Port advice

[gmac123]

Hi,

 

This is only our 2nd cruise, so we are not so experienced.

 

We are on a bit tighter budget and so we are looking for ideas to do our own thing at the ports.

Ideally walking distance or a short taxi ride, not too far as I don't want the stress of worrying about traffic and getting back on time.

 

We are looking for, views, cafe areas to watch the world go by, church , historical buildings, relax beach or just soak up the atmosphere.

 

Gibraltar

Barcelona

Marseille

Livorna (due to the distances we might book an excursion, we have been Pisa and Florence before)

Alghero Sardina

Malaga

La Coruna

 

I have done a search found some goodish guides tomsportguides.com

But I have not found much for Algero, Malaga or La Coruna.

 

I was hoping you guys have a lot more experience so any thoughts on any of the above ports would be great.

 

As I said I am bit tighter on budget but want to make it special for my wife, who has had a bit of a rubbish year.

 

Thanks for your time and help,

alex

[cberge]

Hi,

 

This is only our 2nd cruise, so we are not so experienced.

 

We are on a bit tighter budget and so we are looking for ideas to do our own thing at the ports.

Ideally walking distance or a short taxi ride, not too far as I don't want the stress of worrying about traffic and getting back on time.

 

We are looking for, views, cafe areas to watch the world go by, church , historical buildings, relax beach or just soak up the atmosphere.

 

Gibraltar

Barcelona

Marseille

Livorna (due to the distances we might book an excursion, we have been Pisa and Florence before)

Alghero Sardina

Malaga

La Coruna

 

I have done a search found some goodish guides tomsportguides.com

But I have not found much for Algero, Malaga or La Coruna.

 

I was hoping you guys have a lot more experience so any thoughts on any of the above ports would be great.

 

As I said I am bit tighter on budget but want to make it special for my wife, who has had a bit of a rubbish year.

 

Thanks for your time and help,

alex

YOu have got to read through the pages on these boards for a start as there is a ton of info there,and use Google( for those you can't find info on) to see what your ports offer for info.You can really set your own budget,but always set aside extra for just in case.Malaga has some new info posted as to what is there anyou can do..the expence with this port is if you wanted to go to see the Alhambra which you would have to sign up for a tour or share with someone re private.Rick Steves Med. Guide book may be of help as well.

[LetsGoDutch]

Try tomsportguides dot com

[mom4mom]

Try going on the roll call for your ship and see what other people are doing. You might find a tour that you could join at a reasonable price. I think it was in Malaga that we took a Hop on Hop Of bus. Lots of cities have them. They are reasonable and give you an overview of the area.

[xxHadleyxx]

We are very budget minded in ports. We also often like to just sit in a cafe and soak in some ambiance, or go for a nice stroll through town, so maybe what We do in ports is good for what you want to do :p I'll post what that would be and if it gives you some ideas, great, and if not--no loss really.

 

Gibraltar It has been 6 years since we were there. What we did was walk from the ship to the cable car (a bit of a longish walk, but doable--we had an 8 year old, 10 year old and 70 year old with us and all were fine with it ;) ). We enjoyed seeing the changing of the guard and the cemetery along the way.

 

We then took the cable car up and explored. I don't recall the cost--a little pricey but doable, and I just couldn't see being in Gibraltar and not going to the top of the rock.

 

We walked down to the lower station, viewed the cave and took the cable car back down from there. Any food/drink we saw was very pricey, so we just waited and had a late lunch back on board.

 

 

Barcelona A port that I LOVE. Really love. There are so many options, and I am sure you have all kinds of ideas from reading online. We like walking, so if the weather is pleasant and not too sunny we will actually walk off the ship and go over the bridge on foot. It is a bit of walk to be starting with (20ish minutes) but the views are nice. Otherwise, public busses pick up right at the ship and go to the base of Las Ramblas for not too much money.

 

You can walk Las Ramblas (but be sure to get OFF of it and explore the Gothic Quarter too), take public transit up to Sagrada Familia (personally, we love to see it from the outside, but do not think it is worth the cost and time to tour the inside), take the bus to Parque Guell, etc. SOOOOO many choices.

