World Gallery

We will be there in June and may do St. John's. I have the form printed out but just not sure yet. I would love to get some recent reviews. We are traveling with our 5 kids so I think this would be a good option now that I see the beach pictures.

I love walking everywhere in Venice but when you have walked your feet off it is so nice to be able to hop on the vaporetto to get back to your hotel. I was in Venice for four days last fall and bought the 36 hour vaporetto pass. In the end, I was so happy I did. I used it way more often than I thought I would. For a single trip you pay 6.50 euros so a pass is well worth the money. If the weather is bad you can just ride the vaporetto everywhere and it is actually quite the enjoyable experience riding the "bus" with the locals. Each stop is announced "nexta stopa". Also the bus from the airport that is included in the vaporetto pass is NOT the express ATVO bus with the luggage storage underneath. I took the 5 euro express bus from the airport and did not begin using my 36 hour pass until the next day.

Thanks for posting! This is very helpful to me. I was wondering about the bus, the ATVO bus vs. the one included with the pass. It was confusing. Also, it makes sense to not "activate" your pass until you are really ready to use it and I guess taking that bus that is included would activate the pass, right?

I keep debating the need for a vaporetto pass. I do want to ride down the grand canal once, but otherwise, I'm not sure its needed. Venice just doesn't seem that big and we don't mind walking. We will be in Venice 2.5 days and if I buy a pass for 4 people for that amount of time, it starts getting pretty expensive. I may buy a one day pass so we can do the grand canal and go out to visit an island or two, but I think the rest of the time we are walking.

That is a good idea, just getting the one day pass then picking the day you will use it, and use it all day. I might do the same. We are a family of 7 so it is expensive to get 7 passes!

We are good with walking but I do get frustrated when I get lost and can't find my way to what I am looking for. We took the family to NCY last summer ( 5 kids ages 10-17) and used the subway and walking as our only transportation, but we did get lost, got on a subway going the wrong direction and had a hard time actually finding the subway stations. I know that Venice is nothing like NYC but just like I could not visualize the subway system and how it worked before actually using it it NYC, I can't visualize or predict how much we would use vaporetto pass. We are staying at the Hotel Arlecchino, which is not in the center of things. I also just read our hotel was the first stop on the Vaporetta route, which is a good thing for getting a seat. Seems like it would be useful. Now I need to decide if I would need it on our "day 3", the day we board the ship. Probably not since we will use the People Mover to get to the ship so I guess I need the 2 day pass.

When does the hours start, the minute you use it (which would be at the airport for the bus) or is it by actually days?

Thanks for the tips! I have a few more questions:

For St. Mark's Basilica - Do you purchase a general ticket that will allow you to go when you want or is it a specific time and day?

For Doge's Palace - I understand that the Behind the Scenes tour would be a specific time and day but what about the other tours at Doge's? It is very hard for us to be tied down to exact times. We have 5 kids (ages 10-17) and things just happen, someone gets tired, we are running late eating, etc., etc. Is there a general tour that I can purchase and go when we want?

Behing the Scenes tour - I read some reviews months ago and they were very mixed in regards to bringing children (but my kids are older). Anyone bring their children? Was it interesting or just too long for them? I also read it can get very warm inside. We are there June 1 - 3rd. How's the heat inside.

Cruisingnut - You said, When you get there just go up to the person at the front and give them your reservation confirmation and in you go

Do people think you are trying to cut the line? Are you stared out with "evil eyes"?

72 hour transportation pass in advance because of the discount - what is the actual discount? Is this something we are likely to use? We are staying at Hotel Arlecchino.

I have read many past posts and threads about Venice Connected, online site for getting tickets in advance to just about everything - bus tickets from airport, 72 hour transport passes, public bathroom passes, public WIFI packages, Doge's Palace, etc.

What is truly necessary to get in advance to avoid long lines or sell outs?

Is it really more convenient and cheaper to buy most tickets in advance? It seems you still need to turn in the email voucher to receive the tickets anyway.

It was overwhelming reading all of the options and I am unsure if we would really need public bathroom passes or if we want to tour the Doges Palace.

We've been happy with Barcelona Day Tours. Have you tried them?

Yes, I had contacted them. The price for the 7 of us was quoted at 343Euros for the stop at the Sagrada Familia and them to the airport. That is too high for us! The prices I received from different companies were all over the board.

Yes, we have travel insurance.

I have had the hardest time getting a private transfer. It is the strangest thing. For example, I was in touch with Spanish Trails. She took a month to get back to me (had excuses), then I told her I wanted to book. I had to email again a week later. She said she would send me the paypal link to pay a 40euro deposit, but that was last week. I sent another email but haven't heard back.

I was also in touch with Auto Vilar for a transfer. I thought I was getting the info and was about to book and he stopped answering emails, so I didn't book.

Another company recommended here wanted about 490Euroes for an airport transfer with a stop at Sagrada Familia!

If I could find a reliable transfer company that can actually answer my emails, I would consider booking. This problem never happened in any other port we are booked in. Strange!

The Familia is not out of your way to Airport,taxi could park opposite while you take a viewing, but ask for fare before leaving the pier?

