Pleas help! Mediterranean port excursion ideas

[azzy73]

Thank you everyone. I have booked two excursions so far. Both are with ItalyTours.EU. One is out of Livorno port to Florence and Pisa and other is out of Naples Port to Pompeii and Amalfi Coast. I have read good reviews on this company and it as fairly affordable. My thought is to do Cannes on our own. Still trying to decide on plan in Barcelona, Palma Majorca and our 3 days in Rome afte cruise.

[LuckyStar]

I am traveling to Rome in May and taking NCL 7 night Western Mediterranean cruise leaving from Civvitavecchia. It will be myself (44 y/o female) my 69 y/o mom and my 22 year old daughter traveling. It is our first cruise and first trip to Europe. I am completely overwhelmed by options for excursions at each port. I just know we want to see the highlights of each area but don’t want to spend a fortune. The cruise excursions are way too expensive. I want to keep it mid price range and skip anything not worth the money. Please help!

 

To me, Rome is very easy to do without a tour guide. The train is awesome as is the hop on hop off bus. You will do some walking, though. But it depends on how adventurous you feel. Hubby and I went to Rome and only hired a tour to see Vatican City skip the line. You see so much stuff by just walking.

[buggins0402]

FWIW, I would spend the money on a transfer from the airport and a transfer from the port to Rome. The train is tricky in Civitavecchia in that you have to go down and up steps for the platform. With luggage it can be a bit of a pain.

 

The next hardest port (one for which to spend excursion $$) is Naples, if you want to do the Amalfi. If you skip the Amalfi...as many have told you, it’s a cheaper DIY.

 

LIvorno is the next most difficult if you want to do Florence & Pisa (the whole thing can be done by train...but it takes some work).

 

Barcelona and Palma are easy DIY’s where you can save a bundle of money. Yes, one could do something other than seeing the town in the latter...but if you’ve never been, walking around Palma is a perfect easy port day. Cannes is an easy DIY if you stay in town and only slightly more difficult if you use the train to go farther afield (Nice). Or, for 2 euro you can hop the bus to Antibes and split the day between Cannes and Antibes. If your ship has a cheap transportation only excursion to St. Paul de Venice, you might consider that...it is the crown jewel of the area...it’s just difficult to get to by mass transportation. The same can be said for Eze...which is even farther from Cannes.

 

Some people like Monte Carlo...I don’t think it’s worth the trouble from Cannes. It is easy to get there by train however. Last year our ship ported there and I gave serious consideration to leaving for the better alternatives along the coast (we’ve done this area on a land trip, so are quite familiar with all the options). But, we just stuck it out in Monte Carlo, because it was easy and the cruise was port intensive. We used that day as down time. It was pleasant, we finally found the city’s charm...but, it’s still not our favorite.