Best European ports to explore on own without a tour or a car

[Karysa]

Just wondering what European ports are great to just wander and explore after taking a bus or quick taxi to the town itself?

[Clarea]

Just wondering what European ports are great to just wander and explore after taking a bus or quick taxi to the town itself?

Barcelona is a great city to explore on your own. Very walkable, and an easy to use, extensive metro system.

[Keith1010]

There are so many and Europe is so extensive.

 

Lisbon

London

Dublin

Belfast

Rome

Barcelona

Monte Carlo

Bordeaux

Florence

Athens

 

And the list truly goes on and on and on.

 

Keith

[LHT28]

Europe is a huge area

care to narrow down your area of interest

 

some ports in Norway are easy to DIY

Netherlands

Denmark

 

Research it the key

[Karysa]

Barcelona is a great city to explore on your own. Very walkable, and an easy to use, extensive metro system.

 

Thanks and I heard the hop on hop on bus there is really good as well.

[Karysa]

Europe is a huge area

care to narrow down your area of interest

 

some ports in Norway are easy to DIY

Netherlands

Denmark

 

Research it the key

 

For me now it's for the med. :)

[CruiserBruce]

Agree with Keith, the list is very long, and the question a bit broad. Keith's list is a good one. MANY European ports can be easily accessible after public transit or taxi to a starting point.

 

Venice is very accessible by foot.

Edited February 27, 2016 by CruiserBruce

[teamflames]

Kotor, Dubrovnik

 

 

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[LHT28]

For me now it's for the med. :)

That narrows it down a bit :D

[Keith1010]

For me now it's for the med. :)

 

Many of the ports i mentioned are in the Med.

 

CruiserBruce added in a great one too.

 

There are just so many great ones.

 

Dubrovnik which was just mentioned.

Rhodes

Bordeaux

French Riviera ports

 

In most of these places we just walk. We take a few selected tours but mostly do them on our own.

 

I prefer the ones where you don't have a long ride from the port to the actual city.

 

Small towns are charming such as many in Italy.

 

Keith

[cruisemom42]

There are so many and Europe is so extensive.

 

Lisbon

London

Dublin

Belfast

Rome

Barcelona

Monte Carlo

Bordeaux

Florence

Athens

 

And the list truly goes on and on and on.

 

Keith

 

As Keith says, there are many. Virtually any city can be done this way if you take the time to figure it out.

 

I almost never take ship tours, I don't rent cars, and I rarely take private tours. My secret is public transportation.

 

If you are looking for places that are only a SHORT ride, I'd strike Rome and Florence off the list above. But honestly either one is quite easy -- just a longer trip there and back.

 

Other Med ports I'd consider easy to DIY:

 

Istanbul

Santorini

Mykonos

Iraklion (Heraklion)

Corfu

Naples (except for the Amalfi Coast)

Rhodes

Malta

Marseilles

Split

Dubrovnik

Edited February 27, 2016 by cruisemom42

[Karysa]

As Keith says, there are many. Virtually any city can be done this way if you take the time to figure it out.

 

I almost never take ship tours, I don't rent cars, and I rarely take private tours. My secret is public transportation.

 

If you are looking for places that are only a SHORT ride, I'd strike Rome and Florence off the list above. But honestly either one is quite easy -- just a longer trip there and back.

 

Other Med ports I'd consider easy to DIY:

 

Istanbul

Santorini

Mykonos

Iraklion (Heraklion)

Corfu

Naples (except for the Amalfi Coast)

Rhodes

Malta

Marseilles

Split

Dubrovnik

 

I agree with Santorini, Dubrovnik and Mykonos as I found those ports great DIY ports as well. Is Marseilles worthy of the visit? I was thinking to visit Cassis instead.

[Karysa]

Many of the ports i mentioned are in the Med.

 

CruiserBruce added in a great one too.

 

There are just so many great ones.

 

Dubrovnik which was just mentioned.

Rhodes

Bordeaux

French Riviera ports

 

In most of these places we just walk. We take a few selected tours but mostly do them on our own.

 

I prefer the ones where you don't have a long ride from the port to the actual city.

 

Small towns are charming such as many in Italy.

 

Keith

 

Valletta, Malta looks like it would be a nice town to stroll. Have you been there?

[Karysa]

That narrows it down a bit :D

 

The ones that I thought would be good on my cruise to DIY by way of walking or bus/taxi/train are Barcelona, Valletta in Malta, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and Rome where we are staying post cruise. Would you agree that these are good places without an organized tour of any kind or a car?

[LHT28]

The ones that I thought would be good on my cruise to DIY by way of walking or bus/taxi/train are Barcelona, Valletta in Malta, Palma de Mallorca, Spain, and Rome where we are staying post cruise. Would you agree that these are good places without an organized tour of any kind or a car?

