Excursions in Portofino and Marseille on Explorer

First time on a Regent Cruise and need to book excursions for May on the Explorer in Portofino and Marseille. Have no idea what to choose since some are "included" and some are not (and never been to either place). Any advice from others on excursions they loved or disliked from Regent in those locations? No problems with walking or lots of exercise.

Thanks for any help!

We took the Cassis excursion when in Marseilles, and had a very pleasant day. Once in Cassis you were on your own, and it's a really charming town to explore.

It was blazing hot in Portofino, and we chose to walk a little around the tiny town, have a lunch and then head back to the ship. So no help there.

I took the Aix en Provence excursion out of Marseille (one of the included excursions). Aix was nice, and the tour was well-structured. It was market day, which added an extra layer of interest. Unfortunately, we had a terrible guide, but that's always a hit or miss.

Unfortunately, they had to stop the tenders in Portofino due to sea conditions, so I never got to find out about the excursion there.

We took the Cassis excursion when in Marseilles, and had a very pleasant day. Once in Cassis you were on your own, and it's a really charming town to explore.

 

 

 

It was blazing hot in Portofino, and we chose to walk a little around the tiny town, have a lunch and then head back to the ship. So no help there.

We took the trip to Avignon from Marseilles—it was very nice-the half day one that didn’t include the visit to the Popes Palace. We enjoyed walking in the city.

For Portofino, we took the trip to Genoa, where we visited some interesting Grand homes with wonderful paintings and had time for lunch in a local restaurant. Be sure to have pasta with the local pesto and a glass of the local white wine.

It was hard to get to...the trip involved a tender, another boat, and a fairly long bus ride, but we felt it was worth it.

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Thank you for all the great advice. That is a long adventure into Genoa but glad it was worth it!

Pompeii is very worthwhile.

Pompeii is very worthwhile.

But would be a very long way from Portofino!

We did the Aix-en-Provence tour, also on a market day, and enjoyed it.

In Portofino, we did not do a tour. Just opted to hike and have lunch on our own. It is easy from the town with lots of good hiking trails.

I think Portofino is one of those ports of call where no excursion is necessary. It's not the kind of place that is easily accessible and probably not a destination in itself - ie probably not somewhere you might go to except in these circumstances. I'd make the most of the day and do as Rachel suggests, just exploring the beautiful town independently, possibly thanking my lucky stars that I got to visit such a gorgeous part of the world as I went!

And we also prefer not doing an excursion in Portofino since it is so beautiful to explore on your own. Portofino is our favorite Italian port stop.

Great info on Portofino. Looks like we will just explore on our own then and enjoy the surroundings!

We will be on the 7 nights on May 8-15th so any other excursion advice would be much appreciated in

Valencia, Antibes, Port-Vendres or Palma de Mallorca?

Thank you to all! Super excited about our first Regent cruise. We are mid-40's if that helps!

An alternative that I would recommend is hiking part of the Cinque Terre. We have done all 5 towns but that might be too long given that you are only have the time as a port stop. You could take a boat excursion and then hike between 1 or 2 towns. Having lunch in one of the small town is so charming. A completely different feel than Portofino but we enjoyed it far more.

In Mallorca, we took a tour that consisted of a guided walk through the old part of town, followed by a bus trip inland to a flamenco show, with sangria and tapas. We enjoyed both halves of it, especially the flamenco show.

I believe there was a charge for the tour.

We're interested in old charming cities and always look for relatively high activity levels...

We did a paid tour "A Day in Provence" and visited the cities of Roussillon and Gorde.

In both cities we ditched the guide and explored on our own and would do it again in a flash. We had a wonderful lunch and bought artwork in Roussillon, and truly enjoyed exploring in Gorde (a city literally built into the side of a mountain).

I feel the listed activity level on the Regent site is underestimated. There is a lot of climbing in Roussillon, and the bus can't drop off in Gorde so there's a fairly lengthy uphill walk to the city and downhill walk back to the bus.

I think it was worth the $129 pp

All the chatter on the live Lima thread reminds me that there's one of the grandest of Belmond hotels there in Portofino too: The Splendido is a destination in itself for many and is a long standing jewel of that coastline.

First time on a Regent Cruise and need to book excursions for May on the Explorer in Portofino and Marseille. Have no idea what to choose since some are "included" and some are not (and never been to either place). Any advice from others on excursions they loved or disliked from Regent in those locations? No problems with walking or lots of exercise.

Thanks for any help!

I wouldn’t spend a lot of time in Portofino. What I would suggest is taking s tour to Santa Maria Ligore, Portofino’s next door neighbor. It’s beautiful, one of our favorite places in Italy and doesn’t have the glitz name attached like Portofino. I would then come back to Portofino and take the hike to the lighthouse for wonderful views. We are doing a cruise this summer that stops in Portofino and can’t wait to see SML again.

All the chatter on the live Lima thread reminds me that there's one of the grandest of Belmond hotels there in Portofino too: The Splendido is a destination in itself for many and is a long standing jewel of that coastline.

I was at the Splendido for lunch a year and a half ago. The views are exquisite. The food was absolutely mouth watering. But bring a hefty amount of money...it costs a boatload!!

So much of choosing an excursion depends on what YOU like to do, what your activity level is, what your interests are, etc. I've found it's usually better to pick maybe 3 or 4 and ask people which they prefer or pros/cons of each.

My wife and I sometimes take different excursions in a port simply because we each see something that appeals to us. Ninety eight percent of the time we can find one we both enjoy, but every now and again we each see one that appeals to us so we book different tours. As an example, I signed up for a ziplining tour once, and she had less than zero interest in that. I'll go to a former Soviet missile base while she goes to a folk dancing display...

We both enjoy any wine tastings. :D

For what it's worth, I agree that Portofino is probably better explored on your own. And in Marseilles we took the full day excursion to Avignon including the Pope's Palace. We enjoyed it, but there were probably several other excursions we'd have enjoyed just as much.

Choosing is half the fun, isn't it?

Our favorite place in Italy is Portofino. You can enjoy it in 3-4 hours including a walk to the top of the mount to the beautiful home there and take a photo from thr yard looking back down on the picturesque harbor of Portofino. You will still have time for a wine and snack and to wander the streets and shops. Did not know about the Belmond Hotel -- we wil go there next July.

So you can take an excursion to a Cinco Terra city/village for 3-4 hours and still be able to enjoy your on tour/walk around Portofino