Questions on Mediterranean cruises/excursions/Greece/Nice

[Live the good life]

To: Mediterranean seasoned cruisers: Our party of 4 will be in Mykonos,Santorini,and Athens in July 2004. For Greece, we booked a 6 hr private tour in Santorini and debating on which tour to take for Athens. Thinking of using Spiro if we are not too tired after many long 10 hour trips in VilleFranche, Amalfi, Tuscany, Rome.

(1) Athens: For those of you who have had Spiro as a tour guide: was he pleasant to be around, (we prefer a relaxed and fun experience for this tour versus an intensive one). Any other tour guide in Athens you would recommend? Any tip on Plaka shops/taverns? Can one take a good photo with the the Acropolis without having to walk all the way close to the Parthenon (two of the passengers are in their 60's).With regards to The Lycabettus hill, I heard the funiculus only runs until noon or so, was Spiro able to drive you up the hill so you did not have to use the cable car? If time is a factor, do you think the view from Lycabettus was worth it? Was Sounion a place not to be missed, despite a long drive? Please also let us know if there is anything fun to do (club/tavern) close to the ship in Pireus after we get back from the tour.

(2) Greece (Santorini,Athens,Mykonos): We would appreciate any info on Bouzouki/rebetica music during the day/early evening at any/all 3 locations. We know of one place in Athens with afternoon music but unfortunately it will be closed on Sunday when we are in Athens. Please give us the names/phone numbers of the taverns if you have them. Our ship will leave at 11:00 P.M. and many places do not open until either 09:00PM,or midnight.

(3)Mykonos:is Mykonos town within walking distance to the dock? Any recommendations for Mykonos? What is a good place to watch sunset at Little Venice? Which beaches would you recommend, and which ones are easy to get to? What would be the rate for renting a cabana for a few hours? And which beaches has them?

(4) Santorini: Which place is nicer to watch Sunset, Oia or Thira? Is it true that the cable car at Santorini stops running after 09:00PM.? How would one get back to the dock if one wants to stay until 10:00 P.M. or so? Will the ship tender wait for passengers until close to disembarking time?

(4) VilleFranche: We contacted Sylvie but she was already booked for that particular day. We read mixed reviews about Alain's tour. If you have used Alain's tour, please share with us who was the driver, how many passengers were on the bus, and was he as a tour guide? Also how long was your tour (8 or 9 hours). Was the tour guide accomodating if you wanted to visit Cannes or some other places at the end of the tour, and willing to pay an extra fee for the additional hour (s). Please let us know what places they were able to take you during the standard 8-9 hour tour. Also, which places you would have skipped, and which places are "not to be missed" during this tour.

Thank you in advance for your responses. It would really help us fine tune our excursions and make the most out of our trip.

[LEtue]

I can only advise on VilleFranche until we sail next June. The area is very easy to do on your own and it sounds like you have all day. We used the train between Nice and Monte Carlo and you cold easily extend your trip to Cannes if you aren't planning to visit Monoco. We enjoyed going on our own much more than the structured excursions we did in other ports.

Have a great trip!


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[Hlitner]

I guess I would be in a minority here, because my wife and I normally avoid tours and guides in favor of just "doing our own thing." In more than 25 years of international travel, we have never been disappointed. In Mykonos, most of the ships now dock at a small pier area that is about 1 - 1 1/4 miles from town. You can walk the distance in about 30 minutes, but they also have local shuttle buses that constantly run from the port into town (very convenient). The best beaches are some distance from town, and you can either take taxis or local buses. As to beaches, there are many with pros and cons to each! Paridise is certainly one of the most famous, and it has facilities and tons of rental chairs. However, its wall to wall people. There are plenty of other more desserted beaches, but some have no facilities. Its all about personal preference. You might just want to stop in town at the tourist center and ask for advice. You can get to most of the beaches by taxi or local bus. There are a couple of beaches which can be reached by taking a boat from Paridise Beach.

Santorini - Not sure about the best place for sunsets, but I am not sure either Fira or Oia will give you a good sunset view. This is actually a very easy island to explore on your own. Fira can only be explored on foot. Oia is actually a pretty small village which can easily be accessed by a public bus from Fira or a taxi. We will often just rent a car and head to the other side of the island where there are some black sand beaches, a winery, and the ruins at Akritori. This is a very tourist friendly island (as is Mykonos) with English widely spoken. In the summer, it seems like everyone is a tourist!

Villafranche - So many options, so little time! Personally, we tend to favor St Paul de Vence, Eze, and other smaller villages. For the larger cities, the old town of Nice is nice (good cafes here. Cannes is one of the few places with a decent public beach with sand as opposed to the rocks of Nice. Once you head inland (St Paul de Vence is inland) there are just an unlimited number of little towns and villages. If you want to stick to the coastal cities, there is an excellent train line that spans the coast and is within walking distance of the tender pier.

