Don't be afraid to try things on your own!

[TLCOhio]

Terry, I am usually too lazy to post trip reports and prefer to rely on dealing with direct questions (this sounds a lot like some guy from Ohio). Regarding Murmansk, I suspect this was one of those cruise line "experiements" and the port will disappear in future years. Your Captain friend (from last year) was totally correct about the place. The Russians handled things well in the port but there is just not a lot to interest tourists and the city is a bleak reminder of post-war Soviet concrete architecture. Hank

 

THANKS, Hank! Yes, you're good answering direct questions, BUT, you'd be even better doing trip reports. You need to "SHARE THE WEALTH"!!!

 

Enjoy! Terry in Ohio

[Mxmom242]

Hank, you do have a gift in communicating in written form. We'd love to hear your experiences.

ANYONE...I need help with planning Palermo, Sicily. SO much to do in so little time so we want to make the most of it (On a budget). All tips and suggestions appreciated.

Thanks,

Randi and Eric

[kazu]

Hank, this is a wonderful thread first of all. You have always been such a big help.

 

If I may impose, I'd like to ask a question about Rome. Dh and I have been before but just for a day or two. We've done the Vatican, so it is not a concern. We're going to be there for 5 days and have lots of time.

 

I had planned on doing our stuff on our own however I see that there are a number of walking tours offered. Will we be missing out if we diy?

 

The walking tours aren't cheap but if there are certain places where we should do it, then I want to be sure that we do. Thanks so much.

[Hlitner]

This thread has really withstood the test of time. When it was started all of Europe was on a single board. When CC decided to break apart the European board into multiple boards (a great idea) they stuck this thread under this topic (just a bit of history). Regarding Rome, DW and I really love Italy (we have driven over 10,000 miles within the country) but have never considered Rome one of our favorite places. I mention this because there is a lot more to Italy then the major cities and we would probably not choose to spend 5 consecutive days in Rome. If you have followed my posts you could guess that we would always do Rome on our own. It's actually an easy city to handle DIY (as long as you have no walking restrictions) by simply using a combination of your feet and the Metro. You can also use the local buses or even pay the "bit bucks" for the HoHo bus (we are not big fans of overpriced HoHo buses). With 5 days in the city we would suggest you plan at least one day trip out of Rome. There are quite a few good options that can be done DIY of with a tour arranged by your hotel (companies like Greyline have lots of offerings). One nice trip is to go to Tivoli where you can see both the Villa d'Este (with its magnificient gardens) and Hadrian's Villa (this is outside of Tivoli but easily reached by a local bus from Tivoli). Another possibility is to go up to Orvieto for a few hours....as this is one of nicest hill towns surrounding Rome. I should also mention our favorite pastime in Rome is simply sitting at one of the cafes in the Piazza Navona and people watching. For those that love being on guided tours, a few hours watching the tours moving through the Piazza Navona might convince you that there are many advantages to DIY :)

 

If you really want to do walking tours you might want to simply buy a decent guide book which has routes and info. The Rick Steves book is quite popular (we like this series) and has lots of good tips. Frommer's also has a small book "Rome - Day by Day" that we have found very helpful. One tip about the Rick Steves books is that we generally avoid the cafes and restaurants recommended in the series. As you can imagine, when a popular book recommends a cafe you are going to find that everyone at that cafe has the book in their hand. These places become too popular with tourists and often lose their quality.

 

Hank

 

Hank

[CruiseIreland]

Good question and DW and I both think its probably too much of the same for a port day. On port days its nice to get some variety. I will admit that we did do both on the same day, but it was when we were spending a week on the Amalfi Coast (we had a car)

Hank

 

Hi Hank and everyone else on this thread. I think I may have found something to occupy lots of hours reading this thread. Anyway, we are staying in Sorrento for a week in October. Top of the list to visit is, of course, Pompeii. I had thought of doing Herculaneum as well but may skip it after reading your posts. I would like to ask for pointers on other places to visit. I think Pompeii will be enough archaeological/historical information for us for one week so I am interested in spectacular views, quaint streets and nice places to eat or browse. I have read about Positano and Ravello but if anyone has other tips, I would be happy to read them.

 

CruiseIreland

[Eileen G]

Hi Hank and everyone else on this thread. I think I may have found something to occupy lots of hours reading this thread. Anyway, we are staying in Sorrento for a week in October. Top of the list to visit is, of course, Pompeii. I had thought of doing Herculaneum as well but may skip it after reading your posts. I would like to ask for pointers on other places to visit. I think Pompeii will be enough archaeological/historical information for us for one week so I am interested in spectacular views, quaint streets and nice places to eat or browse. I have read about Positano and Ravello but if anyone has other tips, I would be happy to read them.

