Advice please on shore excursions Jan23

[HopingForFun333]

Hi everyone…

 

We will be on Iona Jan 2nd - Jan 14th.. round the Med…

 

Hoping for a bit of advice on which shore excursions you might recommend for Gibraltar, Alicante, Barcelona, Cadiz and Lisbon… 

 

We are in the older age range shall we say… (  well older on the outside anyway 😉 ).. not brilliant on walking too far… but ok generally..also, like the shops etc…

 

We have looked at the excursions on-line but would really appreciate some feedback… we also thought maybe there would be shuttle buses or perhaps the HoHo buses but realise that might depend on where we dock… ?..

 

thanks in advance…

 

[sleepingcat]

have a look at the separate reviews for each port.  Here's a quick guide to our experience on various cruises...

 

Gibraltar: its fairly easy to do your own excursion to the top of the rock: you can walk or get a taxi to the bottom of the funicular.  

Barcelona: once in the historic centre all the wonderful architecture is pretty much in walking distance. if booking a tour I would opt for architecture, but its lovely to just wander around.  (and there is a mass of info on shuttles etc on the ports forum)

Cadiz: the ship docks right next to the centre of town.  Cadiz has lots of history and you can make up your own walking tour. 

Lisbon: my absolute favourite cruise port, make sure you are up and about for the sail in, its beautiful. ship docks close in to the centre. choose one bit of Lisbon to focus on, and make up your own walk. We ve also caught a train along the coast to Cascais on one visit. Enjoy!

[jeanlyon]

Agree with all said so far.  Totally unnecessary to do a ships tour in any of these.  Alicante is also walkable and a lovely town.

[HopingForFun333]

Thanks very much for the advice… we are very much ‘ wanderers ‘ and enjoy just having a look around… not very adventurous but like getting a feel of each port…so your advice fits in nicely.

 

Thanks again.

[jh1809]

I'd say it was worth doing an Alicante excursion that includes the old fortification on the height overlooking the town, where there are fantastic views. IIRC, to get right to the highest point involves a steep uphill walk from the point where the coach parks, so you need to be reasonably fit to get the most out of it.

[Cathygh]

The walk into town in Gibraltar always seems quite long to me. There is a shuttle outside the port into town, sorry I can't remember the price. You can get a taxi outside the port and the driver can take you to the main sites. You can DIY the cable car but it is the far end of the town and the last bit is up a steep hill. 

 

[Teddy123]

19 hours ago, sleepingcat said:

have a look at the separate reviews for each port.  Here's a quick guide to our experience on various cruises...

 

Gibraltar: its fairly easy to do your own excursion to the top of the rock: you can walk or get a taxi to the bottom of the funicular.  

Barcelona: once in the historic centre all the wonderful architecture is pretty much in walking distance. if booking a tour I would opt for architecture, but its lovely to just wander around.  (and there is a mass of info on shuttles etc on the ports forum)

Cadiz: the ship docks right next to the centre of town.  Cadiz has lots of history and you can make up your own walking tour. 

Lisbon: my absolute favourite cruise port, make sure you are up and about for the sail in, its beautiful. ship docks close in to the centre. choose one bit of Lisbon to focus on, and make up your own walk. We ve also caught a train along the coast to Cascais on one visit. Enjoy!

It depends what architecture you want to see in Barcelona of course, but Google shows the walk from the shuttle drop-off, to the gothic cathedral, then Gaudi's Batllo and Mila houses, then Sagrada Familia, then back to the shuttle is almost 6 miles.  At that's without Parc Guell.  So not a walking tour for everyone!  Of course, just the area round the cathedral is smaller, but surely Barcelona IS Gaudi?!

[IWantToLiveOverTheSea]

Lisbon is fabulous, but many parts are very hilly, making things a bit challenging.  But I hear that electric "tuk tuks" are now widely available there for tours.  That's a new thing since I was in Lisbon, so can't really say more about them.  But I believe price, unless you haggle, is 60-75 euros for an hour for 2 (or possibly more) people.  It's hard to recommend what to do in Lisbon,  because there are so many things I loved - miradouros (viewpoints), elevadors (not elevators, but too hard to explain - Bica's my favorite), the whole Belem waterfront area, Rossio area, the Se cathedral and the yellow trams running by, narrow streets in Alfama, graffiti, etc. If you are a little adventuresome you may love what we did to celebrate my spouse's birthday:  I booked BikeMySide, Daniel with his antique sidecar motorcycle, to take us on a 3 hour tour.  It was great, but if you or your spouse don't want to be riding behind Daniel with only a long bar to hold onto, you may not want to do it.  But I rode there and felt comfortable and safe.  You don't go fast, and you do get out at a couple places so it's not a full 90 minutes of riding that way.  We got a kick just out of watching people stare and wave at us. So google Bike My Side and have a wonderful tour.  You'll still have time to do what you want before or after in Lisbon. If you want something unusual and very non-touristy, take a cab to grounds/gardens of the Palacio Fronteira at Largo Sao (so zjah) Domingos de Benfica 1, near Parque Florestal de Monsanto.  It's up a ways in Lisbon and very scenic.  I was the only person there.  You don't need tickets unless you want to go into the manor house.  

 

And for Cadiz, if you're adventuresome you can walk a few blocks (or take taxi) to the train station and go to Seville in less than 2 hours.  But Cadiz is nice as well.  I took a bus around the outside of the older part, just looking at passing things, and also walked down to the "Caleta" area where there's a beach, fort, lighthouse, etc. 

 

Gibraltar we just took a cab up the rock to see monkeys, see airport below, tunnels, etc.  Then I took a bus to see a beautiful lighthouse at the tip of the peninsula; also over the airport runway. 

 

Barcelona has a lot of Gaudi buildings (besides the obvious Sagrada, which of course is amazing, inside or out) to look at or go in if you're willing to spend the money.

 

To help navigate, I use maps.me, downloaded from home so I don't need wifi once I get to a city.  As long as GPS is in your phone, you don't need the wifi. 

 

There are shuttles in some ports.  Barcelona has one and Lisbon is reported to have one too.  But I'm never sure if the shuttles are arranged by the port, the city, or the cruise line.  So I hesitate to say more about those. 

 

I'm definitely a wanderer......I could write a book.

Edited November 25, 2022 by IWantToLiveOverTheSea