Cruise Aficionado

Hank, I would love your advice. Landing in two weeks in Nice (Villefranche). Any ideas how to get to Monte Carlo to take in those sites and visit some casinos? J

I enjoy monitoring this board and reading everyone's advice. A few years ago I used to contribute lots of help here for those who wanted advice on how to do any of the European ports on their own (we have been to most of these places multiple times). I stopped most of my help because I got tired of being flamed by others who insisted that the only way to do anything is on an organized tour (this is true for some folks). However, given the very high price of tours (the low value dollar does not help) I am surprised to see almost everyone resigned to tours. Western Europe is pretty easy to navigate on your own although it helps to do some homework. The advantage of being on your own is you avoid the "cattle like" mentality of some tours, get to do what you want when you want with who you want, and usually you will save money. In fact, on a 12 day Med cruise you can easily save over $1000 (or more) by doing things independent of tours. The down side of independent travel is that you do need to do your pre-trip homework,, but to some of us that is part of the fun. My main problem with most tours is that they try to crowd too much "touring" into a short period of time without giving you a chance to see the real Europe. A lot of the joy of visiting some cities (Rome, Paris, etc) is spending time at an outdoor cafe enjoying local cuisine, wine and people watching (this is how many Europeans enjoy themselves). Personally, when in Rome I would quickly give-up seeing some site in order to have time for lunch or a snack at one of the cafes in the Piazza Navona. But, I guess this is where the "different strokes for different folks" saying reigns surpreme.

 

Hank