what is a good port to sail into for France/Monte Carlo?

[NalCruiser]

I have heard that the riviera is small and one can tour on their own quite a bit in one day and see many areas. That said ships dock in Marseilles, Monte Carlo, Toulon and so on. Are some ports better to dock in than others? Either for convenience, beauty of port, or anything else? I would ideally like to travel from the port and explore the areas. The itinerary I am looking at includes Toulon - is that a good port for this?

[6rugrats]

You found a cruise that stops at all three ports?

 

I would not want a stop at Toulon. It is just a naval port. You will have to do some traveling to get anywhere.

[NalCruiser]

Sorry, what I meant is ships in general dock in one or more of those areas. The itinerary I am looking at has some nice stops

Venice, Athens, Istanbul, Izmir, Mykonos, Naples, Livorno, Rome, but has Toulon in France for stop and ends in Barcelona

[6rugrats]

I guess it would depend on what you would like to see in Provence. Decide and then you can see what port would be best.

[luvtheships]

I have heard that the riviera is small and one can tour on their own quite a bit in one day and see many areas. That said ships dock in Marseilles, Monte Carlo, Toulon and so on. Are some ports better to dock in than others? Either for convenience, beauty of port, or anything else? I would ideally like to travel from the port and explore the areas. The itinerary I am looking at includes Toulon - is that a good port for this?

hilltop towns such as Eze or St Paul de vence will require a car for the most part...

you could train it to Nice and/or Monaco...but only if it is a full day stop...and I don't have a clue about the train schedules because my family did a private tour thur Dream Tours...safe..timely and convenient.

 

Not sure how far you will get if the baby iis in tow that day..but if it is just you and your family...do look into private tours and ship's tour...and compare the 2 for price..itin..etc...

 

While many here will say you can DIY..i.e. Do It Yourself..in this port and use public transport.....I will say that since you have posted that this is your first trip to Europe and are not well versed in the logistics..as we all were at one time;)...I truly think that you should be making your choices from the sensible standpoint..for you...and not from a financial standpoint.

 

My fear is that let's say in Rome...you may not realize that the Vatican and the Colesieum are far from one another....or that you need to validate a metro tix before you get on...or that you and your entourage may be preoccupied with the babe and may become the fodder for pickpockets....

 

Trust me..I am no naysayer and I do not believe the sky will ever fall in on us..and I believe we will all be here after December 21st....I am just getting from your posts that you may be a little concerned that you are a Europe novice...that this may be your only chance to see Europe:eek:..and that the baby will slow you down....

 

Of course...I believe that Europe should be seen with kids..however, the parents and the parents only should shoulder that responsibility in your case....and I believe to say "once in a lifetime" is sheer foolishness....I believe in bi-annual is more like it!!!:D:)...or maybe even semi-annual..but that is really pushing it....the 2nd vacation each year should be to a beach!

[aohkay]

Research, research, research. Look at maps, figure out what ports of call are really important to you and what sites are really important. Check Travel Advisor for reviews, check the reviews on CC. Go to the library and take out books.

 

And just you know, sometimes the itinerary will say Florence/ Pisa, the ship actually docks at Livorno.

 

IMO, the more work you put into researching the Med, the smoother the trip is going to go for you.

 

Also, you and your friends should fly in a day or two ahead of the cruise. This will help with jet lag.

[Hlitner]

IMHO Toulon is the worst port in southern France. When a couple of cruise lines started using Toulon (this is a recent thing) we wondered why? In that part of France the port of Marseille is a much better option. Monte Carlo is one of the better ports if you are one of the ships that docks (there are still a few that tender). Villefranche and Cannes are both in terrific locations (with easy access to cheap public transit) but are both tender ports. Some cruise ships do an awful job tendering their passengers (especially if you are not taking one of their horribly overpriced excrusions) so this is a potential downside. We know of cruises into those ports where some folks have not been able to get ashore for nearly 2 hours!

 

Hank

[NalCruiser]

Hmm, I'm dissappointed to hear that Toulon is not a favorable port, only because I finally felt like I finally found a great itinerary with Barcelona, Livorno, Rome, Athens, Naples for Pompei, Izmir for Ephesus, Istanbul, Mykonos and overnight in Venice - sounds so perfect. The french stop however is Toulon. It is just seems so very hard to find itineraries that include all the places I'd wish to see - many do the Venice to Barcelona route but very few include Istanbul.

 

luvtheships, I hear and agree with you. Since I can't tell my friends not to go I am just trying to continue planning things the way I would have with or without them and if they do end up on the trip with us, oh well. It would probably be better for my to have all my own plans/research in place regardless. I agree that bringing one so young on this type of trip isn't a wise thing, but unfortunately its not my decision to make. I think they would have been much better off doing the caribbean but I guess its their call.

