Roll Call: July 26-Whisper, Southampton- Lisbon

[SusanNJ]

Anyone joining us? Looking forward to stopping at the Guggenheim in Bilboa, as well as the overnight in Bordeaux.

[dusababy]

I did this last September for the second time and it is one of my favorite itineraries -- you'll have a wonderful time !!

[jpalbny]

We did a similar itinerary in Sept 2010 - London to Nice - fabulous trip! Don't know if you've been to either of the places you mentioned, but here's what I remember...

 

The Guggenheim is really easy to do on your own if you don't mind a little walking. The ship docks in Getxo, which is a fair bit downriver from Bilbao proper. The metro is reasonably close by (about a mile) and takes you right into the heart of the city. We took the metro to downtown, rented a car, and drove off into the countryside for the day - but when we got back we had extra time and wandered around the city for an hour before they captured us and made us go back to the ship...:( We did hear from others that the outside of the Guggenheim was more spectacular than its contents...

 

SS had a free shuttle as well which we used for the ride back, but it didn't start early enough for us in the morning. There was a helpful local rep on board first thing though, with nice maps and good advice.

 

Bordeaux overnight is great too - we rented from Hertz at the train station (which is a few tram stops from the dock, again an easy ride). Since we were there from 12N - 1PM, it was a 24-hour (1-day) rental, and we got two days of touring out of it. St-Emilion was wonderful and easy to do on your own, and the setting was gorgeous in the late afternoon with the bright autumn sun over the vineyards... There is parking right near the cruise ship dock for overnight, and next morning we visited Sauternes & Barsac. Now all this talk is making me crave the bottle of Sauternes that we brought back!

 

Enjoy it!