Need info for Cannes

[gam888]

We are a family of 5 visiting Malaga, Cartagena, Vigo, Palma De Mallorca, Barcelona in Spain, and Gilbrata, Cannes and Lisbon during our cruise in June. I am searching for DIY tours information for these ports. I have been reading other posts and have learned that Malaga, Cartagena, Palma De Mallorca are walkabe cities, and some people say there is not much to do in Vigo. Has anyone hired any private tours companies or taken taxi tours for any of these ports, would you please share your experience with us and if you remember what the prices are for the tours. We have been to Barcelona before and have been to the Ramblas, the cathedral and the old quarter. This time we are thinking of seeing the waterfront area, or the mountain with the funicular? Is there a waterfront area with cafes and so on with a pretty view? What is the best way to get there?

For Cannes, we have been to Monaco, Nice, St Paul de Vence and Eze. So this time we thought we will stay close and just visit the town itself. There is the beach front at Cannes, is it a sandy beach or is it pebbles? Is is a public beach you can just pay for the chairs? We would like to have 2 stops during the whole cruise we can do a quick beach stop for an hour or so, just to relax and get some beach time. I heard there is a Samil beach near Vigo? Does any one have any suggestions where you would pick two beach spots during this cruise? For Lisbon we are thinking of hiring a tour company that would take us to Sintra to see one of the palaces, and the village. For Gibrltar, not sure if we should hire a tour company or is it easy to do it yourself to see the Rock, the apes, and so on? For Malaga, there is not enough time to spend the 4 hours round trip to go to Granada, so it would have to be seeing the city itself, I couldn't find any tour company that operates there, I could only find walking tours, so not sure if that means the city is small enough that we can just see all the sights by walking around ourselves. For Cartagena, I couldn't find any tour company there either. Is there a good beach near Palma De Mallorca that you can take a bus or taxi to from the city centre? Any info is great. Thank you in advance.

[Hlitner]

Lots of questions but we will confine our answer to only the Cannes topic. The beaches in Cannes are actually quite sandy and not the pebbly rocky beaches like you find in Nice. Within walking distance of the tender pier you essentially have two beach options. If you go towards your left (keep the water on your left) after leaving the tender area you will immediately come to a free sandy beach called Plage du Midi. If you want to go to the more famous La Croisette area you are going to find mostly private beaches mixed with a couple of public beaches. But these beaches tend to be more expensive for any kind of beach rentals. A nice thing about Cannes is that the beach area is very walkable so you can just stroll around in the morning, check out the situation (and prices) and make your decision.

 

There are also lots of eating venues in Cannes..so you will not go hungry or thirsty.

 

Hank

[kevinyork]

We are a family of 5 visiting Malaga, Cartagena, Vigo, Palma De Mallorca, Barcelona in Spain, and Gilbrata, Cannes and Lisbon during our cruise in June. I am searching for DIY tours information for these ports. I have been reading other posts and have learned that Malaga, Cartagena, Palma De Mallorca are walkabe cities, and some people say there is not much to do in Vigo. Has anyone hired any private tours companies or taken taxi tours for any of these ports, would you please share your experience with us and if you remember what the prices are for the tours. We have been to Barcelona before and have been to the Ramblas, the cathedral and the old quarter. This time we are thinking of seeing the waterfront area, or the mountain with the funicular? Is there a waterfront area with cafes and so on with a pretty view? What is the best way to get there?

For Cannes, we have been to Monaco, Nice, St Paul de Vence and Eze. So this time we thought we will stay close and just visit the town itself. There is the beach front at Cannes, is it a sandy beach or is it pebbles? Is is a public beach you can just pay for the chairs? We would like to have 2 stops during the whole cruise we can do a quick beach stop for an hour or so, just to relax and get some beach time. I heard there is a Samil beach near Vigo? Does any one have any suggestions where you would pick two beach spots during this cruise? For Lisbon we are thinking of hiring a tour company that would take us to Sintra to see one of the palaces, and the village. For Gibrltar, not sure if we should hire a tour company or is it easy to do it yourself to see the Rock, the apes, and so on? For Malaga, there is not enough time to spend the 4 hours round trip to go to Granada, so it would have to be seeing the city itself, I couldn't find any tour company that operates there, I could only find walking tours, so not sure if that means the city is small enough that we can just see all the sights by walking around ourselves. For Cartagena, I couldn't find any tour company there either. Is there a good beach near Palma De Mallorca that you can take a bus or taxi to from the city centre? Any info is great. Thank you in advance.

 

Wow, thats a lot of planning to do!

 

Will try and give some ideas.

 

Vigo-pretty uninspiring. If we went again we would try to get to Santiago De Compostela or use it as your beach day as Samil beach gets good reviews on Tripadvisor.

 

Malaga-we took a ships tour to The Alhambra which was excellent but 4 hours limits that. This year we have printed off a map and will wander the main sights.

 

Barcelona-perhaps head up to Parc Guell (designed by gaudi). Very unusual and great city views. Doable by Metro. There is a beach area with loads of cafes just the opposite side of the harbour to the cruise terminal. You can get the cable car to cross the harbour for a shortcut. We took the funicular but only the old fashioned one. We didnt go right to the top using the modern chairlifts as time was ticking.

 

Cannes- as per the post above.

 

Gibraltar- we planned to take the chairlift but it was closed due to wind. So we took a taxi tour. It was great value at £20 pp. This was a little less than those taxis waiting by the ship as we caught him in town but it would save the walk if you just got a taxi tour from the dock. Maybe get the taxi to drop you in town afterwards to walk down High Street for shopping or an inexpensive snack. We saw the apes, cave, tunnels and had great views from the top. The driver knew how to handle the apes and let us all pose with one on our shoulders (something you shoildnt do yourself). You wouldnt be able to see all this doing it yourself and its not a lot more than the cost of the chairlift itself.

 

Ive researched a Sintra and Cascais trip from Lisbon myself. Found a great deal with space-shuttle tours but I cannot recommend them as it hasnt happened yet but their price is excellent for a private tour.

 

I can recommend cruisingexcursions.com. We used them for a tour in Iceland and it was half the cost of the identical ships tour. If you put in your cruise it will come up with all the options in each port, even Malaga. You might not want to use them but it could give you some ideas.

 

Hope this helps.

 

 

 

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[Cornishpastyman1]

We are a family of 5 visiting Malaga, Cartagena, Vigo, Palma De Mallorca, Barcelona in Spain, and Gilbrata, Cannes and Lisbon during our cruise in June. I am searching for DIY tours information for these ports. Any info is great. Thank you in advance.

Hello

Somewhere in the link in my 'signature' below are videos of Cannes, Gibraltar (3) Lisbon (3), Santiago de Compostela (which I did from A Coruna but which you could do from Vigo, although it's quite a trip from there) and Barcelona (3), all done DIY. Since you asked about Cannes, Hank's beach sounds much better than the one on the Promenade de la Croisette.

 

Hope it all works out for you, Tony

[gam888]

Thank you everyone for your replies, they are all great information. Thanks Cornishpastyman1 for the link to your great videos, I am still in the process of viewing the ones on the ports that we will be visiting. You are so organized! They are great videos! Thanks again everyone!

[Cornishpastyman1]

Thank you everyone for your replies, they are all great information. Thanks Cornishpastyman1 for the link to your great videos, I am still in the process of viewing the ones on the ports that we will be visiting. You are so organized! They are great videos! Thanks again everyone!

Ha ! I'm not that organised, but unless I make these vids I forget where I've been, especially on cruises where we see so much in such a short time.