Never been to those ports only Greece

Prefer northern Europe

[cruisemom42]

I agree with Santorini, Dubrovnik and Mykonos as I found those ports great DIY ports as well. Is Marseilles worthy of the visit? I was thinking to visit Cassis instead.

 

Depends what you're interested in. Marseilles isn't a "prettified" city. But one can certainly enjoy a day there. The old port area is nice, there are several interesting museums in the area, and I also really enjoyed the old cathedral (the one near the port with a Roman crypt, not the new one up on the hill...)

 

I can understand the pull of towns like Cassis though.

[Karysa]

Depends what you're interested in. Marseilles isn't a "prettified" city. But one can certainly enjoy a day there. The old port area is nice, there are several interesting museums in the area, and I also really enjoyed the old cathedral (the one near the port with a Roman crypt, not the new one up on the hill...)

 

I can understand the pull of towns like Cassis though.

 

i loved the pictures of Cassis. When I read threads about Marseilles it just seemed that people were suggesting other towns nearby were nicer and more interesting.

[Karysa]

Never been to those ports only Greece

Prefer northern Europe

 

Well I have convinced DH on an Alaskan cruise so perhaps Norway to see the Fjords will be a future cruise for us.

[Essiesmom]

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports. He is the expert on doing Europe on a budget, on your own. He tells you what there is to do in your ports in the time you have available, and how to do it on your own. What it should cost. Where the restrooms are, the wifi, etc. Gangway to gangway. His website has free audio tours for many cities that you can download to ipod/mp3 and maps to print out to accompany them. EM

Edited February 28, 2016 by Essiesmom

[teamflames]

On our cruise we did ville franc easy walking and then can or bus to Nice (Monaco was an option); florence was too far and I had been; Rome we used ship transport only tour and walked around by ourselves; Naples and Pompeii by ourselves easily; Venice by ourselves easily: Dubrovnik bus or taxi and then walk as its small; Kotor walk straight from ship and tiny

 

 

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[Hlitner]

There are literally dozens of towns/cities that meet the OPs criteria. In fact, we have an upcoming cruise with 30 European ports (and we do everything on our own) and are planning to use rental cars in only 2 of them. The OP might also want to add trains to the mix, since some ports (such as Civitavecchia to Rome) are easily down by inexpensive train. So lets run down just a few, Rome (train from Civitavecchia), Barcelona, Paris (train from Le Havre), Istanbul, Lisbon, anywhere along the French Riviera (via train or bus), Athens (train or bus from Pireaus), Dubrovnik, Oslo, Helsinki, Copenhagen, and many more.

 

Hank

Edited February 28, 2016 by Hlitner

[Karysa]

Get a copy of Rick Steves' Mediterranean Cruise Ports. He is the expert on doing Europe on a budget, on your own. He tells you what there is to do in your ports in the time you have available, and how to do it on your own. What it should cost. Where the restrooms are, the wifi, etc. Gangway to gangway. His website has free audio tours for many cities that you can download to ipod/mp3 and maps to print out to accompany them. EM

 

Great information. Thank you I will pick up the book. The audio tours sound like something we would definitely be interested in.

[Karysa]

Thanks for all the replies.

 

Trains are a good idea to in Europe. We did use them a lot while in Spain on vacation back in 2012.

[shipgeeks]

Our favorites: Naples, Messina, and Cagliari in Italy; Cartagena in Spain; Seyne Sur Mer in France (the port for Toulon if ship is large). All are very easily walkable from the ship, and all are very interesting without any tours.

Coming up soon for us: Malaga, Cadiz and Alicante. Our research indicates that they are also quite accessible from the ship, and worthwhile.

I agree with a previous poster that the Rick Steves book is a good reference.

What we like about all these places is that they are genuine towns with a history as a port, unlike so many places in the Caribbean and elsewhere.

[Karysa]

Our favorites: Naples, Messina, and Cagliari in Italy; Cartagena in Spain; Seyne Sur Mer in France (the port for Toulon if ship is large). All are very easily walkable from the ship, and all are very interesting without any tours.

Coming up soon for us: Malaga, Cadiz and Alicante. Our research indicates that they are also quite accessible from the ship, and worthwhile.

I agree with a previous poster that the Rick Steves book is a good reference.

What we like about all these places is that they are genuine towns with a history as a port, unlike so many places in the Caribbean and elsewhere.

 

I really liked Malaga. We went to the small Piccaso museum and saw the Alcazar and strolled the shops. It's a nice place to spend the day.

 

My sister told me that other than a famous clock that Messina was not where she would recommend to spend the day. She was going to give me the name of the tour company she used. I will need to do some research on that port. Perhaps we won't need to plan a tour.