Private and On Our Own

Advice on the following....We will be pre-cruise in Venice and plan on doing this on our own. Dubrovnik on our own, Santorini on our own, Athens private tour, Naples private tour, Rome private tour, Cinq Terre Private tour, Nice on our own, post cruise Barcelona on our own. would you recommend doing any of this differently?

No. We usually do private tours or tour on our own. You could do your own in Dubrovik or consider renting a car and driving south to Kotor. We find private tours to be much better and they usually more cost effective. You are not stuck with a tour that is focussed on the lowest common denominator and private tours can be adjusted 'on the fly' to meet you particular interests/desires.

would you recommend doing any of this differently?

We had successful and enjoyable port days in Rome and Athens on our own, but I would only recommend it if you enjoy doing advance research and planning, exploring on your own, using public transportation, and walking a lot.

Could you please recomend private tour company in Dubrovnik and Athens?

Thanks in adance,

Mike

If you are comfortable with doing things on your own, Athens is a pretty easy place to do it. Most of the people offering tours in Athens are drivers only, NOT licensed guides. We did it once with a private licensed guide and once on our own and I am not sure the guide was any better.

If antiquities are your main interest, it is very easy to take the metro to the Antiquities Promendade and follow it with a good guidebook. From there it is easy to get to the Plaka and the flea market on the metro.

Check out our review and pics at http://www.elite.net/~thehalls/athens.html

Have a GREAT cruise!

Mike,

Could you recall, how much taxi costs for Athens excursion and how long was the tour with taxi driver?

Thanks,

Mike

Mike,

Could you recall, how much taxi costs for Athens excursion and how long was the tour with taxi driver?

Thanks,

 

Mike

This may be something you want to read before deciding on getting a taxi in Athens. I can't confirm or deny if the accounts here are still representative of what to expect.

But when doing my research I've recalled more then once when you secure a taxi you need to be careful you don't get taking for a ride.

DIY is reasonably easy with the train a short 20' walk from the Port, so I'm told.

http://www.europeportreviews.com/Athens.htm

Good luck with your planning

Athens is one of the very easiest DIY ports. We took a taxi for 10E to the metro station, and rode it for about 15 minutes to Monostraiki. Walked up the hill to the Acropolis from there; then back down and had a nice lunch and a little shopping at the Plaka before doing the whole thing in reverse. IMO it would be a waste of money to have a driver for this day unless you wanted to go way out of town. If you are going in summer, it will be HOT--Go as soon as you can get off the ship and beat the tour buses to the top; then you will have some free time back on board to take a dip in the pool while everyone else is still out touring in the heat.

Cathy

Could you please recomend private tour company in Dubrovnik and Athens?

Thanks in adance,

 

Mike

Hi Mike:

Just toured Athens 10 days ago with Paul from www.athenstaxi.org. Quite a group from our Roll Call went; some had Paul, others were with his son. Everyone felt it was an excellent excursion at a very reasonable cost. None of us opted for a licensed guide at the Acropolis. They gave us ample preparation & information prior to our time there. We nearly had the Acropolis to ourselves and were done & just leaving when about 5 bus tours from our ship arrived.

Might be a good option for you.

Martha

Hi Martha,

I'll be in Athens off a HAL crusie in July--do you remember what time you arranged to meet Paul/your driver to start your trip and make it up the Acropolis before the tour bus crowds?

Hi Martha,

I'll be in Athens off a HAL crusie in July--do you remember what time you arranged to meet Paul/your driver to start your trip and make it up the Acropolis before the tour bus crowds?

I'll second the recommendation!

We met our driver/guide at 7:10 and were at Acropolis about 10' before opening. The line for tickets was probably 20-30 deep, even after that wait and the slow going with guide we were done well before the crowds came. It was black friday like crowds with the infamous Greece heat too. It pays to go private and avoid this for the best experience ;)

Advice on the following....We will be pre-cruise in Venice and plan on doing this on our own. Dubrovnik on our own, Santorini on our own, Athens private tour, Naples private tour, Rome private tour, Cinq Terre Private tour, Nice on our own, post cruise Barcelona on our own. would you recommend doing any of this differently?

I think you've nailed it. As much as people are saying Athens is easily doable, I hate that city and getting between sites takes you through some pretty horrible areas. Our first trip to Athens was a private tour and it was fantastic. Plus it's not as expensive as other places to do a tour.

Venice, the joy of Venice is just walking and taking the vaporetto along the Grand Canal.

Dubrovnik, we've been twice, both times on our own, there are taxis at the dock, it was 10E for up to 4 people in a cab to get to the old City. Walk the walls, wander around town.