Did you mean it is or is not out of the way? I am not sure I am reading this correctly. Yes, I was going to ask about the fare. Hoping it is not too much more. I think I am more comfortable doing it this way, meaning, just playing it be ear since it seems hard to predict an exact time that we can meet a driver.

Very sensible going straight to airport, most important is your passport& doc,s

I witnessed a Danish couple have there bag snatched prior to their flight that day. Sept 2011

Remember, the airport check in area is a big target area for these thieves.

 

yes there vans/ taxis @ the pier that will take 7,

For us, losing our documents would be a major disaster because we are flying to Copenhagen for a Baltic cruise. That was the main reason I came to this decision. If we lost our things and had to stay in Barcelona a few days to get a flight, that would be one thing but missing the other half of our trip would not be fun! For me, even though I know the chances are not in our favor to have something happen, it is not worth it.

Glad to hear there are vans that will hold 7. I guess we could consider playing it by ear and having our taxi driver drive us to the Sagrada Familia if we had time. My husband and I could then take turns getting out of the taxi while the other stayed in the taxi with the stuff. We could split up the kids, him taking the girls and me taking the boys to walk around the church. Anyone ever made an "out of the way" stop before going to the airport?

Wow, thanks for the tips. I am rethinking a few things. We were going to have a short tour to Sagrada Familia before our airport transfer in Barcelona but now we are not. We are going straight to the airport from the ship. I guess now we will just get a taxi that day by standing in line for one. Just hoping there are taxi vans for 7 so we can all ride together:confused:

I have a few questions about those slash proof purses/bags. I see a few options at Magellans I have been wanting to purchase one for a while now but I keep thinking this, "If they try to cut it, meaning they will have a knife very close to my body, and can't cut it, will that knife/cutter slip and cut me or will it anger them?

Also, for any Med. ports, I am wondering if children are fair game? I don't plan on having my kids carry valuables but we have 5 kids and my two sons usually do carry a backpack with water and snacks. If it were to get ripped off of them, I think it would be very upsetting to them. My sons are 13 and 17. My girls (10-14) also carry little purses with nothing of real value in it. Should I not let them? Also, I am now assuming it is best not to let kids carry Iphones with them. They were planning on it so that they could use it for a camera. This may be a stupid question, one that can't really be answered but I will try - What is of most value to them - Iphone, camera, jewerly? I know money and credit cards! Should I not let me kids carry anything? Just having a purse snatched, with nothing much in it, would be the worse part for them.

Thanks. I am also going to go check out those Youtube videos.

sorry, meant to make this a new thread

Keeper13 - Thanks for sharing about this food tour. I have done a lot of research and didn't come across this tour. Do you think it would be a good option for kids ages 10-17? We did our first food tour last summer in Greenwich Village NY and we all enjoyed it. My kids thought it was "cool" and I thought it was a great way to experience/remember a city.

I don't like the one hour drive though since Toulon comes after 3 full days of Italian ports. Was the drive relaxing/scenic or was it on a 2 lane highway with oncoming traffic with fast drivers (those types of driving experiences fray my nerves so I try to avoid them.) It seems that we can still fit in an hour of Toulon beach time with this food tour. Did you join another group? It states on her website that she does this tour Tuesday and Thursday and takes up to 10 people.

Hank - What is it about Cassis that you do not like? I have been going back and forth with that option for some reason.

I was feeling the same way. I couldn't find anything of great interest. I did find a tour guide that will take us to Cassis for the day but it is quite expensive (470 Euros for 6 hours, family of 7. This doesn't include the boat ride or lunch),and she said that the beaches are rocky and the Cassis boats only go out if it is not too windy. Just not sure about Cassis yet. Does this price sound high? It was the norm.

I found the Toulon Tourism website in Rick Steves' book and emailed them for suggestions. Does anyone have any insight to their suggestions?

They replied the next day with this:

The cruise dock is located on Toulon center.

I suggest you to visit Toulon old town which is the historical center, where you'll discover our market which offers a sumptuous show of local produce, the monuments, the fountains,the main squares and typical charming streets and the numbers museums.

Toulon's Beaches are called "plages du Mourillon", are located 25 minutes walking from the port, you can also take the bus number 3 from the end of the port to the beaches, the bus makes 3 minutes. "Plages du Mourillon" are sandy beaches where you'll find a lot of restaurants and bars.

Best regards

Fabio

Office de Tourisme et des Congrès ****

Place Louis Blanc (bas du Cours Lafayette) - 83000 TOULON

Tél. : 04 94 18 53 00 - fax : 04 94 18 53 08

http://www.toulontourisme.com et info@toulontourisme.com

Anni - Great site!!

I just used Google maps to see the distance from Blaue Flotte, where the boat lets you off, to the Rostock Zoo. It seems too far to walk (shows a one hour walk), but it is 7 minutes by taxi. If we take the boat to Rostock, would there be taxis where the boat docks so that we can get to the zoo, then would there be taxi at the zoo to get back to the boat? I feel better with the boat option. It will be myself and 2 girls. My husband is going to Berlin with our older children. The boat seems less complicated.

