Wandering on your own in Europe

[MrHaga]

Hey

What is the best ports on a western mediterranean cruise itinerary to just go of the ship and do your own wandering.

LEAVING FROM:Barcelona, Spain onboard Wonder of the Seas

VISITING:| Palma de Mallorca | Provence (Marseilles) | Florence/Pisa (La Spezia) | Rome (Civitavecchia) | Naples (Capri)

 

If someone has writtern any good post on this forum about this topic before, a link to the post would be very much appreciated.

 

-Any ports its is diffucult or just nothing special to experience?

-Any tips to what to go see on your own?

-Any tourist-traps to be aware of?

[FSUFAN]

IMHO - Look for information about Hop-on-Hop-off buses at each of the "minor" ports if available.  At least there will be some sort of direction and explanation/history of the area and what you are looking at.

Using Google, find a high rated, guided tour for Florence and Rome.  There is just too much to see at those stops. You could spend a week in Rome and not get to everything.

[Ray]

25 minutes ago, FSUFAN said:

IMHO - Look for information about Hop-on-Hop-off buses at each of the "minor" ports if available.  At least there will be some sort of direction and explanation/history of the area and what you are looking at.

Using Google, find a high rated, guided tour for Florence and Rome.  There is just too much to see at those stops. You could spend a week in Rome and not get to everything.

Hop on hop off is probably the best way to get about 

[Riley]

Echoing the hop on/hop off, especially in Mallorca there is a stop when you (FINALLY! Longest terminal walk-to-exit I've ever seen) exit the terminal that runs regularly. We really enjoyed seeing Mallorca that way. 

Civitavecchia is a long (~1 hour) train ride from Rome and there is nothing at the port.

Florence/Pisa there are good train options as it's a lot closer to the port.

Not yet been to Capri or Marseilles. Good luck.

[ChessE4]

You might want to look at Rick Steves' PBS videos or paperback guides as he is a bit of a rambler.  Also, because of pickpockets be sure to keep the valuables you take with you very safe.  As you walk, try not to look completely like a tourist.  We found Pisa underwhelming, so we will go to Florence on our next opportunity.  However, I did enjoy seeing the Leaning Tower having read about it in my youth.  Have a great trip!

[Pattycruise]

Inserting a comment on safety.  Please realize, like any heavily tourist area that there are pickpockets, bag thieves at these types of ports/tourist areas.  I went 2 bocks down a side street in Marseilles and saw a pile (about 4 ft high) of the contents of luggage and handbags on a corner.  Scattered around it were said empty luggage and handbags.
Even in my fairly quiet suburb/town there have been thieves that take a handbag off the back of a chair while dining or steal out of a stroller.  In Marsailles I watched many people walk through the outdoor cafe that did not belong there, my thought were shopping for easy pickings, bags on the floor, bags over the back of chairs, or distract/ bump and pick.

[Carotthat]

Here are some inputs about cities we've been:

- Mallorca/Palma: A must see! Walk leisurely through the City of Palma, spend some time shopping (they have all major european brands and small island style shops there), have a lunch at Bar Café Coto. You can use the bus for low price to get around. Check out St. Catalina, the market hall and all the spots the city has to offer. No need to roam outside Palma!

- Rome: As said, at least 1h travel time to the city with train. But worth it! Pick some spots to visit, choose of the overpriced tourist trap cafés and feel some italian spirit

- Naples: We did not leave the ship. Ugh. Polluted air, congestions everywhere. Trips to capri pricey.

 

Carotthat

[Ray]

3 hours ago, Pattycruise said:

Inserting a comment on safety.  Please realize, like any heavily tourist area that there are pickpockets, bag thieves at these types of ports/tourist areas.  

This type of thing happens all over the world! 

Go to mainland Europe someone may pickpocket you!

Go to Asia or Africa and your gold chain may get ripped from your neck! 

Go to London you may get a knife stuck in your face while threatened and robbed! 

Go to US its same as above but more likely a gun than a knife! 

So doesn't matter where you go you should always be alert and take care

[FSUFAN]

I was an IT project manager before I retired and with me, I plan everything.  Even if you decide to wander, I would at least make a list of sights that I wanted to see.  For sure in Rome.  Make the list, then go to google maps and map out a walking route or public transportation route, etc.  The Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, The Vatican, the Pantheon and much, much, more. There are Piazzas, churches and museums galore.  Walk a block or two away from the main streets and hit some window service cafe type place. Best Pizza I ever had. Same with Gelato. 