 

CruiseIreland

 

 

We were in Sorrento for a over night last Sept. Make sure you go to Marina Grande. Here are my pictures of Capri and Marina Grande.

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=1e98e90214e77bf9&sc=photos#cid=1E98E90214E77BF9&id=1E98E90214E77BF9%211973&sc=photos

[Karennella]

We have travelled for thirty-five years together, mostly doing things on our own. Driven around Europe and the US, a lot of Asia (we are Aussies)

However I now have an injured knee and when we tried to travel our usual way two years ago, parts of the trip were a nightmare. New York, London and Paris all have underground train systems without decent escalators, taxis can be very hard to find or in the case of Italy, simply refuse to take you shorter distances.

I see that I will have to increasingly use planned tours. I can certainly walk, but too much becomes painful and being in pain is very tiring. Tours save time and I have found that good guides very much enhance the travel experience.

For example we did do a tour in Turkey for practical reasons. It was very interesting having as our guide a man who was a Turkish atheist and certainly gave us a different slant on that wonderful country than we would have had.

Another time we found a tour excellent was when we travelled with out 15 and 17 year old daughters in Europe on a highlights coach tour. There were no arguments when the guide told us to be ready at 6.30 am, or led us to our pre-booked dinner destination.

[kazu]

This thread has really withstood the test of time. When it was started all of Europe was on a single board. When CC decided to break apart the European board into multiple boards (a great idea) they stuck this thread under this topic (just a bit of history). Regarding Rome, DW and I really love Italy (we have driven over 10,000 miles within the country) but have never considered Rome one of our favorite places. I mention this because there is a lot more to Italy then the major cities and we would probably not choose to spend 5 consecutive days in Rome. If you have followed my posts you could guess that we would always do Rome on our own. It's actually an easy city to handle DIY (as long as you have no walking restrictions) by simply using a combination of your feet and the Metro. You can also use the local buses or even pay the "bit bucks" for the HoHo bus (we are not big fans of overpriced HoHo buses). With 5 days in the city we would suggest you plan at least one day trip out of Rome. There are quite a few good options that can be done DIY of with a tour arranged by your hotel (companies like Greyline have lots of offerings). One nice trip is to go to Tivoli where you can see both the Villa d'Este (with its magnificient gardens) and Hadrian's Villa (this is outside of Tivoli but easily reached by a local bus from Tivoli). Another possibility is to go up to Orvieto for a few hours....as this is one of nicest hill towns surrounding Rome. I should also mention our favorite pastime in Rome is simply sitting at one of the cafes in the Piazza Navona and people watching. For those that love being on guided tours, a few hours watching the tours moving through the Piazza Navona might convince you that there are many advantages to DIY :)

 

If you really want to do walking tours you might want to simply buy a decent guide book which has routes and info. The Rick Steves book is quite popular (we like this series) and has lots of good tips. Frommer's also has a small book "Rome - Day by Day" that we have found very helpful. One tip about the Rick Steves books is that we generally avoid the cafes and restaurants recommended in the series. As you can imagine, when a popular book recommends a cafe you are going to find that everyone at that cafe has the book in their hand. These places become too popular with tourists and often lose their quality.

 

Hank

 

Hank

 

Hank, thank you so much for this. We will definitely diy in Rome. We have done some of the outskirts in the past but have not been to Hadrian's Villa. Already had this on my bucket list. The walking tour guides are already in our hands!:) I have found the same thing about the recommended cafes. It's not hard to find a good spot to go. We just follow the locals.

 

We like sitting and watching too - it's part of the fun of visiting any locale.

 

Thanks again. Really great advice:)

 

Thanks again for your wonderful help and advice.

[StartrainDD]

We are headed to Europe for the first time. I expected to pay some serious $$$ for shore time but was not prepared for the prices on the ship's tours. And even a lot of private tours are over 100 Euros (nearly $150) per person in many spots.

 

These boards (and some friends we are going with) have been a great inspiration. We did pick up a Rick Steve's recommended guide for just the first part of one day, but otherwise look to be doing things on our own.

 

I really like the comment about sitting on the Piazza Navona and watching the hoards on the ship's tours. We may do similar on St Mark's square in Venice! THANK YOU ALL!

