Med medley

[hall4me]

Hi just wondering if anyone has done the med medley cruise we are going on june 1st on the dream . I wonder what like it will be its 2years since we were last on the ship . We will be doing the stay &cruise and staying at the Santa-Lucia hotel in palma-nova really looking forward to this if anyone has any

Excurtion tips for this would love to hear from you. Keith:cool:

[Dreamgirl1957]

Hi we are doing med medly on 19th oct ( with a stay after at Son Matias) .

I have seen quite a few posts on here about the tours and general advice on the ports, cant remember which thread at the min but will see if i can find it again and point you in the right direction! ;);)

[Dreamgirl1957]

Hi again hall4me, looked but cant find it, so annoying as so many comments on med medly and lots of advice. Only bit i can find is this : ;)

From :Ged1967

Don't book a Thomsons trip to Monaco. Just go to Villefranche rail station & buy a return. It's only a few €€. The trains run on time, to the minute! Then you can do as you please. This will be our third time to Villefranche/Monaco.

Wander the streets window shopping the designer boutiques then wander round the marina looking at the super rich yachts!

Sip a coffee in café de Paris. Then try you luck in the Monté Carlos casino. It cost 10€ to get in about 6 years ago + you'll need your passport.

I have never seen roulette tables so big! I like to try my luck on roulette but this was higher stakes, played very fast & completely in French! We went & played about 30€ each on the 1-armed bandits.

On our second visit they were setting up for the Monaco Grand Prix.

 

Writing all this has got me wishing it was sooner!!

Sure someone will see your post though and you will soon have loads of replys :):)

[Cymro1953]

Hi, we have been to most of the ports on your itinerary apart from Rapallo.

 

Livorno is the stop for Florence and Pisa Florence is lovely, the whole place is an outdoor museum. So much to see as you stroll around the city. But you'd need one of the Thomson excursions to get there.

 

We've also done the Thomson one called Puccini Lake and Pisa. This is a nice relaxing afternoon where you get to see the Leaning Tower from the outside and the main centre of Pisa and then a visit to Puccini's lakeside villa with a short cruise on the lake listen in to his music.

 

If you want a change from sightseeing you could try the Taste of Tuscany wine tasting. We did this and it's nice. First you get the usual tour of the vineyard and then They put the wine and bottles on the table with salami, breads and olives for you to enjoy. Great afternoon out.

 

Villefranche is a beautiful town nestling in a bay between Nice and Monaco. So you can go in either direction. We did the Monaco/ Monte Carlo excursion. I loved it as we were there just before the Monaco Grand Prix and they were just setting up the stands armco barriers etc. But wife not to impresssed, she thought Monte Carlo too built up and concrety. You can do either Nice or Monaco as a D.I.Y. by train from Villefranche. Only a short trip in either direction. If you want to stay just in town, on the headland opposite the harbour there is a villa to visit. The Villa Ephrussi de Rosthchild. It's like a National Trust house on steroids. It is an uphill walk though to get there. It might be easier to get a taxi up and walk back down to town Here's the link http://www.villa-ephrussi.com/en/prepare-your-visit

 

Toulon We did the Excursion to Casis. Another lovely small old fishing town. When we did it 2 years ago they took us up to the cliffs nearby for the views which were amazing then down by land train into the town. They make a lovely white wine that they sell in all the cafes. Very drinkable, even at 10a.m. :eek::D Well the guide said we had to try some

 

Barcelona is easy to D.I.Y The HOHO bus stops near the dockside and you can get to see the main sights with it. And have time to get off at the main ones Like Gaudi's cathedral etc. Then we got off at the Catalunya square stop when we'd done with it and had time to stroll down the top part of Las Ramblas then off through the old Gothic Quarter and came out at the sea front and strolled back along to the ship. Stopping of course for lunch and drinks on the way.

 

Hope this helps abit.

