Mediterranean ports advice - QV

[watsonbeau]

We are on a summer QV cruise embarking/disembarking  Civitavecchia for 28 nights (can't wait !!).  A few ports we haven't visited before so just wondering if any advice on these please ?  Unsure how far away the ship will berth but would hope the sights would be in walkable distance, say 30 mins stroll.  Or if best to book an excursion at any of them ?  The ports I'm interested in are Cephalonia and Kotor (both tender), Corfu (have visited but over 40 yrs ago), Trieste itself (as seen Venice), Split, Zadar and Valletta (again visited but probably 30 yrs ago).  We are Cunard fare so if there is a shuttle into town we are ok for that.  Valletta I'd like to see the Barrakka gardens and do a harbour tour  but Cunard only offer the harbour tour as one trip and a separate one for seeing the city/Barrakka and they are both running at the same time so would have to be one or the other - so just wondering if we would be able to do a DIY job and sort out doing both ourselves ?

 

Any help appreciated - thank you 

 

 

[david63]

From memory

 

- Cephalonia is easy walking around the small town, very pleasant place to have lunch at the harbour

- Corfu - the new cruise terminal is some way out of town and it is not a pleasant walk. Shuttle would be a better option.

- Valletta - straight up the steps and you are in the town. If I remember correctly the Barrakka gardens are just above where the ships usually dock.

 

Cannot help with the others as I have not been to them - yet!

 

[watsonbeau]

Thank you. Thats a few solved !

[Essiesmom]

Kotor tender docks right at the entrance to the walled city.  Split…there might be a shuttle into town, as I understand the terminal is a distance from the city.  Last two times I was there it was a tender port except for ferries and small ships.  EM

[watsonbeau]

Thank you. Yes Split doesn’t mention tender so guessing we’re down to dock there so hopefully a shuttle running. Thank you 

[saltcreekmom1]

Hello.  We are on this until Treiste, where we disembark.  I’m not familiar with any of these ports (usually cruise in the Caribbean) but I’m also having a tricky time figuring out what to do, how long things will take, etc.  Of course, the weather could be really warm or perhaps a tad chilly. 

[sogne]

you can see the gardens in the distance just beyond the lift opposite side of roadY

[sogne]

Just now, sogne said:

you can see the gardens in the distance just beyond QE. Walk past where the Costa is berthed until you see the sign for the lift opposite side of road.

 

[watsonbeau]

Thank you. Think we might opt for the harbour tour early morning and then when it gets back to the ship do Barrakka ourselves. Or skip the harbour tour and just go up to Barrakks and wander round the old town.

 

Anyone have experience of the harbour tours ? I think the Cunard one might be going from Sliema.

[Solent Richard]

On 3/16/2024 at 5:13 PM, watsonbeau said:

We are on a summer QV cruise embarking/disembarking  Civitavecchia for 28 nights (can't wait !!).  A few ports we haven't visited before so just wondering if any advice on these please ?  Unsure how far away the ship will berth but would hope the sights would be in walkable distance, say 30 mins stroll.  Or if best to book an excursion at any of them ?  The ports I'm interested in are Cephalonia and Kotor (both tender), Corfu (have visited but over 40 yrs ago), Trieste itself (as seen Venice), Split, Zadar and Valletta (again visited but probably 30 yrs ago).  We are Cunard fare so if there is a shuttle into town we are ok for that.  Valletta I'd like to see the Barrakka gardens and do a harbour tour  but Cunard only offer the harbour tour as one trip and a separate one for seeing the city/Barrakka and they are both running at the same time so would have to be one or the other - so just wondering if we would be able to do a DIY job and sort out doing both ourselves ?

 

Any help appreciated - thank you 

 

 

 

Good morning @watsonbeau .

 

I can help you on a number of your scheduled port stops.

 

Firstly let me cover visits to Corfu and Kotor. The link that follows covers both though we were not travelling on a Cunard ship. Just scroll down to where we visited the scenic town of Budva and the island of Sveti Stefan on an excursion from Kotor.....

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2014/06/09/ventura-a-perfect-fly-cruise-med-break/ 

 

 

*********

 

 

As the blog reiterates, get these musts done early and there is still plenty of time to take in Kotor itself....

 

[Solent Richard]

Hello again @watsonbeau

 

Here is a link to my offering on Zadar....

 

 

 

A veritable gem of a visit and probably the easiest of your visits to undertake on your own.

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2023/01/27/one-way-to-do-zadar-croatia/

 

You should be berthed in the same position as the opening photograph which is also indicated on the attached map and within spitting distance of the famous 'Sea Organ'...

 

 

 

Whatever you do, do sample Zadar's magnificent seafood...

