Western Europe Shore Excursion Help

[cruise-y]

I've just booked a cruise out of Southampton to Gibraltar, Cartagena, Mallorca, Barcelona, Nice, Corsica, Malaga and Seville.  I never thought I'd be back to RC this soon, but the itinerary was too hard to beat since we will be in London anyway.  

Can anyone suggest the best day trips?  Obviously Alhambra is one.  Thanks much!

 

[hayley_bopp]

Gibraltar- go to Cathedral Square and get a shared mini-van to do a tour of the rock taking in viewing points, St Michael's Cave (breathtaking)and top of the rock. Think it was about €20 per person when we were there in 2016 and well worth it. You will likely only have a few hours in Gib as it's more a refuelling stop so not much time to do much more. We'll be back this summer and are going to visit the siege tunnels and/or the WW2 tunnels this time. 

 

Barcelona - a fabulous city. Hop on Hop off bus is a good option but there are at least 2 (and possibly 3) routes that you can do - impossible to do them all in one port day I would think so have a look beforehand and decide which you'd prefer and choose a couple of places to hop off at. For a first time visit, I'd recommend taking in La Sagrada Familia (Gaudi's still-to-be-completed cathedral). I've never been inside but it's massively impressive from the outside. Parc Guell is another Gaudi spot that's worth a look, although you'd have to 'Hop Off' to see it. I believe there are renovations currently taking place and they are limiting the number of people who can go in at once. I don't know when these are due to finish but if you can get in there are spectacular views across the whole city to be had if you climb to the top of the steps right at the back of the park. The tour of the Camp Nou football (soccer) stadium is well worth doing if you're a fan. Las Ramblas is great for the hustle and bustle, stalls and street entertainers. We go back there this summer too and are considering an electric bike/segway tour. I also want to take in more of the gothic quarter. 

Malaga would be the port from which to visit the Alhambra. I believe it is quite a distance from the port so personally I'd be more comfortable booking with RC to visit there. We haven't done that but also visited Malaga in 2016. It was a beautiful city with plenty to see and do. We took a horse and carriage ride (€40ish for 30 mins) which was a different, peaceful  way to see some of the city but there was no narration/explanation of the sights (or our driver at least didn't give any). We then went to the cathedral (spectacular) and the Roman fort  - this place was AMAZING: €2 to get in and we were there for a good 2 hours.  You also get fantastic views of the ship in the port. We'd love to go back and visit the castle/fort that is at the top of the hill above the Roman fort and the Picasso Museum. The beach looked nice too if you just want to relax. 

Haven't yet been to any of the other ports so can't advise on those I'm afraid although we are going to Nice this July so depending when your cruise is may be able to give some info - we've booked a coach transfer with RC. 

We will be visiting Cartagena next year so would be interested to hear what you decide to do there. 

[Neaxan]

Barcelona: Hop on hop off is a good way to get a thorough picture. If you want to visit Gaudi attractions (Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Batllo) buy your tickets in advance, otherwise your whole trip will be queing in lines. Looks like the visitor limit in Parc Guell will be permanent. Another option: just walk down Las Ramblas and get lost in the maze that's Barri Gotic.

Malaga: Alhambra obviously.

Mallorca: hop on hop off is an option - or just take a shuttle to the city center and visit the Cathedral. The train ride to Soller is also lovely.

Nice: Don't remember anything about the city but Monte Carlo or (in the other direction) Antibes or Cannes aren't that far away. Antibes is the typical French seaside resort, Monte Carlo is more posh.

Haven't been to the other ports but I've worked in London for some time, so if you've questions about The City, I'd be happy to help.

[cruise-y]

Thank you!

[DocLC]

I've only been to Southampton and Barcelona, so I won't be of much help. However, in Barcelona, we simply hired a taxi and toured the city. For 5 of us it was about 120 Euros total for 3 hours. We enjoyed it as we could spend as much or as little time as we wanted at each of the sites and the driver gave us the history of the various sites as we went. We actually loved the city so much that we have planned a cruise from there next summer. That way, we'll have some time to explore the city more precruise.

 

[cruise-y]

On 5/28/2018 at 10:28 AM, Neaxan said:

Barcelona: Hop on hop off is a good way to get a thorough picture. If you want to visit Gaudi attractions (Sagrada Familia, Parc Guell, Casa Batllo) buy your tickets in advance, otherwise your whole trip will be queing in lines. Looks like the visitor limit in Parc Guell will be permanent. Another option: just walk down Las Ramblas and get lost in the maze that's Barri Gotic.

Malaga: Alhambra obviously.

Mallorca: hop on hop off is an option - or just take a shuttle to the city center and visit the Cathedral. The train ride to Soller is also lovely.

Nice: Don't remember anything about the city but Monte Carlo or (in the other direction) Antibes or Cannes aren't that far away. Antibes is the typical French seaside resort, Monte Carlo is more posh.

Haven't been to the other ports but I've worked in London for some time, so if you've questions about The City, I'd be happy to help.

Thank you for the tip about buying Sagrada Famila tickets in advance.  Wouldn’t have thought of that!

[DocLC]

55 minutes ago, cruise-y said:

Thank you for the tip about buying Sagrada Famila tickets in advance.  Wouldn’t have thought of that!

Most places offer an option to pay for tickets in advance and it's usually worth doing so as it saves you time versus standing in line. Some places also operate on a timed entry basis, so buying in advanced lets you pick the best time for you.