NCteacherlovescruising Posted July 18 #1 Share Posted July 18 We have a round trip Barcelona cruise booked for June. We plan to spend some time in Barcelona (assuming tourist are more welcome by then) but are undecided where to spend a few days post cruise. We are open to traveling by train or plane. Our immediate thoughts are Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, the Bordeaux region, or back to Italy to see Florence and Tuscany. We had one day trip to Tuscany this year, which I absolutely loved, but never made it to Florence. I think dh is leaning away from Italy since we just went to Rome, Amalfi Coast and Venice and he’d like to see something else. Btw, I loved all those places. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
d9704011 Posted July 18 #2 Share Posted July 18 (edited) We did a TA earlier this year and went to Madrid for a few days (with a day trip to Toledo). An excellent choice and a location you'll not see on any cruise itinerary. We stayed at Room Mate Alba; great location and close to trains, local transport, sites and easy access to MAD. https://room-matehotels.com/en/alba/ Edited July 18 by d9704011 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCteacherlovescruising Posted July 18 Author #3 Share Posted July 18 1 hour ago, d9704011 said: We did a TA earlier this year and went to Madrid for a few days (with a day trip to Toledo). An excellent choice and a location you'll not see on any cruise itinerary. We stayed at Room Mate Alba; great location and close to trains, local transport, sites and easy access to MAD. https://room-matehotels.com/en/alba/ It would be easy too. If flights are cheaper there we may go there a day, then take a train to Barcelona and maybe somewhere else post cruise. We’re so early in the planning stages. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted July 18 #4 Share Posted July 18 (edited) 6 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said: It would be easy too. If flights are cheaper there we may go there a day, then take a train to Barcelona and maybe somewhere else post cruise. We’re so early in the planning stages. If you go back to your early planning posts, you had a lot of info on Madrid, hotels, trains, etc. That info is still good and there is nothing new. This is a great option for you if you still have the CLT-MAD direct flight available. For after your cruise, you have many options, especially if you are willing to drive in France. You could go from Barcelona to Bordeaux by train and rent a car at the station. https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Barcelona.htm#Barcelona-Bordeaux You can rent a car in one country and return it in another one, but they charge you a hefty premium. Visit Bordeaux and Saint Emilion. Then drive to Paris through the Perigord, one of the most beautiful parts of France. [Route through Sarlat-la-Canéda. Use Sarlat as a base to explore the Dordogne river area: Beynac, La Rocque Gageat, Domme, Les Eyzies, Lascaux Caves, etc.] Or, drive from Bordeaux to Paris through the Loire Valley [Route through Tours, Amboise, Blois, Cheverny, Chambord, etc. Amboise is a great place to stay.] You can return the car at another train station and take the train to Paris flying back from there. Or drive to Paris and return the car at the airport. Your third option is to go to Portugal (through Seville?) and fly back from Lisbon. Driving is also easy there. More ideas if you want them... Edited July 18 by marazul Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCteacherlovescruising Posted July 18 Author #5 Share Posted July 18 1 minute ago, marazul said: If you go back to your early planning posts, you had a lot of info on Madrid, hotels, trains, etc. That info is still good and there is nothing new. This is a great option for you if you still have the CLT-MAD direct flight available. This is still a consideration. However, I just accepted a job in another district and the last day of school is June 10. The district I have worked for for many years ends on the 6th so the 13th was perfect timing. Now it’s tight. Our cruise is on the 13th. If we fly to Madrid it won’t leave us much time in Barcelona. It would be a great option if we just do Madrid and Barcelona, which may be what we end up doing. 