But do be aware of your surroundings and count your change.  The first time I went to Rome, they were still using the Lira and it was crazy to keep up with the exchange.  A subway ticket was like 3,000 lira (just a few bucks). I slid a 50,000 Lira note to the subway ticket guy. He pushed back something like 10,000 back thru the change window and paused, I waited, he pushed another 10,000 and paused again, I still waited and finally he pushed the balance to me.  I wonder how many tourists, grabbed that first 10,000 and left.  They are on the Euro now, so most of that exchange nonsense is over. 

How to use Google Maps walking directions

[Pattycruise]

7 hours ago, FSUFAN said:

I was an IT project manager before I retired and with me, I plan everything.  Even if you decide to wander, I would at least make a list of sights that I wanted to see.  For sure in Rome.  Make the list, then go to google maps and map out a walking route or public transportation route, etc.  The Colosseum, Trevi Fountain, The Vatican, the Pantheon and much, much, more. There are Piazzas, churches and museums galore.  Walk a block or two away from the main streets and hit some window service cafe type place. Best Pizza I ever had. Same with Gelato. 

But do be aware of your surroundings and count your change.  The first time I went to Rome, they were still using the Lira and it was crazy to keep up with the exchange.  A subway ticket was like 3,000 lira (just a few bucks). I slid a 50,000 Lira note to the subway ticket guy. He pushed back something like 10,000 back thru the change window and paused, I waited, he pushed another 10,000 and paused again, I still waited and finally he pushed the balance to me.  I wonder how many tourists, grabbed that first 10,000 and left.  They are on the Euro now, so most of that exchange nonsense is over. 

How to use Google Maps walking directions

Just had this happen in Halifax!

[Marga]

I went on this cruise, plus I live in Europe. Everything on that itinerary is easy (and safe) to do on your own. 

If you have any specific questions you can DM me. Going on Wonder again next week (same itinerary)

 

Tourist trap: all those websites and on-site sellers who sell you 'skip the line' tickets. For all attractions you can just go to their own website and buy tickets in advance. This is as 'skip the line' as it will get and much cheaper. Especially in Rome there are a lot of fake sellers out there. They even show you an ID so it looks like they are 'official'.

[Snowchaser]

I'll just throw this out there cause I haven't seen it mentioned yet, we really enjoy doing the walking tours that are available in most European cities.  Many are free or very low cost and the guides work mainly on tips.   We have met some really good and informative people this way.

[MrHaga]

Thanks all! Good info!

[MrHaga]

On 6/15/2022 at 10:33 AM, Marga said:

I went on this cruise, plus I live in Europe. Everything on that itinerary is easy (and safe) to do on your own. 

If you have any specific questions you can DM me. Going on Wonder again next week (same itinerary)

 

Tourist trap: all those websites and on-site sellers who sell you 'skip the line' tickets. For all attractions you can just go to their own website and buy tickets in advance. This is as 'skip the line' as it will get and much cheaper. Especially in Rome there are a lot of fake sellers out there. They even show you an ID so it looks like they are 'official'.

Would be awesome if your sent a copy of the Cruise compasses for your trip to, Matt!   ...so he can upload on the blog

[wordell1]

If you want to travel on your own, Rick Steves is the best.  We used his guide for our cruise on Wonder a few weeks back.

Rick Steves Mediterranean Cruise Ports (Rick Steves Travel Guide): Steves, Rick: 9781641710954: Amazon.com: Books

Naples, Barcelona, Mallorca, and Marseille are easy do it yourself ports. 

La Spezia is very far from Florence so I would at least consider the ship tour to ensure there are no issues getting back in time.  We decided it was too far to Florence and chose to do Cinque Terre on our own.  I have a review in the shore excursion section of what we did.

Rome is 50/50 - Its close enough to do on your own, just make sure you leave enough time to be back to the ship.  Personally, I would book a private tour here to maximize your time.  There is a lot to do in Rome.  We started in Rome and stayed 3 extra days.

[Thorntor]

I will probably get flamed but not withstanding the wonderful things about Naples, it is a high crime area and should probably only be toured with a guide.  Tourist easily wander into the wrong places and end up mugged.  That said, a visit to Pompeii and/or Capri from Naples are excellent excursions.  If you go to Capri, be sure to visit the Blue Grotto.

[wordell1]

11 minutes ago, Thorntor said:

I will probably get flamed but not withstanding the wonderful things about Naples, it is a high crime area and should probably only be toured with a guide.  Tourist easily wander into the wrong places and end up mugged.  That said, a visit to Pompeii and/or Capri from Naples are excellent excursions.  If you go to Capri, be sure to visit the Blue Grotto.

I walked around Naples all day and never felt even remotely unsafe - pretty much stayed in the older part of town close to the port. The streets were busy - too busy for anything more than pickpockets.  I wear cargo pants with hidden zipper pockets so I wasn't overly worried about them.