[dritan]

Hey - that's a great itinerary - I've been dying to go on a cruise that includes Istanbul - so am really envious.

 

Sometimes you have to "take a hit" regarding an unfavourable port, if the rest are fantastic. Perhaps have a chilled out day. We're stopping in Cannes and to me, this is a dud. Just not into visiting expensive resorts (felt the same about Monaco as well) and will probably be too tired to catch a train along the coast.

 

So I would definitely go with your itinerary, and agree, plan your trips with you in mind. I'm a mum to two children under 4 and would hate the thought of cruising the Med with them at this age. God bless grandparents!

[Hlitner]

Perhaps I should have explained my negative comments about Toulon. The good news its a docking port which avoids the delays and hassles found at tender ports such as Cannes. But the bad news is the location. Toulon is just not as convenient as Marseille when it comes to accessing trains and roads. In fact, for those wanting to take a train up to Aix en Provence (or many other great spots in Provence) being at Toulon generally means going through Marseille (so why not dock there in the first place). As long time cruisers in the Med we understand that the cruise lines want to find new ports to add variety to their itineraries. But Toulon is simply a lousy option when compared to Marseille. That being said, for those who have no interest in going up to Provence....Toulon and its environ is a new place to see.

 

Hank

[NalCruiser]

can one perhaps rent a car or take a tour to see the provence without needing a train from there?

I'd love to see the provence or some of france, and definitely wanted a french port in there, but like it was said, yes its impossible to find the absolute "perfect" itinerary that includes absolutely every stop you want.

[aohkay]

How long are you in port for?

[numbersix]

can one perhaps rent a car or take a tour to see the provence without needing a train from there?

I'd love to see the provence or some of france, and definitely wanted a french port in there, but like it was said, yes its impossible to find the absolute "perfect" itinerary that includes absolutely every stop you want.

 

That looks like a great itinerary, btw, especially for a first-timer, and even better if you could tack on an extra day or two in each of Barcelona and Venice!

 

We don't mind Toulon at all, but having said that, we always rent a car and get out of town. We have always enjoyed our days here--we like the hill towns (Le Castellet is one of our favourites), and we enjoy Sanary-sur-Mer (small fishing/resort/port town), Cassis (stroll the harbour and side streets, many restaurants/cafes, nearby 'Calanques', fjord-like inlets), and Bandol (though it's a second -tier choice for us, as it's just a beachy--boating summer resort town).

 

If your itinerary says "Toulon", the bigger ships have been docking in La Seyne sur Mer, just on the west side of the bay (on which Toulon is situated), so, if you decide to rent a car (driving in France is easy--good roads/well signposted, but cars, as a rule, are manual transmission--if you need an automatic, be sure to reserve and expect to pay a bit more), make sure of the location. We have rented from Hertz, in Toulon itself, when we docked there, and from Europcar/National in La Seyne. They didn't deliver to the pier, but did reimburse our taxi fare to the office, and then cheerily dropped us back to the pier at days' end.

 

Some people drive to Aix-en-Provence or Avignon, but that seems to be a lot of road time, for my liking--better done on a land tour, IMO.

 

Any port is what you make it--we've never had a bad port day!

 

Bonne chance!

[ollienbertsmum]

Hmm, I'm dissappointed to hear that Toulon is not a favorable port, only because I finally felt like I finally found a great itinerary with Barcelona, Livorno, Rome, Athens, Naples for Pompei, Izmir for Ephesus, Istanbul, Mykonos and overnight in Venice - sounds so perfect. The french stop however is Toulon. It is just seems so very hard to find itineraries that include all the places I'd wish to see - many do the Venice to Barcelona route but very few include Istanbul.

unfortunately its not my decision to make. I think they would have been much better off doing the caribbean but I guess its their call.

 

You have a great itinerary there Toulon being the only murrrrr port amongst some gems. My advice would be to either make the most of diy in Toulon - and you will be able to do French shopping and eating, or google ship tour/ Toulon/port tour until you find a few guides and see what they offer.

 

Generally you will have a lot of homework to do unless you want to do ship tours. It will not be a cheap cruise - but you will have such a lot of wow moments. I collect postcards, I would be coming home with commercial quantities :D

[Baseball fan]

I was just in Nice. If you can get to their train station, it is really easy to catch a train to the east or west. I do remember seeing Toulon as a train station on the train schedule.

 

BTW, that is a great itinerary. I did something similar about 4 years ago.

[sunsetbeachgal]

Our last Med. Cruise the shop docked in Nice which was very convenient to get to Monte Carlo...