1 minute ago, marazul said: For after your cruise, you have many options, especially if you are willing to drive in France. You could go from Barcelona to Bordeaux by train and rent a car at the station. Visit Bordeaux and Saint Emilion. Then drive to Paris through the Perigord, one of the most beautiful parts of France. [Route through Sarlat-la-Canéda. Use Sarlat as a base to explore the Dordogne river area: Beynac, La Rocque Gageat, Domme, Les Eyzies, Lascaux Caves, etc.] Or, drive from Bordeaux to Paris through the Loire Valley [Route through Tours, Amboise, Blois, Cheverny, Chambord, etc. Amboise is a great place to stay.] You can return the car at another train station and take the train to Paris flying back from there. Or drive to Paris and return the car at the airport. https://www.seat61.com/international-trains/trains-from-Barcelona.htm#Barcelona-Bordeaux You can rent a car in one country and return it in another one, but they charge you a hefty premium. I’m not sure about driving in France. Wouldn’t it be easy to get lost? We are considering flying to either Bordeaux or Paris after the cruise and maybe taking the train to the other. I’ve spent a couple hours looking at hotels in Paris which was quite confusing. I have never researched Paris before so I’ve no idea what area we’d want to stay in. Dh says we need to be economical next year since we had a major splurge this summer. But it was totally worth it!! But as for being economical, it doesn’t look like we can get anything nice near major sites in Paris without spending several hundred per night. (We typically like to max out around $350) I found a nice B&B in Bordeaux that was very reasonable. Maybe a couple nights each place. In Bordeaux I’d love to visit the wine museum and maybe hit a couple of the beautiful vineyards. We are into nice wines and really enjoy a good Bordeaux from the Margaux region. I’ve got a couple in mind. Not sure about Paris. Obviously would want to see the Eiffel Tower, the Louvre, Notre Dame, maybe go down the Seine River. It has never been on my bucket list but now it’s starting to seem appealing, especially if we go to Bordeaux since they are so close. Would two days there be enough? 1 minute ago, marazul said: Your third option is to go to Portugal (through Seville?) and fly back from Lisbon. Driving is also easy there. More ideas if you want them... This was dh’s idea and is on the bottom of my list but if it’s where he wants to go I’m ok with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted July 18 #6 Share Posted July 18 2 minutes ago, NCteacherlovescruising said: I’m not sure about driving in France. Wouldn’t it be easy to get lost? No. Excellent, well marked roads all over France. GPS works perfectly. It is best not to have the car in Paris. If all you want is Bordeaux, the minimum would be one full day for Bordeaux and a wine tour to the wineries in the Médoc area (yes, that includes Margaux). You need a second day for a tour to St Emilion which is a fabulous medieval town with a long wine tradition. It is surrounded by wonderful wineries (Pomerol for one). That also gives you three nights in Bordeaux to try fabulous restaurants and drink wonderful wines. It is best to fly to Paris from Barcelona. Then high-speed TGV train to Bordeaux or fly if you want to go there first. It would be a shame not to see the Loire Valley castles which are half way between Bordeaux and Paris. That's why I suggested driving from one to the other. You can take the train from Paris to Bordeaux ( two hours direct on a TGV train). Rent a car at the Bordeaux train station and drive towards Angers or Tours to start your tour of the Loire Valley. Return the car at the Chartres train staion. Train to Paris is one hour. Or train to airport if you do this at the end of your trip. There are hundreds of hotels in Paris. Look at a map and find hotels between Notre Dame and the Eiffel tower on either side of the river. Come back here for comments before you book. BTW- don't miss going to Versailles when you are in Paris. Easily accessible by train or taxi. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted July 18 #7 Share Posted July 18 1 hour ago, NCteacherlovescruising said: However, I just accepted a job in another district and the last day of school is June 10. CMS? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCteacherlovescruising Posted July 18 Author #8 Share Posted July 18 27 minutes ago, marazul said: CMS? Yes 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCteacherlovescruising Posted July 19 Author #9 Share Posted July 19 14 hours ago, marazul said: No. Excellent, well marked roads all over France. GPS works perfectly. It is best not to have the car in Paris. If all you want is Bordeaux, the minimum would be one full day for Bordeaux and a wine tour to the wineries in the Médoc area (yes, that includes Margaux). You need a second day for a tour to St Emilion which is a fabulous medieval town with a long wine tradition. It is surrounded by wonderful wineries (Pomerol for one). That also gives you three nights in Bordeaux to try fabulous restaurants and drink wonderful wines. It is best to fly to Paris from Barcelona. Then high-speed TGV train to Bordeaux or fly if you want to go there first. It would be a shame not to see the Loire Valley castles which are half way between Bordeaux and Paris. That's why I suggested driving