Santorini, take the bus to Oia, walk around, take in the views, very easy and enjoyable on your own.

Naples, we've been been twice, the first time we went on our own to Capri which is super easy on your own, the second time we had a private tour of the Amalfi Coast and Pompeii. Both were fantastic, just depends what you're in the mood for.

Rome, we've been a couple of times on a cruise and a three day land trip. Our first trip we did a private tour which was excellent but I had a need to go back and just wander and linger at the sites. It's a fantastic city with so much to see. A private tour will give you a great overview in a day, but don't be afraid of taking the train in and tackling it by yourself. A cab here and a cab there will get you between the sites that aren't so walkable.

Cinque Terra, good call for a private guide.

Nice, ah, the French Riviera, we've been here three times, only once on a cruise the other two for a week each. There are some fantastic tour guides in this area if you want to see a lot, ie. St. Paul, Eze, Monaco, Cannes, Monace, Nice. There's just so much in the area. It's quite easy to get around by yourself if you want to stick to one or two places. St. Paul is a bit harder to get to. You'd have to bus to Nice and then transfer, Eze as well, not that accessible without a Transfer. If you can get a group together, I'd highly recommend a private tour here, there's just some fantastic places. But easily do Nice, or Monaco on your own via the train or bus.

Barcelona is a great walking city. We were there for two days pre-cruise and walked and walked until we couldn't walk anymore and ended up buying hop on/off bus tickets which was great, it gave a great overview of the city. Make sure you take in some of the Gaudi buildings.

Enjoy!!!! I want to go back :)

Hi Martha,

I'll be in Athens off a HAL crusie in July--do you remember what time you arranged to meet Paul/your driver to start your trip and make it up the Acropolis before the tour bus crowds?

Our ship docked just before 8am. He & his son were waiting for our group and we all got off ship independently & promptly & met at their sign for us around 8am. The ship's tours were just collecting in the theatre at that point, so we were off well ahead of them. Paul instructed us to do so. Whenever your docking time is, he'll likely tell you to get off ASAP after docking.

If you contact him, you'll find he's very prompt & professional. Been doing this for a long time. And tell him Martha & the Brilliance folks from Jan 30th say "hello" and a huge thanks!

As much as people are saying Athens is easily doable, I hate that city and getting between sites takes you through some pretty horrible areas.

HMMM -- not our experience at all. All the major antiquities are along the beautiful Antiquities Promenade. Travel by Metro is easy and The Plaka and the major shopping is close to the Metro. So I am not sure where you went that was a pretty horrible area. We did not see any.

Obviously, in any major city, if you are adventuresome and stray from the major tourist areas you may find less than desirable areas. In Athens we saw all the tourist sites and never felt uncomfortable.

Totally agree with Merced Mike--at least going to the Acropolis and surrounding sites, and the Plaka, we never saw anything resembling 'horrible areas'. Definitely one of the easiest ports we have ever done.

Merced Cathy

Also have to agree. We did a private tour during our 2005 trip and we didn't see anything close to "horrible." In fact, my impression is of a clean, bright, very hot city.

Thanks Martha--we dock at 8:00 and i was planning to get off the earleist I could, with the earliest tour I could arrange, given the expected heavy traffic at the Acropols in July. Not sure yet if I will book Paul or another CC recomended guide.

Thanks Martha--we dock at 8:00 and i was planning to get off the earleist I could, with the earliest tour I could arrange, given the expected heavy traffic at the Acropols in July. Not sure yet if I will book Paul or another CC recomended guide.

Have a wonderful day! One fun thing to do would be to have your guide time it for the "Changing of the Guard." That was a fun extra spot of time we truly enjoyed. Timed right...only about a 15 minute quick stop.

Totally agree with Merced Mike--at least going to the Acropolis and surrounding sites, and the Plaka, we never saw anything resembling 'horrible areas'. Definitely one of the easiest ports we have ever done.

 

Merced Cathy

The first time we went to Athens we did a private tour and certainly never saw that side of Athens, but we certainly did when we went to the National Museum on our own the second time. If all you're doing is the Acropolis and Plaka, then yeah, it's easy, but be warned, there are some very shady parts of Athens that you could end up in very easy making your way around by yourself.

We ran into a few couples later that night that opted for "athens on your own" and ended up taking a cab back to the ship rather than waiting for their tour bus as they hated it and didn't feel safe.

We're very adventurous travellers and aren't scaredy cats by any means of doing things on our own, but I absolutely hated athens.