 

Berwyn

[CRUISIN LINDA]

 

Toulon We did the Excursion to Casis. Another lovely small old fishing town. When we did it 2 years ago they took us up to the cliffs nearby for the views which were amazing then down by land train into the town. They make a lovely white wine that they sell in all the cafes. Very drinkable, even at 10a.m. :eek::D Well the guide said we had to try some

 

 

.

 

Berwyn

 

Well you must do as the guide says, mustn't you Berwyn? :D:D:D

[hall4me]

Thanks for quick reply like the taste of Tuscany that appeals a lot I do fancy Monaco but I'm not sure my other half is keen .Been to Barcelona before so I know what we're doing their,Italy is the main attraction for me love all things Italian ,never been to Florence or Rapallo so looking forward to it . Keith

[campolady]

We did the Med Medley cruise in May - excellent itinerary.

 

We stayed in Livorno all morning - a surprisingly interesting place for a port - then did the half day Pisa and Tasting trip in the afternoon which was great value.

 

The only other Thomson trip we booked was to Cassis from Toulon - spectacular scenery and a lovely little harbour town. Highly recommended. After you have tried the White Wine already suggested, try the Rosé - palest Rosé we have ever had but absolutely delicious especially on a hot Summers day.

 

You will have a ball.

[Cymro1953]

Well you must do as the guide says, mustn't you Berwyn? :D:D:D

 

Of course Linda :D Hic!!

[kruzseeka]

Hi Keith,

 

We did this itinerary last year but I think the ports are a bit different but I'll post the review I did then and delete the bits you won't be interested in.

 

The Dream: Mediterranean Medley

Genoa (this stop was replaced with Rapallo the following week but the Portofino bit might be of interest to you as Genoa is close by and I think the excursions may be similar)

 

We elected to take the Thomson excursion to Portofino. It was a short ride (less than 30 minutes I’d say) to Santa Margherita which is a pleasant town on the coast although we mainly saw it from the coach as it was only a stopping off point where we caught a ferry to Portofino. There was plenty of space on the ferry and we got good coastal views on the way.

 

Portofino is a very pretty little town set in a cove with pastel coloured houses going up the cliffs and a harbour area where we docked. We walked up to the church on the promontory then explored the other side of the town where there were some touristy shops (quite expensive especially for water!).

 

We were a bit wary of the cost of drinks at the cafes on the harbour side but as we wanted to sit and relax and watch the world go by but checked out one or two (the ones right on the edge of the water going round to the end of the cove seemed fairly exclusive and expensive – you could tell by the orchids on the tables for decoration here!!!) but found that one at the harbour, overlooking the water was reasonable so we had a coffee there. It was a really enjoyable trip – we returned again via ferry and Santa Margherita and were back on board for lunch. In theory we would have had time to walk off into Genoa to have a little look there in the afternoon but as we had been previously and it was hot, elected to have a rest instead!!

 

Someone on board who was stopping on told me they had had a port change from Genoa to Rappallo (?) on their itinerary for this current week. I’ve Goggled it and it looks lovely – very like Portofino in which case it’s perhaps not worth getting a trip to Portofino if you get this alternative port on future sailings – you can get something similar for nothing!

Livorno

We did the Florence on Your Own trip. This gave us quite a lot of free time to have a leisurely stroll around, queued to get into the Duomo (moved quite quickly) and climbed the Campanile (well I gave up three quarters of the way up!). We also pottered around the Ponte Vecchio and around the markets and P. della Signoria where there are the outside sculptures near the Uffizzi Gallery. (Very long queues here – perhaps worth buying tickets on-line before you go if you want to go there.)

 

Someone asked the guide if there were any Department stores in Florence and she happened to mention that it had a nice roof terrace for lunches/drinks. We decided to try it (it is opposite the Piazza de la Rebuplica). The terrace is only small but the prices were very reasonable as compared with many cafes in Florence and it had the benefit of lovely views across to the Duomo.There were also free toilets in the store - worth knowing as public toilets are few and far between.

