Cadiz and Cartagena, Spain...what to do?

[jst4fun715]

We are booked on a trans atlantic in October. There are two ports of call in Spain, one being Cadiz and the other Cartagena. Are these interesting ports and if so, what is there to do?

[jocap]

Cadiz is a very ancient port; easy to walk into the town but there are HO/HO buses at the dock side.

Cartagena is lovely...a flat walk from the ship along the water side into town.

If you go to the search botton at the top of the page, there are some good ideas for both these towns.

Enjoy!

Jo.

Cartagena- looking towards town and back to ship from the same spot.

Edited February 26, 2011 by jocap
sp.

[Desert Cruizers]

Carol we are doing the LOS TA end of Oct and have a tour set up with One Day Tours to Cadiz/Seville. This will be our first TA and a lady from our RC organized this tour. My reading on Cartegena is that it is a lovely city to walk around.

[VMax1700]

I don't know Cartagena, but if I was to arrived in Cadiz I would head to either El Puerto de Santa Maria (from where Columbus headed towards the Americas) or else Jerez de Frontera and visit the one of the Sherry Bodegas.

[hylasgirl]

I would love some recommendations for day tours to Seville. Does anyone have any?

 

Thanks!

[jst4fun715]

Thanks for the replies everyone! :D

[Ronnie1a]

When I was there two years ago there was a tour bus co. across the street from the dock that had cheap tours on open top double decker busses. The little downtown area is nice and is a mall with no cars. Easy walk from the ship. You will need Euros-they don't take dollars.

[martinandmaddy]

Can someone please share some information about how to get to El Puerto de Santa Maria?

 

We will be arriving at the Cadiz port and know that there is a catamaran there but I need to find the time tables. Also need to know where it lets passengers off and how from the Bodega Terry?

 

Also, if weather is bad.... is it easy to take a bus or train from the Cadiz port to El Puerto de Santa Maria, stopping at Bodega Terry? How do I take either one of these?

 

Thank you!

[Desert Cruizers]

We were scheduled for a tour of Seville on our Oct TA but are in port only for 9 hours and the Tour is 8 so due to the time driving there and back opted to see the city of Cadiz since this is our first TA and have not seen any of the Ports. Cartgena, we will walk around, everyone tells us how wonderful and easy it is.

[plank]

Gay, We did the same thing! I think Cadiz will be worthwhile especially with All Saints Day.:)

[Desert Cruizers]

Hiya Peggy, I see we do travel around .:)

 

Gay

[jimftlauderdale]

Cadiz is an easy walking city. Get off the ship, go out of the port gate which isn't far, then go left a couple hundred feet and you will come to a small tourist center building that has free maps of Cadiz with walking tours that are different colors on the map. They have color painted the routes on the ground to match the maps, starting at the tourist center, so you can't get lost.

Don't take the double decker buses that are at the port gate, they only go around the outside circle of the city, you don't see any of the inside areas, it is quite a rip off.

If you are interested in the Cathedral, you can see the gold dome from the Lido deck and just head in that direction.

There are lots of parks/forts along the shoreline if you head to the right after you get to the port gate.

Lots of free beaches of the side of the city opposite of where the ship lands. At most, a 15 minute walk directly opposite the ship.

It is a beautiful city and a nice place to spend a day without spending much money.

[misscanada]

Has anyone taken the Tourist Bus in Cartegena Spain $7 from the port? Is that a hop on hop off tour or not?

Did you reserve via the internet....not much info

Cindi

[Putterdude]

We took the HOHO in Cadiz last month. It obviously can't go into the old city but takes you around the city and you see things that you wouldn't likely see if you were walking plus you have the benefit of the narration. Don't go to the stop right outside the cruise terminal to the right, instead go left out of the cruise terminal several blocks to there stop #1. There was no problem with lines at stop #1 whereas the at stop #2 I would guess people were waiting an hour or more for the bus. We did a loop and a half on the HOHO then got off at the cathedral and walked back to the port through the old city.