from one to the other. You can take the train from Paris to Bordeaux ( two hours direct on a TGV train). Rent a car at the Bordeaux train station and drive towards Angers or Tours to start your tour of the Loire Valley. Return the car at the Chartres train staion. Train to Paris is one hour. Or train to airport if you do this at the end of your trip. There are hundreds of hotels in Paris. Look at a map and find hotels between Notre Dame and the Eiffel tower on either side of the river. Come back here for comments before you book. BTW- don't miss going to Versailles when you are in Paris. Easily accessible by train or taxi. Thanks for all these suggestions! I had heard of the palace but didn’t realize there were all these castles between Bordeaux and Paris. I watched a video on them last night. It looks like a cool thing to do, but would also take an entire day. I am still waiting on dh to look over things and let me know where he wants to go post cruise and how many days we can stay. He’s been super busy this week after being off work for nearly a month. I’m much more interested in Bordeaux than Paris but it seems silly not to at least go for a day if we’re that close. Honestly, after looking at things to do there, a dinner cruise along the Seine River looks like something I’d enjoy the most. It ends at the Eiffel Tower while it’s lit up. Going back to Italy and seeing Florence and the Tuscany countryside are still high on my list. However, dh has said he’d prefer seeing something new. We didn’t see Florence or Pisa this time, and we only had a day trip to Tuscany, so I would consider it new. I’d even love to visit Puglia, Lake Como and Milan! I just loved Italy and want to return! I will let him make the final decision though since the last trip was the top of my bucket list. There’s still a possibility of Madrid or Lisbon too. Madrid would make the most sense financially, since it’s cheaper for us to fly into and has direct flights. We wouldn’t need to worry about purchasing extra flights either since we could easily get between there and Barcelona by train. Plus, as you mentioned, I already have info on visiting there from what I learned last summer. With that said, Lisbon would be at the bottom of my list, but I’m sure we’d like any of these places. Looks like flights will start opening in a couple weeks which may also impact our decision. Speaking of flights, I way overpacked this summer. Lol We came home with two checked bags and each of us with a personal item and a carry on. Next summer we hope to not check anything. With our missed connection in Chicago coming home (due to our first flight being delayed), they lost one of our bags. Thank God they found it and delivered it about 48 hours later but it did cause some anxiety. Besides, all I ended up wearing was dresses and skirts and I bought several during the trip. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
edinburgher Posted July 19 #10 Share Posted July 19 2 hours ago, NCteacherlovescruising said: hey found it and delivered it about 48 hours later but it did cause some anxiety. You could consider packing 50/50, ie pack one checked bag with clothing for both of you, and if you have a second,do the same with it. You would still have the equivalent of one checked bag each, but with the contents distributed in a different way. That way, if one bag should go missing, you should each have clothing in the other bag, enough to keep you going until until the missing one appears. Many people do this"just in case"😀 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCteacherlovescruising Posted July 19 Author #11 Share Posted July 19 24 minutes ago, edinburgher said: You could consider packing 50/50, ie pack one checked bag with clothing for both of you, and if you have a second,do the same with it. You would still have the equivalent of one checked bag each, but with the contents distributed in a different way. That way, if one bag should go missing, you should each have clothing in the other bag, enough to keep you going until until the missing one appears. Many people do this"just in case"😀 The bag wasn't lost until our trip home. I panicked because it was all my stuff plus a leather bag I bought for my granddaughter. Trust me, on the way there, I had my meds, make-up, best clothes and shoes on my person! I really think we could do all carry-on. We sent a full bag for laundry on the ship and I got two blow-outs which eliminated the need to bring hair products, except dry shampoo. Of course, I packed nearly an entire bag full of new purchases on the way home. We had placed a large backpack (the type that has wheels, but we had removed them) inside our large checked suitcase on the way there, which we utilized on the way home. The biggest issue with our checked luggage was it made us miss our connecting flight from Chicago O'Hare to Clt. Our flight from Venice was delayed a couple hours and we barely missed the flight. We would have made it if we hadn't had to wait so long at baggage claim to get our checked luggage and then re-check it. Why did we even have to do that with connecting flights?? Because of that we ended up spending the night at the airport and didn't get to leave until 1:00 the next afternoon. Not fun! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