 

One word of warning about prices – our guide did warn us that the cost of meals was often advertised and may be quite reasonable but they don’t display drinks prices and they often fleece you for these. Also ice creams. I’m afraid we got stung with this paying 20E for two double scoop ice creams.:eek: They were lovely – but not worth that much! We did feel we’d been ripped off and that we should ahve known better – so do ask about charges before you order drinks etc.

 

Toulon

Our next port was supposed to be Sete but port problems meant we went to Toulon instead.

 

Having been to Toulon before we decided to go on an excursion. Toulon has a pleasant waterfront and some decent shopping but I think going on at least a half-day trip here is worth considering. Previously we did the half-day Cassis trip which we thought was really good – it’s a pretty fishing village – very touristy/café culture but much more interesting and attractive than Toulon imo.

 

So, this time we did the St Tropez and Port Grimaud whole day trip. St Tropez was not at all what I expected – interesting but having been once, I’m satisfied to have seen it and wouldn’t go back. We had a short walking tour before being given free time. Port Grimaud is an artificially constructed village build around canals with colourful houses bordering the waterways. It’s really very picturesque and most people expressed the view that they liked it better then St. Tropez. We had a 20 minute boat trip around the canals and plenty of free time to have a look round. It was a good trip and satisfied my curiosity about St. T and I liked Port Grimaud but on balance if I was advising someone who hadn’t done either excursion before I’d say that I prefer the Cassis option. (And it’s cheaper since it’s only a half day trip!)

 

Barcelona

We were berthed by the World Trade Centre which is a great position as you can just walk off and you’re practically at the bottom of Las Ramblas.

 

We love Barcelona and having been before decided we’d have limited objectives. I’d asked Destination Services if they had a map of the Metro and they looked it up on the Internet for me and printed one off. Good service! So we got the Metro – cheap, clean and efficient – to the nearest stop to Parc Guell (free entry). But there is some uphill walking involved to get to the park – perhaps 15 minutes (only the last bit up-hill). It is signed. Later we just wandered around soaking up the atmosphere. But be warned about prices here too. A small beer on Las Ramblas was 9.25 E each! We’d learned our lesson from Florence and asked before ordering – and didn’t stop there for a drink!

 

Thomson offered their own hop-on, hop-off bus service but it only went to three places – Parc Guell, the Sagrada Familia and Las Ramblas (I think they were the stops) but the city’s HoHo buses have much more comprehensive routes (3 different coloured ones) but your ticket allows you to get off and on any of them which seems a better option – except that depending on how busy the city is – there can be quite long queues sometimes for the buses or so we were told. I must say they were lined up where we came out of the terminal and didn’t seem too busy at all – but may have become so later in the day – perhaps others who have used them will be able to advise on how easy it is to get on and whether the Thomson alternative is worth it in comparison.

 

Florence is some distance from Livorno and although I believe it is possible to DiY I think you'd have to research the train times carefully and I beleive you have to change at Pisa so we've never risked doing it alone and gone for the Thomson On Your Own option. On another visit though we went to Pisa by train from Livorno and that was very easy and we found Pisa much more interesting and a rewarding excursin than we thought it would be. If you want more info on how to get to Pisa DiY let me know and I'll dig up the post I did on how we did it.

 

Toulon I'd definitely recommend the Cassis trip - the St Tropez was good but I liked Cassis better.

 

Monaco

Really easy to get from Villefranche to Monaco by train. You are tendered off at Villefranche (it's a lovely little town in it's own right) and then you walk to the right around the waterfront for 5/10 minutes and the station is across the road and elevated from the promenade level. (The ship's map will help but there is a tourist info office at the tender drop off too.)

 

Here is the site I used to check the timetable but it's a bit of a challenge if I remember - it's the Cannes-Monaco train if you can pull up a timetable - I did eventually but it didn't seem to recognise Villefranche sur Mer which is the station you would use. It won't throw up anything for too far in advance either.