[Hlitner]

We are headed to Europe for the first time. I expected to pay some serious $$$ for shore time but was not prepared for the prices on the ship's tours. And even a lot of private tours are over 100 Euros (nearly $150) per person in many spots.

 

These boards (and some friends we are going with) have been a great inspiration. We did pick up a Rick Steve's recommended guide for just the first part of one day, but otherwise look to be doing things on our own.

 

I really like the comment about sitting on the Piazza Navona and watching the hoards on the ship's tours. We may do similar on St Mark's square in Venice! THANK YOU ALL!

 

On the Piazza Navona you will find that ship's tours are a miniscule part of the crowds. This is a popular spot for many tours so you actually will see a cross section of the world in this square. As to St Mark's Square, on a crowded day it is just one huge "mass of humanity" which many of us choose to avoid. Be forewarded that the two large cafes located in St Marks Square are essentially "rip off" joints that charge outrageous prices for the privilege of letting you sit at their cafe. The irony is that when the square is packed with tourists those two cafes have mostly empty chairs (many tourists know to avoid these cafes).

 

Hank

[hat776]

On the Piazza Navona you will find that ship's tours are a miniscule part of the crowds. This is a popular spot for many tours so you actually will see a cross section of the world in this square. As to St Mark's Square, on a crowded day it is just one huge "mass of humanity" which many of us choose to avoid. Be forewarded that the two large cafes located in St Marks Square are essentially "rip off" joints that charge outrageous prices for the privilege of letting you sit at their cafe. The irony is that when the square is packed with tourists those two cafes have mostly empty chairs (many tourists know to avoid these cafes).

 

Hank

And what's so fascinating is that there are so many ultra smart waiters just standing there with nothing to do.

One of the events that really made us laugh was when a group of 6 elderly women sat down on those empty chairs with no intention of ordering anything. The waiters faces were impressive and they quickly retreived the chairs.

[marybor]

I've been to both sites, Pompeii and Herculaneum, and for me, Herculaneum was the jewel in the crown. I was able to see and imagine the lave flowing, filling every available space. To me, Pompeii was all manicured and tidy. Such disappointment after waiting for years to see it. On the other hand Herculaneum was raw and urgent and SO alive. I know, that's a very funny description of a place long murdered!!!

[Hlitner]

I would disagree (just a little) with the prior post regarding Pompeii being "manicured and tidy." In fact, the lack of maintenance within Pompeii has been somewhat of a national scandal in Italy after some sections of the ruins collapsed due to no maintenance. On our last visit the place was partially overgrown with weeds. That being said, we personally do enjoy both Pompeii and Herculanium. In a related matter, the ruins of Ostia Antica (near Rome's FCO airport) are really a gem oft missed by most tours (and tourists).

 

Hank

[CruiseIreland]

We were in Sorrento for a over night last Sept. Make sure you go to Marina Grande. Here are my pictures of Capri and Marina Grande.

https://skydrive.live.com/?cid=1e98e90214e77bf9&sc=photos#cid=1E98E90214E77BF9&id=1E98E90214E77BF9%211973&sc=photos

Eileen G,

 

Please forgive me for not thanking you earlier for your informative post. I left it and got distracted by other matters. Thanks again. Cruiseireland:o

[CruiseIreland]

Hi Hank,

 

We are travelling to Sorrento this October and Eastern Med on Royal Carribbean next May, so your advice and many others, here is invaluable. On a further point, we are also planning a possible trip (not a cruise) to Egypt for late 2012 and I wondered if you have posted here about tours/trips in Egypt? Obviously, wish to see the Pyramids, Luxor and the Museum in Cairo plus a few days R&R(diving for bro-in-law and snorkelling for me) by the Red Sea. Any advice welcomed. Thanks, CI

[Hlitner]

Hi Hank,

 

We are travelling to Sorrento this October and Eastern Med on Royal Carribbean next May, so your advice and many others, here is invaluable. On a further point, we are also planning a possible trip (not a cruise) to Egypt for late 2012 and I wondered if you have posted here about tours/trips in Egypt? Obviously, wish to see the Pyramids, Luxor and the Museum in Cairo plus a few days R&R(diving for bro-in-law and snorkelling for me) by the Red Sea. Any advice welcomed. Thanks, CI

 

