shore excursions for Adriatic Greece & Turkey?

[cookies62]

DH and I will be going May 15, 2010 on 7 day Adriatic Greece & Turkey. Does anyone have recommendations re: shore excursions ~ either "must do" or "save your time and $$"? We are limited to level 1 and perhaps level 2. Thanks for any input.

[wacopolumbo]

I would like to know too. We are taking the same cruise on 22 May.

[sunshine nana]

Check out the ports of call for Italy, Greece and other Med. Also check the rolls calls for your cruise plus the earlier cruises that have the same itineray.

[hamrag]

Can you be more specific as to ports and I will try and respond. We have cruised in that area a couple of times.

[cookies62]

Dubrovnik, Croatia; Athens (Piraeus), Greece; Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey; Nafplion, Greece

Thanks!

[cookies62]

would that be Waco as in TX?

[wacopolumbo]

would that be Waco as in TX?

 

No, but I get that alot. It was my given "callsign" when I was in an F-16 squadron in Utah. I got the callsign because I am a "gun guy."

 

I see no one had much to tell us on this, huh?

[calmac]

I would certainly have a look at the Ports of Call section here on CC.

 

In Izmir I would certainly highly recommend going to Ephesus. We went last year on an NCL tour but there are some private tours available too. Ephesus is one of the most amazing ancient sites I have ever visited.

[zqvol]

Dubrovnik, Croatia; Athens (Piraeus), Greece; Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey; Nafplion, Greece

Thanks!

 

At Izmir you have to go to Ephesus and make sure that you see the Terrace Houses. If possible try to see the House of the Virgin Mary too.

 

Athens, must see the Acropolis and the surrounding area.

 

BTW in both places you are better off with a private tour than a ships tour. Check the European Port of Call boards for some highly regard private tour operators.

[hamrag]

Dubrovnik, Croatia; Athens (Piraeus), Greece; Ephesus (Izmir), Turkey; Nafplion, Greece

Thanks!

Dubrovnik is a beautiful walled city, and very easy to explore at leisure. You will either be tendered into the city marina area, right in the centre or if docked then shuttled to the centre.

 

Athens - if you are comfortable with DIY touring, best to get train from Piraeos into Athens and take the HOHO bus tour. For the Parthenon/Acropolis you may have difficulty accessing as it is extremely steep, but you will get a fairly close view on the bus if you do not get off there.

 

Ephesus is a must do.

 

Nafplion - never been there.

 

If you decide to do guided tours, an option that many take is to organise a group tour with fellow roll-call members. Presumably you are aware of the roll-call for your cruise?

[sjbdtz]

Level 1 / Level 2 will be challenging in some of these destinations.

 

The Acropolis, as you can imagine....is on a big hill.

 

In Ephesus, the streets are cobblestone

 

In Dubrovnik, you can admire the town, but it's VERY small..... the marble street is so old and worn so smooth, that we actually walked it barefoot! BUT...if you can get up the VERY NARROW staircases, walking around the top of the wall is spectacular.

 

There's a link to my photo albums in my signature below which should help you assess which of these options may be feasible.

[maryann ns]

You will want a guided tour in Ephesus, and probably Nafplion if you wish to go to Mycenae and/or Epidaurus. You could also have a lovely time just strolling the town of Nafplion if you prefer.

 

Athens and Dubrovnik can be done on your own. However if mobility is an issue, you may want a driver, being aware that a driver cannot take you into the old city of Dubrovnik or to the Acropolis in Athens.

[aam3]

Dubrovnik - wander around the old part of town then take the cable car up to the top of Srd Mountain. We walked to the cable car but you may want to take a taxi as it is uphill. We also walked half of the wall. If you can do a flight of stairs, I would highly recommend walking the side of the wall along the coast. Tickets must be purcahsed in Croatian money, or by credit card. Euros were accepted for everything else.

 

Athens - we did a private tour of the Acropolis Museum, the Acropolis and a city tour. We arranged it with a group of 12 from our roll call and we ended up paying about 60euros per person. I believe that it is possible to enter the Acropolis from the top, in which case you wouldn't have to do the long hike up the hill. If you aren't able to manage the Acropolis, visit the Acropolis Museum and the Temple of Zeus, which is very easy to walk around.

 

Izmir - we did a private tour with Ephesus Shuttle. I would HIGHLY reccommend them. There is quite a bit of walking in Ephesus, but it is not difficult terrain. There are, however, lots of stairs in the Terrace Houses. We also visited a carpet factory, a leather factory, the Temple of Artemis and had lunch in Sirince Village on our tour. We paid around $90US per person.

 

Haven't been to Nafpilon (or even heard of it!)

 

Whatever you do, do NOT do a ship tour! We saw so many ship tours in both Athens and Ephesus and they just didn't look like they were having the same experience as we were.