 

http://www.raileurope.co.uk/default.aspx?tabid=101

 

They don't take long and are fairly frequent. I've found our ticket from last October and we paid 5.40E return - now I'm not sure whether that was for us both or each (it's a bit of a challenge it's in French! :o ) but it's very cheap compared with the cost of an organised trip.

 

As Berwyn has mentioned Villefranche is lovely to have a relaxing day and the Villa Ephrussi a real gem. We walked there and back.

 

And since you are doing a cruise and stay I'd recommend a DiY excursion on the train to Soller from Palma and stop off for an hour or two at Valldemosa on the way back - fantastic! Although perhaps you are already familiar with that one if you know Majorca but again if you are interested I can look up the buses and timetable if that will be of any help.

 

Enjoy! :)

[mtt]

we are doing this on oct 19th too

[hall4me]

Cheers for that we were in Palma-nova in October and missed out on the soller train but we will make sure not to miss again when we go back in mauy .Is it better to book locally or through Thomson

[campolady]

<<Cheers for that we were in Palma-nova in October and missed out on the soller train but we will make sure not to miss again when we go back in mauy .Is it better to book locally or through Thomson>>

 

Much cheaper to book Soller train through a local travel agent than with Thomson.

 

Cheapest option / best value by far - take the local bus to Palma (very frequent/cheap service from Palma Nova) and book the train yourself at the station; no need to book in advance. See http://www.trendesoller.com/en/cms.php for fares and timetable.

[kruzseeka]

Cheers for that we were in Palma-nova in October and missed out on the Soller train but we will make sure not to miss again when we go back in mauy .Is it better to book locally or through Thomson

 

 

I'd definitely go for a DiY approach - cheaper and allows you to plan your day to suit yourselves.

 

It might be worth checking out these sites though before you choose your day - it will tell you which ships are in port each day. If you find one with few or no cruise ships I would think the pressure on the Soller train will be less.

 

Cruise Timetables | Cruise Schedules | Cruise Ship Schedules

http://ports.cruisett.com/schedule/Spain/498-Palma_De_Mallorca

 

We’d done the Soller trip twice - first time we got off at Soller to look around - but there wasn't much there so I think you might just as well save yourself the time and get straight on the tram to the Port de soller (you see most of Soller on the way through on the tram - it goes down the main street).

 

To miss the crush on the train at 10 o/c (cruise ships tend to book this one) we got off the ship early (7.00) to get the early train. I'm not sure how easily you can get into the centre of Palma from your hotel but the train leaves from Pl. Espana. The Soller train station is on it’s own – not the main train station but on the same side of the road but separated by a road. The 8.00 train (10E each one way, 17E return) was almost empty so we could move around the carriage taking photos from both sides. It’s a beautiful journey through the mountains. I think though if the train were busier the better views are on the right hand side facing the way you are going although it varies as you go along.

 

When we got to Soller as I said, we got straight onto the tram (just outside the train station) down to the Port de Soller (4E each). We had a couple of hours there and a drink at one of the many cafes on the waterfront before going to catch the bus. The bus stop is on the road which runs along the back of the church. We caught the 12.00 one which takes 90 minutes to get back to Palma going along a fantastic coastal route with amazing views (like an excursion in its own right). After an hour we arrived at Valldemossa where we got off to explore.

 

What a fabulous place! We loved it. Cobbled streets, lovely bakeries, shops and cafes. Another time we think we’d go straight to Valldemossa from Palma and spend more time there and visit the monastery. After a couple of hours there we caught the 3pm-ish bus to Palma. What a great day.

 

campolady has given you the link for the train - here are some links to whet your appetite - it really is a fab day out.

 

Port de Soller: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=por...w=1280&bih=610

Valldemossa: http://www.google.co.uk/search?q=val...w=1280&bih=610

 

Hope you manage it - and enjoy it as much as we did! :)

[Dreamgirl1957]

Thanks for all that info Kruz seeka, we will definitely do the train now too in our second week during our stay, really helpful.