Two years ago DW and I took a two week trip to Egypt and covered most of the popular parts of the country from Alexandria in the north to Abu Simbal in the south. In a word, our trip was "amazing." That being said, the current political situation in Egypt would now give me reason for pause before returning to that country. Although this is not really cruise related I will give you some of our trip highlights. We originally were going to take an organized tour, but were not happy with any of the lower priced tours and did not want to pay the big bucks for a deluxe tour such as with Tauck. So we contacted a small travel agency in Virginia which was owned by an expat Egyptian who had many contacts in Egypt. We worked out an itinerary with that agency and went to Egypt on our own (just the two of us) without the benefit of any tour company. We did arrange to hire guides and cars/drivers while in many parts of Egypt (arranged by our TA) and we also spent 5 days cruising on the Nile on a boat owned by the Oberoi group. Of course you should spend several days in Cairo, see the Pyramids (there are several other pyramids other than at Giza...such as the Bent Pyramid), do a boat cruise on the Nile between Aswan and Luxor, and also spend at least 2 or 3 days in Luxor so you can take day trips to the Valley of the Kings, Valley of the Queens, etc. As to Abu Simbal, this place is amazing but can only be visited early in the morning (the site is normally closed in the afternoon). We went to Abu Simbal by taking an Egyptair flight from Cairo (did a quick stop in Aswan) that left about 4:30 in the morning so we could be at Abu Simbal during the morning (this is important because you want the sun to be at the proper angle to light the ruins.

 

About the only part of Egypt we did not enjoy was our 2 days in Alexandria. If we had to do it again we probably would not have even gone to Alexandria although once could certainly justify one day in this city. When we drove between Cairo and Alexandria (we had a private car/driver for this part of the trip) the highlight was a stop we made at one of the Coptic settlements (Wadi el Natrun) where we were given a tour by one of the Monks who looked like Rasputin. Unfortunately there has been some recent violence against the Copts since our visit.

 

 

Hank

[maryann ns]

Wow! That is the way to travel. I wish I lived near your TA. I know when we go back to Egypt that we will want to do something similar.

[casey7887]

I wish I had found this thread weeks ago. We are going on our first cruise AND our first trip to Europe. I have been doing quite a bit of research as we also don't like the mega tours. But now I realize how much there is to see and want to make sure we don't miss the very best. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

We begin in Lisbon with a day and a half before we board the ship. Many people have told me that we must go to Sintra.

 

Our stops are in Cadiz, Seville, Granada, Barcelona, Provence, Sanary Sur Mer, St Tropez and end in Nice. We will have an extra day in Nice.

 

Thank you all in advance!

[Hlitner]

I wish I had found this thread weeks ago. We are going on our first cruise AND our first trip to Europe. I have been doing quite a bit of research as we also don't like the mega tours. But now I realize how much there is to see and want to make sure we don't miss the very best. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

 

We begin in Lisbon with a day and a half before we board the ship. Many people have told me that we must go to Sintra.

 

Our stops are in Cadiz, Seville, Granada, Barcelona, Provence, Sanary Sur Mer, St Tropez and end in Nice. We will have an extra day in Nice.

 

Thank you all in advance!

That's an interesting itinerary and we can certainly give you some help with some of those ports. Regarding Lisbon, I gather you will be able to go out for dinner on one night and we would recommend going to a decent Fado restaurant (we like Senor Vinho). For this you should have a reservation and hopefully not be too exhausted to stay up until about midnight. As to Sintra, we really enjoy this town (its a UNESCO World Heritage city) and you can easily get their on your own via the train (they run about every 30 minutes).

 

Granada is a no-brainer. Any first time visiitor should go the Ahlhambra. This place requires a ticket and can be very crowded in the high season. If you book an excursion or private tour that includes admission you will be fine. If you plan to go on your own you should book a ticket in advance.

 

Seville - We once spent 3 nights in this city and loved it. You do not mention your ports (very rare for any ship to go to Seville) and like lots of European cruises you must first deal with how to get from port to city. But once in Seville it is a place that can be done on your own. Besides just walking around and enjoying the city this is the place to stop for tapas.

 

When you talk about the French Riviera (St Tropez and Nice) you have many options (we could write a book) so you need to do a little research and make some decisions on what best meets your needs. If you have specific questions on this region please post them on the "France" Board where we (and others) can deal with your specific questions.

 

One very important (and personal) decision you must make is whether you want to take ship excursions, private tours or simply do things on your own. When you are traveling in Western Europe (i.e. France and Spain) you can choose any of these options for a port day (or longer). Most cruisers like to take some excursions (they do get expensive) but there are other folks such as moi that seldom take any kind of tour. We have been traveling in Europe for over thirty years and have probably taken no more then 3 excursions on hundreds of port stops (and driving vacations). We only mention this so you understand that you can do many things on your own if you enjoy this type of travel and want to spend the time doing your pre-trip homework.