 

Marseille We took the public bus (there was no free shuttle running when we were there, but we are now told there is some times) into

Jolliette (I think it was 1.50 Euro each way). From there, we had a lovely and reasonably price coffee at a cafe with nice, clean bathrooms, across from the bus stop, walked over to the Major Cathedral, which was very unique and lovely to see (from the outside, it was closed for renovations so we could not go in) and then walked on up the hill for views of the main cathedral (we chose not to take a second bus to that) and the small boats in the harbor.

 

We explored the market, which was in the square on Mondays (our port day) and had some wine back at that same cafe, while people watching, before taking the bus back to the ship. Full meals at the cafe were about 10-14 Euros and the food looked good--we almost had lunch out (but, as I said, we are cheap!).

 

There are several photos of our two days in Marseilles, and how the bus worked, etc here on my blog. These are from late May of this year:

 

http://hadleyswanderingsandramblings.blogspot.de/2013/06/a-pleasant-day-in-marseilles.html

 

http://hadleyswanderingsandramblings.blogspot.de/2013/06/marseilles-part-duex.html

 

Livorna Honestly, I mush prefer going to La Spezia. If we are stuck on a ship in Livorno, we make it a "day off" and stay on board. So, unless you want a down day I am not much help here.

 

Alghero Sardina Never been to this side of Sardinia sorry.

 

Malaga We found Malaga to be a very pleasant town to simply get off the ship and walk around with no real plan. The cafes along the water/pier are pricey and added extra charges for glasses, etc that were not listed on the menu--but the cafes we visited in town did not do that and had very good prices (we had sangria and soad about once an hour--there were so many pretty spots to sit and people watch). There is also what looked to be a nice beach (quite large, sandy) right near the ship as well. All was easily in walking distance.

 

 

La Coruna Never been.

[Courier95]

On our recent stop in Livorno, we took the port shuttle bus to Livorno centre and then used the HoHO bus which cost 12 euros per person. It is only a shortish route but we found it enjoyable. We really liked Terraza Mascagni an elegant seafront boulevard (pedestrianized). The views out to sea are lovely with benches to sit and admire the view or people watch. There are a couple of cafes just where the bus stops. There is also an interesting museum on the route that might appeal to you.

[wisteria1019]

Malaga is a very easy DIY port. Lovely open air international market and great tapas away from the more touristy areas.

Barcelona is a wonderful city to wander through - be sure to visit La Bouqueria on La Rambla.

 

We tend to seek out the local markets for a real flavour of any city that we visit. HOHO busses give a good, inexpensive overview to many cities without having to pay the price of admission to the local highlights.

 

Enjoy and hoping for a better year for the both of you!

Dawn

[gmac123]

Hi everyone,

 

Thank you for all your help and advice, toms port guides are very good. Thanks NHDisneylover for so much detail, the hop on and off buses sound like a good idea.

It has been very helpful.

[Mrs007]

If you are looking for a nice relaxing budget friendly day in Barcelona, take the ship shuttle to the Columbus Monument and stroll up Las Ramblas to La Bogueria, you could possible spend an hour or more there wondering around. Pick up some yummy things for a picnic and head to Parc de la Ciutadella. http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/Waterfall-and-lake/_3Ngb8YjSpL3U56ScBHOWcxpDev_Vr2xe1MyNO7l3pSr7epUdcggq6SoNI32lT7oa There is a lake there where you can rent a row boat (can't remember - 6 Euros?), row around the lake and then have a nice picnic enjoying the scenery and people watching.

[Bykrunski]

Great suggestion

 

If you are looking for a nice relaxing budget friendly day in Barcelona, take the ship shuttle to the Columbus Monument and stroll up Las Ramblas to La Bogueria, you could possible spend an hour or more there wondering around. Pick up some yummy things for a picnic and head to Parc de la Ciutadella. http://www.barcelonaturisme.com/Waterfall-and-lake/_3Ngb8YjSpL3U56ScBHOWcxpDev_Vr2xe1MyNO7l3pSr7epUdcggq6SoNI32lT7oa There is a lake there where you can rent a row boat (can't remember - 6 Euros?), row around the lake and then have a nice picnic enjoying the scenery and people watching.