:):):)

 

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[kruzseeka]

Thanks for all that info Kruz seeka, we will definitely do the train now too in our second week during our stay, really helpful.

:):):)

 

Sent from my GT-I9300 using Tapatalk 2

 

 

You're welcome Dreamgirl. :) Pleased if it's of help.

 

I should have included this link too so you can pull up the bus timetable. It's the 210 service you need to get to Valldemosa - take care you don't get on the express as our friends did. The bus changed its number between coming in and leaving so check with the driver that it's going to Valldemossa!

 

This service doesn't look as frequent as in the summer - I'm sure they were more like hourly (except over lunchtime when there always seems to be a bigger gap) so I'd check that out again too before you leave.

 

http://www.tib.org/documents/10286/d7e2730b-c0ff-4acd-aad2-ed560a62a8a0

[Cymro1953]

Thanks for all that info Kruz seeka, we will definitely do the train now too in our second week during our stay, really helpful.

:):):)

 

 

Us too on changeover day. We're doing 2 weeks B2B. We've always wanted to go since we saw Alwyn Crawshaw, the artist, on ride on it in his TV series years ago.

 

Thanks Kruzseeka. :D

 

Berwyn

[kruzseeka]

Us too on changeover day. We're doing 2 weeks B2B. We've always wanted to go since we saw Alwyn Crawshaw, the artist, on ride on it in his TV series years ago.

 

Thanks Kruzseeka. :D

 

Berwyn

 

 

That's ideal Berwyn - you have plenty of time on change over day so no rush to get back.

 

We chose to get off early left the ship at 7.00 :eek: just so that we could get the 7.15 bus to the Pl Espanya and give us plenty of time to get the train about 8.00. We'd pretty well got the train to ourselves. But if you don't fancy such an early start I think the next one is about 10 but I'd advise you to get there on the early side to buy your ticket as that one does tend to have the cruise excursions so can be very busy.

 

You need to get the Linea 1 bus from the turning circle at the entrance to the port - there is a shelter but I've a feeling that buses leave for both directions from this stop so take care you get the one going in the direction of the Airport. You need to get off at Pl Espana and the station is across the road.

 

Here is the route of the L1 (sorry it's in Spanish - couldn't find a translation!) but you get on at the Port de Palma (Eustacio Maritima) - it follows the waterfront then turns left up then does a right round the back of the town to Pl Espanya. You'll be able to follow with your port map or better still pick up a tourist map the week before which actually shows the bus routes - you may get there early enough the week before to get one up.

 

http://www.emtpalma.es/EMTPalma/Front/lineas.es.svr?accion=entrada&cod_linea=1

 

Both the Port de soller and Valldemossa are lovely and the journey through the orange groves through the mountains nothing short of spectacular. I hope you and Delyth enjoy it - we've done it twice and I'd happily do it again.:)

[Cymro1953]

That's ideal Berwyn - you have plenty of time on change over day so no rush to get back.

 

We chose to get off early left the ship at 7.00 :eek: just so that we could get the 7.15 bus to the Pl Espanya and give us plenty of time to get the train about 8.00. We'd pretty well got the train to ourselves. But if you don't fancy such an early start I think the next one is about 10 but I'd advise you to get there on the early side to buy your ticket as that one does tend to have the cruise excursions so can be very busy.

 

You need to get the Linea 1 bus from the turning circle at the entrance to the port - there is a shelter but I've a feeling that buses leave for both directions from this stop so take care you get the one going in the direction of the Airport. You need to get off at Pl Espana and the station is across the road.

 

Here is the route of the L1 (sorry it's in Spanish - couldn't find a translation!) but you get on at the Port de Palma (Eustacio Maritima) - it follows the waterfront then turns left up then does a right round the back of the town to Pl Espanya. You'll be able to follow with your port map or better still pick up a tourist map the week before which actually shows the bus routes - you may get there early enough the week before to get one up.