 

 

 

 

Next up Split and Malta

 

 

 

 

Edited March 18 by Solent Richard

[*Miss G*]

In Kotor, they have a HOHO bus picking up right at the tender dock, but the tickets were all sold out by the time we got there.  We wandered the walled city instead.  I have a feeling the bus tickets were all purchased by the cruise lines, but that’s just a guess on my part.  Kotor was quite busy with two small HAL ships and the Wind Surf in port.  Anyway, that was a long way of saying that if you want to do the bus tour then it’s probably best to purchase it from the ship.  The sail-in and out was gorgeous.

 

Trieste is a vibrant city full of architectural beauty.  It was clean and uncongested.  I would love to stay a few days here.  

 

The Piazza Unità d’Italia is an open square of government buildings and monuments looking out over the Adriatic seafront.  It was a stone’s throw from where we docked.

 

 

Literally…. A stone’s throw:

 

 

 

Walk towards the red-roofed building with the green clock tower and keep left.  See if this fountain is working as you go by:

 

 

After exiting the piazza (passing the fountain and keeping left), you enter the shopping district with more great architecture and even a pretty carousel!

 

[elmsliebev]

agree with comments about Zadar, wonderful town, we would love to return there for a few days. Same with Trieste (48 hour travel man is about Trieste this week!) a really interesting city. 

We had a day in Malta between 2 cruises last year and did a wonderful tour with a local guy. A minibus of 14 of us, for the full day, taking us all around, to Mdina and other areas, a great lunch stop and a lovely guy. I think it worked out at 25euros each with a tip. As we were there twice, we also walked from the ship to the lift up to the gardens and the cannons. It's about a 10 minute stroll and the lift costs 1 euro (hold on to your tickets for the return trip)

[2BACRUISER]

For UK based cunarders on Ch4 Friday 22 March at 8.30pm the Travel man show is doing 48hrs in Trieste which may give a few ideas. Joe Lycett and Alan Davies presenting. 

[watsonbeau]

Some great and advice and lovely photos. Looks like I’m in for a treat. Valletta - are there any harbour tours that leave by the ship ? Am thinking to do a harbour tour and then go up to Barraka and the city afterwards. The Cunard tour goes from Sliema so if nothing nearby we could do that and go to Barraka afterwards. Thank you

 

[Solent Richard]

Today's advice information for @watsonbeau is for Split. Here's the link to my cruise blog page on that interesting piece of Croatia.....

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2016/06/17/one-way-to-do-split/

 

While the review is a few years old the basics remain the same except for the fact that cruise ships can now berth alongside....

 

...and visited more recently on the motor yacht Lady Eleganza' ....

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2022/07/21/lady-eleganza-croatia-and-adriatic-maiden-season/

 

 

It was a relatively easy 10 minute walk to the main attraction, the Diocletian’s Palace…

[elmsliebev]

45 minutes ago, Solent Richard said:

Today's advice information for @watsonbeau is for Split. Here's the link to my cruise blog page on that interesting piece of Croatia.....

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2016/06/17/one-way-to-do-split/

 

While the review is a few years old the basics remain the same except for the fact that cruise ships can now berth alongside....

 

...and visited more recently on the motor yacht Lady Eleganza' ....

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2022/07/21/lady-eleganza-croatia-and-adriatic-maiden-season/

 

 

It was a relatively easy 10 minute walk to the main attraction, the Diocletian’s Palace…

your advice was very helpful for us when we were in Split last October. Very walkable, the Diocletian Palace is a must. 

[watsonbeau]

It looks lovely. Should have gone last time on QV but last port was Venice where fog was closing in so QV had to miss it so people didn’t miss flights home. So looking forward to Split.  Thank you 

 

[Solent Richard]

Good morning @watsonbeau .

 

Today's offering is for Corfu....

 

We chose to take a ship's excursion  on this occasion due entirely to the choice of places and their distance from Corfu Town...

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2014/11/03/one-way-to-do-corfu/

 

Having then visited these wonderful places we still had time in Corfu for a decent wander....

 

[watsonbeau]

Think it was 1979 when I last visited Corfu - remember having a ginger beer at the Liston and attracting wasps while watching cricket - so really looking forward to seeing it again.  Thank you 

 

[Solent Richard]

Good morning @watsonbeau .

 

My final offering on this thread is how I did Malta....

 

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2014/04/28/one-way-to-do-malta/

 

Having spent many a fine ship visit there during my time serving in the Royal Navy it was good to get away from Valetta and to discover the far more attractive city of Mdina though the pull of fond memories down the 'Gut' necessitated a roam around modern Valetta and Sliema as well.

 

There's nothing quite like a trip across Grande harbour in the traditional Maltese Dgħajsa ....

 

 

Anyway, I hope my musings have been helpful to you.

[watsonbeau]

I’m looking forward to Valletta, hope to catch the guns firing at Upper Barraka.