[Hlitner]

Cadiz is a great port for we DIYers since there are quite a few decent options. One can simply walk into the heart of town, visit the Flower Market, enjoy the cafes, shop, visit the Cathedral, etc. As to day trips...it is easy to take the train (or a regional bus) from Cadiz to Jerez (love this town for its many Sherry houses) or take the train all the way to Seville (one of best tourist cities in Spain). The Spanish trains are clean, fast, run on time, and a lot less costly then cruise line excursions.

 

Hank

[aussiehall1]

We are booked on a trans atlantic in October. There are two ports of call in Spain, one being Cadiz and the other Cartagena. Are these interesting ports and if so, what is there to do?

 

I

have been to Cartagena on RCCL. I loved it there. It's very easy to get around, I walked into town, visited an old Church, there's lots of stores and little places to sit and watch the world go by and have a glass of wine or local beer. Very easy city to get around in. I truly enjoyed Cartagena. I'm going to Cadiz next week, I'm booked on Liberty of the Seas out of Ft. Lauderdale going to Barcelona with Cardiz being one of our stops, so I will post and let you know. I've heard wonderful things about Seville. Lovely shoes in Cartagena by the way, lots of shoe stores.

[Maverick5]

We are booked on a trans atlantic in October. There are two ports of call in Spain, one being Cadiz and the other Cartagena. Are these interesting ports and if so, what is there to do?

 

I just finished a trans-atlantic crossing cruise that went to Cadiz, Malaga, and Cartegena. I booked with www.spaindaytours.com for 2 trips - what a great decision I made! Both trips were fantastic. The transportation guides were top notch and I'd highly recommend them. I did a Seville tour from Cadiz and Granda from Malaga. There were approximately 40 people on both tours and we broke up into 2 groups for the walking tours which gives a personal experience. My only disappointment is that I did not book a tour with them for Cartegena - I'd definitely would book a tour in that city on my next trip.

[Cruzer Two]

We were in Cadiz last month.

 

Click on http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showpost.php?p=38089309&postcount=291 for informaiton on viewing my video.

 

Pictures are worth a thousand words. This is a very beatuiful and walkable city.

 

Ron

[CathyK2]

I have to echo JimFortLauderdale. We just got back from our TA last week going west to east, but one of our ports was Cadiz. (Sorry, I haven't been to your other port, so can't comment.

 

As mentioned, go to the Tourist Center (Jim gave directions). I had printed out ONE walking tour from the internet but had been told to head to this Tourist building. The woman we dealt with couldn't have been more friendly, spoke perfect english and was able to give us all sorts of recommendations. Since we had planned a walking tour, it so happened I had the one that she said was the most popular and she gave me maps and information on it. It was the purple line that goes through the old section of town. Also as mentioned, you can't get lost since they mark the path with in this case a purple line. Much like the red line in Boston if you have ever walked the Freedom Trail. This guide also told us that if we still had time and wanted to see another side of Cadiz, she showed us the path to jump over from purple to orange, which she said is the most scenic of the four. It takes you around the coast line with all these cute parks and it's a very pretty walk. I can't comment on the other two, but the guide said that if we tackle these two, we will get the best of the best.

 

As far as the HOHO bus, I can't comment since I haven't been on this particular one. I do know that when getting back to the ship, there was disappointment that it obviously can't drive through the quaint sections of the inner city and so many felt like they had missed something. Again, I am only passing hearsay since I have NOT taken it. BUT considering our your physical limitations, if you aren't a walker (it's ok to do it slowly obviously) but if that isn't your thing, of course a HOHO bus could be a great alternative.

 

Thanks for the link, Cruizer Two. Love it.

 

Cathy

[ew1111]

I read your post from 2012 on cruise critic asking about the 7 euros bus tour from Cartegena Spain. I don't believe anyone replied. We are thinking about when we arrive in May. Can't translate spanish website so not even sure there is english narration. Did you take it, if not what did you do there?

Thanks

Emily