 

Hank

[Hlitner]

Wow! That is the way to travel. I wish I lived near your TA. I know when we go back to Egypt that we will want to do something similar.

 

If you ever do go back and are interested, just post something here and I will give you that TAs name (privately). Of course we would first have to check to see if they are still in business :). We think what really helped us was that we went to Egypt in early October which is a good time (weather wise) and outside of their main tourist season. We actually were in Cairo on 3 different ocassions during our trip and always had the same local guide. He was a University Grad and a real Egytologist who normally worked with large tour groups. But since we were off season we could get decent guides for just the two of us. We got pretty friendly with that Cairo guide who told us he did not like Mubarak (he said that Mubarak was a King and Egyptians do not like Kings) and we thought of him when the Egyptians overthrew Mubarak. We figure our friend (and we did think of him as a friend) was probably somewhere in that crowd at Tahrir Square with tears in his eyes.

 

Hank

[CruiseIreland]

Thanks Hank. I am veering more towards a guided tour organised by an Irish complany. It is difficult to organise flights to Egypt from Ireland and when all is added in, the tour seems good value and I have had good reviews. Abu Simbel is not included - is it a 'must see' or can we forgive ourselves if we miss it? CI

[maryann ns]

Thanks Hank, I will keep your information in mind. We have been to Egypt for one day so far but hope to get back. However there are so many places we want to see!

[Hlitner]

Thanks Hank. I am veering more towards a guided tour organised by an Irish complany. It is difficult to organise flights to Egypt from Ireland and when all is added in, the tour seems good value and I have had good reviews. Abu Simbel is not included - is it a 'must see' or can we forgive ourselves if we miss it? CI

 

Is Abu Simbel a must? That is a great question. Given how difficult it is to get to Abu Simbel we would have to categorize it as more of a "want" then a "must." Most travelers go to Abu Simbel the way we did which means flying-in on a very early flight on Egyptair (form either Cairo or Aswan) and flying out on another Egyptair flight by early afternoon. But we were not disappointed in the site. The amazing thing about Abu Simbel is that is was going to be lost forever by the flooding caused when the Aswan High Dam was constructed. Thanks to a world-wide uproar and several countries (and foundations) coming up with the big bucks, they were able to move the entire site to a new place (the current location) and put it back together again so you cannot even tell it was moved (if you look hard you can see where they had to cut the rocks). We were able to plan a route through Egypt that made it possible to see the site. We had planned on taking a 5 day Nile cruise from Aswan North to Luxor. But instead of flying from Cairo to Aswan, we simply flew from Cairo to Abu Simbal and then from Abu Simbal to Aswan. In the end that diversion to Abu Simbal only took up the morning (we were in Aswan by 1:00 pm). In fact, the same Egyptair plane that flew us from Cairo actually sat at the airport for a few hours until we got on the same plane for the short flight to Aswan. The actual time we were on the ground for Abu Simbel was about 3 hours....just enough time to go from the airport to the ruins, tour the ruins, then back to the airport. Not many folks spend a night in that remote place.

 

Hank

[CruiseIreland]

Thanks Hank. I don't really think herself (or the credit card) will tolerate the extra flights to see "more ruins". Might just leave it at Luxor, but that will be a pebble in my shoe for a long time. :)

 

Cruiseireland

[harz99]

Hi Hank,

 

We are travelling to Sorrento this October and Eastern Med on Royal Carribbean next May, so your advice and many others, here is invaluable. On a further point, we are also planning a possible trip (not a cruise) to Egypt for late 2012 and I wondered if you have posted here about tours/trips in Egypt? Obviously, wish to see the Pyramids, Luxor and the Museum in Cairo plus a few days R&R(diving for bro-in-law and snorkelling for me) by the Red Sea. Any advice welcomed. Thanks, CI

 

A bit late now I know, but may help you.

 

Three to four years ago Kuoni put together a holiday for me which was as follows; fly to Cairo, 3 nights hotel (I booked my own tour guide/driver separately), Early morning flight to Abu Simbel, Lake Nasser cruise (has overnight in port at Abu Simbel so you get to see the Temples without the hords of Japanese etc.) to Aswan, Nile Cruise and all the side trips to Luxor, fly back to UK.

 

We did it late February/early March, and was spectacular in every way. Lake Nasser is an oasis of calm with only 3 ships sailing in flotilla, and a good antidote to the madhouse that exists on the Nile.

 

HTH.