Guide Books Specific to Med Cruising

I am looking for recommendations re guide books that are specific to Mediterranean cruising. Two that are available are: "Eyewitness Travel Guides-Cruise Guide to Europe & the Mediterranean", and "Mediterranean By Cruise Ship" (by Anne Vipond). I used Anne Vipond's book on an Alaskan cruise & really liked it, so may go with her book again.

Many of the travel books for the Med that are mentioned on other posts are very good, but I was looking for one geared towards cruisers. thanks,

Susan,

I purchased two books, the Anne Vipond one you mentioned, as well as "Cruising the Mediterranean: A Guide to the Ports of Call" (Hunter Travel Guides) by Larry Ludmer. I found the Anne Vipond book to be much more useful, especially in terms of the ports of call. Which is funny, because the name of the other book would indicate that IT would be the best! But the Larry Ludmer book didn't give nearly as many details that you need in the ports, although it does give helpful opinions about which ports are better for exploring on your own vs. with a tour.

The Anne Vipond book does give some great info and details on the ports, as well as a very nice section discussing the history and art of the Med. The first part of the book giving details on cruiselines, ships, itineraries etc. is pretty much useless if you've already chosen your cruise, but the rest of it is really good and useful.

In addition I've purchased a couple of guides specific to ports. Bruin Steve (whose opinion I always value and trust) recommended AAA's Spiral Guide to Barcelona, which I purchased, and it is really comprehensive and, I'm sure, will prove to be quite valuable. I also picked up Rick Steve's guidebook on Provence/French Riviera. I got it for only $6 because it's the 2004 edition, but I can't imagine things have changed THAT much in one year!

Good luck, and happy reading and cruising!

LeeAnne

Thanks LeeAnne, I've been enjoying Rick Steves books and videos from the library and they have a lot of good info. But with so many ports, I thought I might come across a book that condenses it all into one instead of taking one book for each country. I ordered both books that I mentioned earlier, & glad to hear that you liked Anne Vipond's book.

Yes, and I'll be bringing it along with me on my cruise...in just SIX WEEKS! I can't stand the anticipation... :D

When are you going?

LeeAnne

Has anyone used the Eyewitness Guide -Cruise Guide to Europe & the Med? I would really like a book that helps with private tours and not the ship's tours and gives information on taking trains, etc. from the ports into the cities, i.e. Rome & Athens. Read 1 review of Anne Vipond's Med by Cruise Ship that said it didn't help with anything but the ship's tours. Opinions PLEASE!!! Which one should I buy!!

Cathi, I'm also looking for info on touring on our own in the Med ports. I've ordered both books & they should be arriving next week, but also read the review saying that Anne Vipond's book didn't offer much help with independent tours, so that one may be going back to the store once it gets here.

I have been finding a lot of info on travelling from the port to the train station to the cities, i.e.Civitavecchia to Rome and Piraeus to Athens, by doing a Google search. There are some posts on Fodor's forum (which I found in my Google search). Plus many posts here.

LeeAnne, we are on the Millennium in September....how about you?

Susan, we are on the Millie in June so if you don't get specific info I will post what we find out after we get home. Are you going Barcelona to Venice or the other way around?

Hi,

I'll be on the Radisson Seven Seas Voyager in May, Funchal to Civitavecchia. Twelve ports in 12 days! Yikes!

To be honest, I haven't seen a book that gives much info about private tour guides. Every single thing I've learned about private guides, I got in here. I've since organized two private tours with other CC members that I met here, and due to that, the price is actually a nice savings over the ship tours, and we get all the benefits of doing what we want with a small group.

As Susan says, there are SO many posts in here that give such great info. Some of them might be pretty far back, but if you do a search on the ports I'm sure you'll find some good stuff. And of course, post your questions and you'll get lots of people happy to help!

LeeAnne

Susan, we are on the Millie in June so if you don't get specific info I will post what we find out after we get home. Are you going Barcelona to Venice or the other way around?

Cathi, we are doing Barcelona to Venice, how about you?

I'll look forward to hearing your comments once you return. I have one private tour arranged in Naples with 6 others from CC, hoping to rent cars in Livorno and Villefranche, and probably taking the train into Rome. No plans yet for Athens, and the other ports should be easy to explore on our own.

LeeAnne, wow I thought our cruise was port-intensive, but yours is even more so. But it will be an amazing 12 days!

Susan

Has anyone used the Eyewitness Guide -Cruise Guide to Europe & the Med? I would really like a book that helps with private tours and not the ship's tours and gives information on taking trains, etc. from the ports into the cities, i.e. Rome & Athens. Read 1 review of Anne Vipond's Med by Cruise Ship that said it didn't help with anything but the ship's tours. Opinions PLEASE!!! Which one should I buy!!

Cathi, "The Eyewitness Cruise Guide to Europe and the Med" arrived in today's mail, and it is not what I had hoped for, so it will be going back. It is a very brief overview of each port & since it includes ports all over Europe there is not a lot of space dedicated to any one region. No info on getting around - basically a little history, a very brief description of the highlights, some nice pictures, and a few other details. The only use I can see for this book is if you were trying to decide on an cruise itinerary and wanted a bit of info on the ports, to see if you might be interested in them. It doesn't seem to be worth the weight of carrying it around for the help that it would provide in each port.

Thanks for the info. Now we are down to 1! Anybody else have recommendations??

Susan - we are also doing Barcelona to Venice. We actually are flying into Madrid 4 days early and driving to Barcelona. A CC member put me on to a chain of hotels called Paradors. The are all converted castles, fortresses, convents, monastaries, etc. and they look absolutely marvelous!!! We have 4 of them booked so we will just wander from 1 to the other before boarding the ship. We are also booked to spend 2 nights in Venice before we come home. I have a bought a really good map of Spain and the Eyewitness Guide to Venice. But it sure would be nice to have a really good guide to the rest of ports on this trip.

Cathi, the Paradors hotels sound great...what a nice way to start your trip! We are going to do 2 nights in Barcelona at the Continental Palacete and then 1 in Venice at Sofitel.

I have been reading Rick Steves books - his Italy one covers all of the areas that we will be visiting. No info on getting to and from the ports, but lots of other great details. His videos and DVD's are also really interesting, esp. the one on Italy which covers everywhere that we will be going. Just watching it makes you feel like you are there!

FYI, Rick Steves also has info. on Athens and Santorini on his website, www.ricksteves.com/plan/destinations/greece/greece_menu.htm The Athens chapter specifically discusses how to get from Piraeus to Athens by metro.

Thanks Mark - lots of good info on that site!

Susan