counter, hot ones and drinks - on the black board. Also for people who want to read up on choices and SS bars that serve them there is a website dedicated to it http://www.todopintxos.com/home/home.php has English version.
Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk
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Night trains serve useful purpose for some tourists. Advantages are getting two full days in both starting and ending locations and also saving 1 hotel night. There are lots of them all over Europe and they definitely have customers year after year.
As I said private compartments are fine, cheap seats are not for everyone with constant moving of people in cars and worrying about luggage.
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There are more than one option. HO-HO bus has 2 routes http://madrid.city-tour.com/en and assuming that you take red route the easiest way to connect to it is not by metro but by yellow 203 express airport bus to Plaza Cibeles.
Using metro can go to Plaza Espana but there is transfer required so I'd go with bus. Cost is approximately the same.
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Yes it a good train as long as the right seat is booked. Private 2 berth compartments are nice (Posto Doppio Intero), 2nd class seats - not so much
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My guess that will be no tours sold on the dock. If taxi drivers show up you can try to hire them for a day. Couldn't tell you what the cost is my guess anywhere from 300 to 400 euro per car for 8 hrs.
As far as public transit go you can check http://www.travelmar.it/ for Salerno-Positano ferry, SITA bus for Positano-Sorento and train Sorrento to Pompei http://www.eavsrl.it/web/sites/default/files/orariautomobilisti/Orario%20Sorrento_Napoli.pdf
Without dedicated transport that trip is very tight and probably not doable (takes 70 min from Salerno to Positano, 60 min to Sorrento and 30 min - to Pompei) and then back. It takes at least 2 hrs to do Pompei (that what guides sell but people tend to stay longer). Lots of official guides at the entrance, they go in groups of 10 which form quickly.
If you want to skip Positano SITA bus goes from Salerno to Sorrento directly
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At this day and age standalone GPS is an obsolete device but rental companies still manage to charge for it. Most cell phones and tablets (even cheap ones) have GPS built in. The best solution remains using live Google Maps (but that implies buying local SIM which is still way cheaper than paying for GPS to rental provider). Next best solution is to use offline maps. I use IGO for offline but live Google Maps is better because its aware of most sights, hotels & services so one doesn't even need to know addresses.
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Another way to check schedules is by using Google Maps. Can try his url
then click on Schedule Explorer and pick date & time. Apr 29 is not there but any Friday can be picked to see times.
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I agree, Michelin star restaurants are more like art, some like it and others - hate. Very few neutral reviews. But its definitely different experience as people want to try at least once. Some would say that is style over substance which is probably correct observation.
SS has lots of good restaurant for town of this size.
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Price is for tasting menu (which takes several hrs to consume) and not per entree. List of Michelin star rests in SS is http://www.sansebastianturismo.com/en/eat/michelin-stars
Mugaritz is #6 on top 50 in the world list, Arzak - 17th http://www.theworlds50best.com/list/1-50-winners#t1-10
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Trains go quite often. The reason Renfe is not showing is because it's A Coruna and not La Coruna (Departure from A Coruña, Arrival at Santiago De Compostela) I wouldn't bother buying them in advance any way but if you want buying time is around 60 day from departure so its too early for end of April.
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The best way is to go from dock to Florence & back without switching transport. Also most time efficient but of course not most cost effective.
Some options are:
a) Getting together with other people on roll call & try to book compete taxi that comes to the dock. I don't know what they charge for a day now but 300-350 euro per cab per day would be my guess. Some cabs are 4 seater sedans and some - 6 seater minivans.
b) Buy round trip bus transfer from dock to Florence that NCL may be selling. Goes and comes back to the dock. Again don't know the price, It was around $70 pp six years ago,
c) Use public transit. Cab to Livorno station, then local train to Florence with transfer in Pisa. R/T tickets can be bought from a vending machine (don't forget to stamp in yellow machine on platform otherwise you'll be fined). If cab to Livorno station is not around then port shuttle (not free) to Livorno, then bus to station (ticket in tobacco kiosk). Also as train goes through Pisa tower can be visited on the same ticket (its about 5 min walk from S.Rossore station)
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I don't know what costs are for organized tour but taxi+bus R/T+taxi probably will cost around minimum 100 euro per couple (50-60 for 4 taxis to/from port and to/from Alhambra + 50 for 2 R/T bus tixs). Plus Alhambra admission. There is a car rental right in port not cheap but convenient (70-100 per day) rentacarprima.com
I think timing is tight on public transit. 8 hr port stop is 7 hrs in best case unless ship docks early. At least 5 hrs in transit leaves very little for Alhambra. Frankly organized trips are also tight for time but they got extra 1-1.5 hrs because of direct trip.
Also can check http://www.spaindaytours.com/malaga-to-granada-shore-excursion.html but timing may not be right (they claim 8-9 hr tour) however claim is 100% on time to ship
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If its for day trip to just walk in Granada downtown its probably an overkill. Most tourists go to Alhambra on organized trips and do it much faster than on public transit. As far as just walking in centre of Granada I wouldn't make a special 2 hr o/w trip to do it.
As far as logistics are concerned Malaga bus station is about a mile from port building however some ships dock across (near the beach) and therefore trip to bus station becomes longer (may be 30-35 min). Can use google maps to see what I mean. Bus station in Granada is about 2 mi from either city hall or Alhambra. Rail station is closer.
Also ALSA does this route with frequent departures.
Malaga is definitely good place to spend a day from doing nothing on a beach (not that great) to seeing museums, eating & sightseeing.
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Buy the complete ticket (with 2 transfers) on trenitalia site. Its about 1.5 hrs to Rome, 3 hrs to Milan (on high speed train) & another 1 hr to Como. If you buy the combo ticket it shows all corrects transfers (1 in Roma Termini the other in Milan Centrale)
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For off line maps look for HERE maps. Its free and application is available for both ios and android but maps are quite large. Of course Google Maps are great also but online version needs data but apparently map subsets can be downloaded to a mobile device for offline use
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One of the better cards for multiple countries is Orange Espana SIM Mundo http://www.simmundo.es/ It allows 100 mb per day of roaming anywhere in EU for 1 euro. Can be bought in Spain or online http://simcard.spainsur.com/orange/11-orange-mundo-go-europe-3g-4g-internet-for-36-countries-in-europe-includes-10-credit.html
I suggest to get unlocked inexpensive Android phone. With data enabled SIM user can call free to North American #s using Google Hangouts or TextNow. Skype is 2c. Just remember to prefix all calls with +1+area+#. And be less dependent on hotel or public WiFi which is usually not that great.
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Very quiet with all stores and most restaurants closed. Churches are open of course. In season big port houses in Vila Nova de Gaia (on the other side of Douro river, across Ponte Luis bridge) are open but not sure about December. Public transit runs so its possible to get to centre from port. Not sure about HO-HO buses in December.
Lisbon
in Other Mediterranean and Black Sea Ports
Posted
Cascais train stops in Alcantara-Mar station in case your ship docks in Alcantara dock; no need to go back to Cais do Sodre. If it docks any where else then the best way is to start at Cais do Sodre.