erby2283 Posted July 19 #12 Share Posted July 19 (edited) After our Barcelona cruise, we flew to Lisbon to spend 3 days there post cruise. My family is Italian and my ex's family was Portuguese so it was only fair we got to see both countries after our Mediterranean cruise. 🙂 We had a great time. Spent one full day touring with Lisbon Riders to Cascais and Sintra (which included a self-guided tour of the castle). Also went to Cabo Da Roca (the western most tip). Our guide was great and I think the whole day tour was 270 eu plus tip for 5 people. Then we spent the next day going to Belem Tower and just winging the rest of day on our own - we took the ferry over to Almada and spent the day walking around. We walked up to Santuario de Cristo Rei - which is the sister statue to the Christ the Redeemer in Brazil. You can take the elevator to the top for amazing views. It was great! After I post this, I'll see if I can go back and add some pictures for reference from my cell phone. Oh, and the flight from Barcelona from Lisbon was cheap - but it's cheaper to get around in Europe once you're already there. Lisbon View from our VRBO in Lisbon A stop on the way to Cabo da Roca Belem Tower Santuario de Cristo Rei View from the top. Edited July 19 by erby2283 Add pictures Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCteacherlovescruising Posted July 19 Author #13 Share Posted July 19 39 minutes ago, erby2283 said: After our Barcelona cruise, we flew to Lisbon to spend 3 days there post cruise. My family is Italian and my ex's family was Portuguese so it was only fair we got to see both countries after our Mediterranean cruise. 🙂 We had a great time. Spent one full day touring with Lisbon Riders to Cascais and Sintra (which included a self-guided tour of the castle). Also went to Cabo Da Roca (the western most tip). Our guide was great and I think the whole day tour was 270 eu plus tip for 5 people. Then we spent the next day going to Belem Tower and just winging the rest of day on our own - we took the ferry over to Almada and spent the day walking around. We walked up to Santuario de Cristo Rei - which is the sister statue to the Christ the Redeemer in Brazil. You can take the elevator to the top for amazing views. It was great! After I post this, I'll see if I can go back and add some pictures for reference from my cell phone. Oh, and the flight from Barcelona from Lisbon was cheap - but it's cheaper to get around in Europe once you're already there. Lisbon View from our VRBO in Lisbon A stop on the way to Cabo da Roca Belem Tower Santuario de Cristo Rei View from the top. Thanks for sharing! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare marazul Posted July 19 #14 Share Posted July 19 @NCteacherlovescruising- I must confess I am a francophile. France is an incredibly beautiful country. If you enjoyed Tuscany, you would love the Dordogne-Perigord area. It is the hidden France with wonderful castles, lovely villages, prehistoric caves and extraordinary food. And it is next to Bordeaux on the same river. The Loire valley is wonderful. It is royal France with magnificent castles and historic towns. Paris is Paris and it deserves more than one day. And I would definitely not take a "dinner cruise" on the Seine. You would have a mediocre dinner at best and less than fine wines. There is only one truly gourmet dinner (or lunch) cruise by Alain Ducasse, one of the very best 3-star chefs in France. You say you are foodies who enjoy fine wines, then IMO, do take the a river cruise for sightseeing only and then go to dinner to a really nice restaurant. Here is the info on the cruise: https://reservation.ducasse-seine.com/en/Our-Cruises https://www.ducasse-seine.com/en For a discussion on dinner cruises, read this with my suggestions on post #7: Your trip really depends on how much time you have. For the whole Paris-Bordeaux-Loire circle you need a week to do it justice. You can do a shorter driving loop out of Barcelona that takes you to Carcassonne, Sarlat and Bordeaux. Return the car in Barcelona to avoid surcharges. Or just go to Paris and the Loire. You might even consider doing a full river or barge cruise in France with an extra one week stay some other time. If you have another big occasion coming up you can splurge on this one: https://www.fcwl.com/ Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCteacherlovescruising Posted July 19 Author #15 Share Posted July 19 34 minutes ago, marazul said: @NCteacherlovescruising- I must confess I am a francophile. France is an incredibly beautiful country. If you enjoyed Tuscany, you would love the Dordogne-Perigord area. It is the hidden France with wonderful castles, lovely villages, prehistoric caves and extraordinary food. And it is next to Bordeaux on the same river. The Loire valley is wonderful. It is royal France with magnificent castles and historic towns. I doubt we would have time for both if we try to squeeze in Paris. If this is the direction dh chooses. 