Also, if there are taxis, would they speak enough English to get us to where we need to go?

Has anyone spent the day in Bandol from Toulon? It is a 22 minute drive from Toulon according to Google maps and seems like a nice place, with beaches that are not rocky and a 7 minute ferry to the Ile of Bandol, which also looks nice.

Also, what would be some options for getting there? Are taxis available?

Thanks for the info. I may have to play it by ear. Doesn't really sound like it would be of interest to them. It is really hard to find something Warnemuende for tweens. My teens are going to Berlin with my husband. I would rather not go to far with my girls. We are considering a tour that does Rostock and Warnemuende but really, what the ideal thing would be is, just a walking tour of Warnemuende to get familiar with the area, then the rest of the day to explore and go to the beach. All tour seem to inlude Warnemuende and something. Anyone know of just a walking tour of Warnemuende? I like to learn a little bit about an area this way.

Also, are taxis near the dock in case we do decide on Karl's?

I am considering Karls Strawberry Farm with my girls 11 & 12 and was wondering, is it easy to get a taxi to go there or should I pre-arrange one? It seems it is a 19 minute drive on Google maps so that is not bad at all. I may conbine this with a beach day. Also, how much would a taxi cost one way to Karls Strawberry Farm?

Also, any feedback about Karls?

Where can I get a copy of Singing Revolution? I have checked at our library but they do not have it. Would Netflix have it?

Thanks for sharing Rostocker. We arrive in June. What do you are the best options for a mom with her 2 daugthers, ages 11 and 12? I have been researching way to much and can't seem to get it figured out. They are not huge history buffs at age 11 and 12 but would enjoy some history mixed in with other things. looking for something that won't require long drives and that I can figure out how to get to.

Thanks.

I guess I really don't understand your post, if your kids won't eat or drink hardly anything then they can just pay as the go for food and drinks and pay the 12$ for the inflatable water park, and if the older kids and adults will eat and drink a lot then they can pay the AI price and pay for the water park or not. We went last year and paid to play in the water park, I didn't care for it 40y/o, but my kids loved it. So i will pass next time but my kids will do it.

I wish we were able to do it this way but I sent them an email directly and they told me that everyone in the party must have the same thing, either all AI or not. The two areas are separated. I guess they do it this way to keep people on the AI side from sharing with those that didn't book the AI. We have 5 kids so for us, doing the AI that doesn't include the armband doesn't make any sense.

Seriously, you have to pay extra to play on the inflatables? I would have never guessed that. As we just (earlier today) booked the AI package, guess I just assumed you get to play on the toys too! Darn! We'll have to see if it's worth $24 to climb a few toys? Probably not! :mad:

This is why we didn't book the AI. I too could not believe they would charge an additional $12 for kids. Kids (at least my kids) will eat very little so paying an additional $12 for the inflatables was crazy to us. So now, nobody in the family (we are going with all ages, extended family) can do the AI because the AI are separated from the non-AI. This is not a family friendly policy in my opinion.

Thanks! Looks very easy. I am going to talk to my husband. If this is all we will do, then we will take the bus.

We are also considering climing Mt Vesuvius. Does anyone know how this is done? Do you need a guide? How far from Pompeii is it? For example, are there taxi at Pompeii that can take you to Mt Vesuvius and can you hire a guide there like at Pompeii>

Thanks D4 - I haven't started with Ephesus yet. I will contact them. We are very much excited about Ephesus. My husband and I went on one Med. cruise (most Holy Land ports) 12 years ago. There was a huge storm that wiped out the pier overnight in Ephesus so we missed it. All I could do was cry, then we watched movies all day. Over the years we have talked about one day returning. Now we can do it with our kids.

Cruisemom - Do you happen to know the cost, time, and ease of taking the bus to Pompeii? That is a good idea. Also, is the museum close to the Pompeii site?

Am I right in remembering that you're going to be staying several days in an apartment in Rome (Campo Fiori)? Assuming that's true, I'm surprised to read that you're thinking about taking an all-day Vatican-Colosseum- and-everything-else tour.

 

Yes, that was the plan but we just changed the cruise itinerary. I "accidently" came across an itinerary on the NCL that was a few days longer (but not higher in price) from Venice to Barcelona (not Rome to Rome). It was the only intinerary I have seen on any ship that included all the Italian ports we wanted plus Ephesus and Istanbul. Turkey was huge bonus for us and we couldn't pass it up!

I am saving all of the info I have collected because we definitely will return for more time in Rome.

 

Thanks for all of these excellent ideas. I am working through all of them. My kids tend to do better with an actual person guiding them because they are engaged (especially when the guide is interactive, they love that). We have been to the Alamo and Ellis Island in the past year and I noticed my kids drifting with the audio tours we did at those places. I also noticed my son with the I-pod bud in one ear!

 

I did some number crunching and it seems Rome in Limo would be about $200 less in each place for the same tour (but not sure the quality of the guides).

Also, someone on the boards mentioned

pleasantravel dot com. Their total price for the Naples day is $505 less!

So much to consider! Anyone heard of them?