Greece - This is a pretty late night country, so its hard to sample much evening life on a cruise. You need to allow a good hour to return to Pireaus, so forget dinner in Athens. For future reference, Daphne's is an excellent restaurant near the Plaka, and it has a delightful outdoor dining garden. The Plaka is a very touristy & congested neighborhood with loads of shops and cafes. As to Lycabettus Hill, we took the funicular in the afternoon (I don't know the current hours). But, depending on the temperature and smog (it can be awful in Athens) you might want to make this decision on the spur of the moment. For a good photo of the Acropolis, you really need to enter the ruins. Of course you can take pictures from the city below the Acropolis, but the view from the top is the best. We have been to Athens 5 times in July. On 3 of the trips it was hot (once there was a heat wave and it topped 115) and very hazy with smog. On our last trip, we finally hit perfect weather when it was crystal clear and in the low 80s. What a difference since we could finally stroll around town without sweating! As to the folks in their 60s, we are pretty close to that but love to walk. This might sound a bit like preaching, but its not a bad idea to get into walking shape prior to a Med trip. You are going to spend a lot of time on your feet, and a little pre-trip conditioning goes a long way towards improving enjoyment on any trip. With luck, you will be tired by darn happy.

Hank

[eenytoo]

What a great response. One thing I can add, having been to Santorini -- Oia is known for being a great sunset viewing spot. People gather on the steps and ledges to watch the sunset and I believe there are also cafes you could watch it from. I think, but am not certain, that Fira is on the wrong side of the island for the sunset. -Serena

[ClaudiaF]

<BLOCKQUOTE class="ip-ubbcode-quote"><font size="-1">quote:</font><HR>Originally posted by Hlitner:
IN PART:

As to the folks in their 60s, we are pretty close to that but love to walk. This might sound a bit like preaching, but its not a bad idea to get into walking shape prior to a Med trip. You are going to spend a lot of time on your feet, and a little pre-trip conditioning goes a long way towards improving enjoyment on any trip. Hank<HR></BLOCKQUOTE>

Some folks just have difficulty .. we have a couple going with us who just can't do all those steps. One due to bad knee ..
so for the "poster"..would consider not going to some of the spots you mentioned if the people have real difficulties with walking such as:
St. Paul de Vence and Eze.. and I am sure there are other spots like this.. Can really be hard on someone who can't walk hills.

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[DianneH]

Hank,
Do you use the metro or taxis in Athens? We plan to do "our own thing" there. We are in port from 6:30 am to 11:30 pm. Whats your preferred method of transportation & do we need reservations for Daphnes? Thanks.

[MSBYRDY]

Santorini is definitely a "do it yourself" place to be. Don't waste money on a guide or driver here. We rented a car for 35 Euro for the day and drove it all ourselves. It's so small you can't get lost. Oia is the place for Sunsets.

Villefranche, we used Alain himself and couldn't have had a better day. He was just delightful and full of information and I think we saw everything there was to see. I would use him again in a heartbeat. It was just the two of us and we thoroughly enjoyed him.
Marilyn

[Hlitner]

Within Athens we love to walk (we have no problem walking a few miles). We have never used the metro within the city (we have taken the train from the city to Pireaus) but prefer the convenence of taxis is cases where we do not want to walk. As an aside, for those who spend overnights in Athens, the taxis can be very tourist "unfriendly" late at night. For example, if you are staying at the Hilton and want a taxi to the hotel from the Plaka late a night (after dinner) the taxis might try to charge you 5 to 10 times the normal price. Its not legal, but they sure will try. On one ocassion, we got so angry that we walked all the way back to the Hilton after midnight (this is a long hike). On the next trip, we stayed at the Grande Bretagne to avoid the problem.

Hank

[Nikki B]

MSBYRDY - I really appreciated your comments about your tour with Alain from Dream Tours. We are booked with Dream Tours on our 5/29 Splendour of the Seas cruise (hopefully Alain will be our driver/guide). We plan on making a full day fo it by visiting Eze, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Nice, St Paul de Vence and ending up with Cannes before collapsing back at our ship. Is this the tour you took? I would be interested in hearing any details or suggestions you would care to share.

[Live the good life]

Thank you fellow cruisers for your input. Spiros is already booked for the day we will be in Athens (Sunday July 4th). (1) But any other input about other tour guides in Athens would be greatly appreciated, (2) especially on whether one can drive up the Libeccatus hill and what time the funicular stops running.
Daniele/Remo has also been booked on the day we are in Rome (June 29th). (3) So other input on Rome tours would be appreciated. My mother & I have visited Rome before but not my daughter and aunt, so we want to show them around.
And good things we have already booked a tour with Daniele/Remo for Tuscany and Amalfi about a month ago! Regards, Kim

[sundial]

Live the good life, we have booked Claudio Caponera at [url="http://www.limoinrome.com"]www.limoinrome.com[/url] for a day tour after our July Med cruise. We sent emails out to several people we had heard about on this board. He was responsive, had good suggestions, and was cheaper than the others including Daniele. He used to drive for Bob's Limo Service before going out on his own. You might look at his web site and see what you think.

[LEtue]

sundial,

Thanks for the link. It looks like this might be our best option for the Amalfi coast and a good way to cover a lot of ground.

Linda


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