34 minutes ago, marazul said: Paris is Paris and it deserves more than one day. And I would definitely not take a "dinner cruise" on the Seine. You would have a mediocre dinner at best and less than fine wines. There is only one truly gourmet dinner (or lunch) cruise by Alain Ducasse, one of the very best 3-star chefs in France. You say you are foodies who enjoy fine wines, then IMO, do take the a river cruise for sightseeing only and then go to dinner to a really nice restaurant. Here is the info on the cruise: https://reservation.ducasse-seine.com/en/Our-Cruises https://www.ducasse-seine.com/en For a discussion on dinner cruises, read this with my suggestions on post #7: I’m not a foodie, far from it! I’m on the picky side. Dh is a foodie. We both appreciate fine wines though 34 minutes ago, marazul said: Your trip really depends on how much time you have. For the whole Paris-Bordeaux-Loire circle you need a week to do it justice. You can do a shorter driving loop out of Barcelona that takes you to Carcassonne, Sarlat and Bordeaux. Return the car in Barcelona to avoid surcharges. Or just go to Paris and the Loire. You might even consider doing a full river or barge cruise in France with an extra one week stay some other time. If you have another big occasion coming up you can splurge on this one: https://www.fcwl.com/ Dh hasn’t given me a time frame, budget or even told me where he wants to go post cruise. I know it won’t be near the extent of what we just returned from! We’ve discussed the options and I’ve kind of ran with France. However, with our time constraints before the cruise due to my new job, we may decide to just stay in Spain post cruise too since we won’t even have time to explore Barcelona prior. If I’d have had this job before booking the cruise I would have booked it a bit later. But the good news is the new job will help pay for this since this school district pays better. He says he’ll look at our options this weekend so fingers crossed he does. I was thinking maybe 2-3 days in Bordeaux and 1-2 in Paris. It looks like we can do multi-city tickets with 1 stop to Barcelona and non-stop home from Paris, which would be nice. But Madrid also offers direct flights. I should know more in a couple of days. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCteacherlovescruising Posted July 20 Author #16 Share Posted July 20 I think we’re going to do Bordeaux and Paris so I’ll move over there. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Rare alserrod Posted July 24 #17 Share Posted July 24 On 7/18/2024 at 12:39 PM, NCteacherlovescruising said: We have a round trip Barcelona cruise booked for June. We plan to spend some time in Barcelona (assuming tourist are more welcome by then) but are undecided where to spend a few days post cruise. We are open to traveling by train or plane. Our immediate thoughts are Lisbon, Madrid, Paris, the Bordeaux region, or back to Italy to see Florence and Tuscany. We had one day trip to Tuscany this year, which I absolutely loved, but never made it to Florence. I think dh is leaning away from Italy since we just went to Rome, Amalfi Coast and Venice and he’d like to see something else. Btw, I loved all those places. Let me suggest to go by train to Madrid but having a stop in Zaragoza for one day visit. Remember it is quite common to move by train in Spain. There are more trains than flight among these cities After Madrid you can decide to move to another Spanish city or to take a plane.... but Zaragoza is middleway Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NCteacherlovescruising Posted July 24 Author #18 Share Posted July 24 1 hour ago, alserrod said: Let me suggest to go by train to Madrid but having a stop in Zaragoza for one day visit. Remember it is quite common to move by train in Spain. There are more trains than flight among these cities After Madrid you can decide to move to another Spanish city or to take a plane.... but Zaragoza is middleway That's a great idea, but if our budget allows, I think we're going to Bordeaux and Paris. We're waiting on airfare to open so we'll have a better starting point. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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