South American ports, which don't need excursions?

[bikeboy999]

Hello fellow cruisers,

We are heading to SA for a trip from BsAs to San Diego soon. And we are plotting our shore excursions. We are trying to find out which ports have an interesting city attached to the port, and not do any excursions. I think the Uruguay port city has a lot of postings about walking it on your own or doing a hop on hop off. What about others along the way, like Lima or the cities in Mexico.

 

Thanks

 

Brian

PS my fortune cookie the other night said from a Vietnamese pho place.

"you will step on the soil of many countries"

[Keith1010]

It would be very helpful if you list out all your ports.

 

For Lima I would highly recommend an excursions.

 

The port is located about one hour from Lima and the shuttle will not take you there.

 

We have visited there several times and love it so much but prefer to do private excursions.

 

Again, need more specifics on your ports.

 

Keith

[Northern Aurora]

I would also encourage the OP to list the ports on their particular cruise. And if they use the Cruise Critic search function they will locate a number of comments/reviews of the various ports.

[bikeboy999]

http://www.hollandamerica.com/find-cruise-vacation/CruiseDetails.action?webItineraryIdForAudit=S6S34W&fromSearchVacation=true&destList=SS&dateCode=3_2016&flexibleMonths=false&noOfFlexibleMonths=1&portCode=&shipCodeSearch=&voyageCode=X613B

 

 

I have used the search function but not a lot of comments regarding which ports are walkable and which require a long ride to town.

 

Brian

[4774Papa]

We have done two cruises involving SA and I would say very few ports are amenable to just walking in the city from the port.

 

Punta del Este, Uruguay is one exception. We took a great bicycle tour there, but you can DIY from the dock.

 

Valpariasio, Chile is usually the start or end port of a cruise, but if not, that city can be done from the port.

 

We found a great tour company out of Chile, SouthExcursions that had very reasonable rates for tours. I recommend doing guided tours. In the Around the Horn cruises, to see wildlife, you must leave the cities. In any event, the cities aren't much to see anyway.

 

Here are my reviews of both cruises.

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=248878

*

http://www.cruisecritic.com/memberreviews/memberreview.cfm?EntryID=94024

[mcmarya]

I have only done a few of those ports. You will be in town in Callao/Lima but not where you would want to be walking around as Callao is a dump. Definitely need tours there, especially since you will be there 3 days and there is so much to see. Unfortunately, you will be outside of town in Trujillo. There will probably be a shuttle offered for something like $20 (they will tell you there are no taxis but there were a few). We skipped that and got some others together for a van tour--with a full van, $15 each for transport to Chan Chan, the Square in Trujillo, and the Huaces del Sol y de La Luna. Admission fees/tours/tips were another $15 - $20 each. It was very worthwhile. Puerto Caldera/Puntarenas is tricky because sometimes they dock at Caldera and sometimes at Puntarenas--I think it depends on the tides. If you get Caldera, you can't even walk outside the port and it is an industrial port about 12 miles or km from town (can't remember which). There are craft shops inside the port building and very limited Wi-fi. If you dock in Puntarenas, you can walk around town and it is is somewhat interesting. There is a local market, including a fish market, a cathedral, some statues, internet cafe's, and a beach. So, you could get along without a tour there.

 

Puerto Chiapas is a really poor excuse for a port. At the port area, there is a bar with a pool, a port building where they have a native dancing show and shops and that's about it. Last time there we could not even get internet. You can see beaches across the way, but can't walk to them. They usually offer a shuttle to Tapachula, the nearest city for $10 (I think). There is not a lot there--a museum and a market. You can get a tour to Izapa, a very minor Mayan ruin, and the chocolate city for a demo. I think it was $30 or so for that.

 

There's plenty to do in Puerto Vallarta without a tour. The Walmart/Sam's and a mall are right across the street if you need them and you can take a local bus right outside the port for less than $1 one way to the center of town. You can walk, but it is a bit far and can be hot. Once in town there is plenty to see--the malecon has lots of artwork, there is a cathedral, lots of interesting things to see along the ocean. The Cabo San Lucas tenders take you right to town.

 

I'm really sorry I don't know about the other SA ports since we have not made it there yet.

[grmmybtty]

Montevideo - you can walk right into town. There is a food market a short walk from the ship. We share a great steak lunch there.

We did the same thing for Punta del Este. Great bike ride, saw the whole city.

Valparaiso - we booked a tour of Valparaiso with Ruta Valparaiso which included walking and various transportation options at a very good price, saw lots of street art, markets, and sights that you can't see on a bus tour.

I agree with the poster regarding the port of Chiapas. We took the shuttle into town - nothing much there.

Puerto Vallarta and Cabo are easily done on your own. Tours are much less expensive booked at the dock or via internet.

Most of the South American ports - Ushuaia, Puerto Arenas, Puerto Chacabuco cannot be done without a tour, but there are a lot of options available.

[Bobocasey]

For Lima check out Integrity Tourism and Transport, we used them and were extremely pleased with their communications and tour. They were the best tour company we have had in three trips to Lima.