 

http://www.emtpalma.es/EMTPalma/Front/lineas.es.svr?accion=entrada&cod_linea=1

 

Both the Port de soller and Valldemossa are lovely and the journey through the orange groves through the mountains nothing short of spectacular. I hope you and Delyth enjoy it - we've done it twice and I'd happily do it again.:)

 

thank you so much for that Kruzseeka. The map route link you gave me has a little Union Flag at the top left, just under where it says EMT in big letters. Click on it and hey presto it comes up in English :)

The flag is very small and you almost miss it, I only spotted it as I was looking for it as many of these sites have an English translation

Berwyn

[Dreamgirl1957]

I will print it all ready for Oct, thanks Kruzseeker again ;););)

 

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[kruzseeka]

thank you so much for that Kruzseeka. The map route link you gave me has a little Union Flag at the top left, just under where it says EMT in big letters. Click on it and hey presto it comes up in English :)

The flag is very small and you almost miss it, I only spotted it as I was looking for it as many of these sites have an English translation

Berwyn

 

 

Doh!!! :o Pleased you found it though - makes the navigation a bit easier! :)

[carolynne15]

hiya kruzeeka

 

Is it easy to get from livorono to pisa by train and apart from the tower what else is there to see there. we are not sure if we will catch the train to pisa or stay in livorno but have been told there's not a lot to see and do in livorno

 

thanks carolynne

[kruzseeka]

hiya kruzeeka

 

Is it easy to get from livorono to pisa by train and apart from the tower what else is there to see there. we are not sure if we will catch the train to pisa or stay in livorno but have been told there's not a lot to see and do in livorno

 

thanks carolynne

 

 

Hello Caroynne,

 

Here is a bit from a review I posted after we'd been to Pisa:

 

We went to Pisa from Livorno recently on the train - again quite convenient. Catch the No.1 bus from the square in the centre of Livorno (P.Grande) to the station. Look up the train schedules from the Trenitalia site before you go. We thought Pisa lovely - much more to it and much nicer than we had imagined. You can go by train to Florence but that isn't so easy as you have to change trains on most services - again check schedules on the train site to see if it's a 'goer'. We decided against trying to get to Florence by train previously and did the Thomson 'Florence on Your Own' trip - for convenience and peace of mind.

 

I think the berth at Livorno can vary - we walked into the square where you can get the bus to the station but I think there was a shuttle to the centre. It's a direct road up to the station about a mile and a half - you can't get lost and the trains are quite frequent and it only takes about a quarter of an hour to get to Pisa. This is the train site.

 

https://cart.italiarail.com/tickets/TrainSchedules.aspx?Aff=ITR&pd_id=4479

 

You could do with printing off a map of Pisa with you (we just copied a Google one) to find your way to Miracle Square from the station - it's perhaps about a mile but it's a flat easy walk.

 

Miracle Sqare is quite big with the Church, Baptistry, Tower and Cemetary (looks more like a monastery with arches and planted gardens inside) all on the same site. It's much more open than the area around the Duomo in Florence.

 

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=miracle+square+pisa+italy+pictures&ie=utf-8&oe=utf-8&aq=t&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&client=firefox-a

 

There are cafes around too. I think it's worth going in preference to hanging around Livorno which, as you say hasn't got too much to see.

[carolynne15]

Thank you Kruzeeka that is so helpfull :) x

[Dreamgirl1957]

Just read through this again, some fab advice and info, all printed off to take with me, big thanks to everyone :):):)

 

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[koromo1]

We did Rapallo in 2011 on the Dream. From the harbour you can get a return boat to Portofino and it cost about 10 Euros. They run back on fouth all day long. I think they also stop ant Santa Maria as well. The Thompson trip was about £35 each. Would do it again if we stop there.;)