thompson dream - excusions - first time

[pennypony28]

hi everybody,

I have been checking out the available excursions for the Mediterranean medley next month. I am presuming that as its our first time we are better off going on excursions rather than "doing it ourselves".

my question is when you dock in villefranche is Monaco and/or st paul de vence close enough to get to ourselves or are we better off booking an excursion and in your view which of the two would you rather see or miss out on?

 

the same question for Rapallo and Toulon - are these places far from the ship?

 

I am a bit concerned that if we start booking half day trips that we will find ourselves on a bus getting to these places rather than sight seeing.

 

would love to get your thoughts?

 

pennypony

[kruzseeka]

hi everybody,

I have been checking out the available excursions for the Mediterranean medley next month. I am presuming that as its our first time we are better off going on excursions rather than "doing it ourselves".

my question is when you dock in villefranche is Monaco and/or st paul de vence close enough to get to ourselves or are we better off booking an excursion and in your view which of the two would you rather see or miss out on?

 

the same question for Rapallo and Toulon - are these places far from the ship?

 

I am a bit concerned that if we start booking half day trips that we will find ourselves on a bus getting to these places rather than sight seeing.

 

would love to get your thoughts?

 

pennypony

 

My advice would always be - DiY but with some provisos:-

- first of all how doable is it ie have you got sufficient time and good travel links?

- get off the ship early if you are DiY if it involves travelling away from the port to ensure you have plenty of time to get to, explore and then get back to the ship in good time.

- what distance is involved? Some attractions like Petra, even Florence we would go with Thomson because it's either near impossible or risky to do on public transport or the travel arrangements are more complicated than we can be bothered with and probably end up giving us too little time at the place we're visiting

- have you got a late-ish sail-away? Be wary of early departures like 2/3pm

- do you especially want the services of a guide? Some places are brought to life by a guide and that is something you miss out on it you go independently.

 

But.............those issues to one side often ports are easy walk-offs and you really don't need an excursion to enjoy the destination. Or you may especially want to go to a particular place from the port and many of these you can do yourself. People on here will be able to help in relation to whether places have plenty of interest or whether you are best to go visit somewhere else and the best way to get there.

 

Villefranche is a beautiful little place and Monaco is very easy to get to yourself. There is a good train service (you might be able to pull up the timetable before you go) but it only takes about 20/30 minutes if I remember correctly. You will see the station marked on your port map - it's elevated above the main street running along the bay. Turn right at the tender station and it's about a 5/10 minute walk. Easy and very much cheaper! You can spend as long or little time as you like exploring if you are independent and not be restricted to going at the tour guide's pace. But allow plenty of time to get back and don't forget it's a tender back to the ship which takes time so build that in too. Info will be in your cruise news in terms of timings.

 

I wouldn't be able to say if you had time to do St Paul de Vence as well or whihc would be better since I've not been there.

 

Toulon I would personally advise a lovely half day trip to Cassis which is very beautiful and I would say that's probably best done through Thomson as I'm sure a taxi would be much more expensive and I don't think it's a local bus job. (Interesting and scenic journey and quite a decent amount of time in Cassis itself.)

 

I think from Rapallo you can get the local ferry to Portofino. We did the Thomson transfer (it was last minute and a rearranged port so we didn't know if or whether we could do it independently as we hadn't researched it before leaving home) but I'm sure others will be able to help with that.

 

If you are concerned about how much time you get to look around and how much on the coach - that information should be in your Destinations Guide or ask at Destinations Services. Some trips are mainly coach based for the less mobile but you will be able to find that out before you commit to a trip and be sure it suits what you want.

 

Once you've done a trip or two on your own though you will be surprised at how confident you become to make your own arrangements - but I'm a big believer in going with the ship if there is any doubt about timings or if a DiY approach is going to be stressful (eg worrying about train connections/enough time to change platforms) Sometimes it's worth just paying up and sitting back and relaxing!

 

Happy planning - I hope you manage to do at least a few DiY's as it's very rewarding and saves you a great deal! :)

[Sheila49]

For Rapallo I would recommend the local boat trip to Portofino rather than the Thomson's trip which was £35 each last year. The trip from a pier a few hundred yards from where the tender drops you off is €10 each return, and you can stay as long as you like as they sail back and forth every 30 mins. (It's quite a short journey but very pleasant) It stops at Santa Marguerita too.

[pennypony28]

My advice would always be - DiY but with some provisos:-

- first of all how doable is it ie have you got sufficient time and good travel links?

- get off the ship early if you are DiY if it involves travelling away from the port to ensure you have plenty of time to get to, explore and then get back to the ship in good time.

- what distance is involved? Some attractions like Petra, even Florence we would go with Thomson because it's either near impossible or risky to do on public transport or the travel arrangements are more complicated than we can be bothered with and probably end up giving us too little time at the place we're visiting

- have you got a late-ish sail-away? Be wary of early departures like 2/3pm

- do you especially want the services of a guide? Some places are brought to life by a guide and that is something you miss out on it you go independently.

 

But.............those issues to one side often ports are easy walk-offs and you really don't need an excursion to enjoy the destination. Or you may especially want to go to a particular place from the port and many of these you can do yourself. People on here will be able to help in relation to whether places have plenty of interest or whether you are best to go visit somewhere else and the best way to get there.

 

Villefranche is a beautiful little place and Monaco is very easy to get to yourself. There is a good train service (you might be able to pull up the timetable before you go) but it only takes about 20/30 minutes if I remember correctly. You will see the station marked on your port map - it's elevated above the main street running along the bay. Turn right at the tender station and it's about a 5/10 minute walk. Easy and very much cheaper! You can spend as long or little time as you like exploring if you are independent and not be restricted to going at the tour guide's pace. But allow plenty of time to get back and don't forget it's a tender back to the ship which takes time so build that in too. Info will be in your cruise news in terms of timings.

 

I wouldn't be able to say if you had time to do St Paul de Vence as well or whihc would be better since I've not been there.

 

Toulon I would personally advise a lovely half day trip to Cassis which is very beautiful and I would say that's probably best done through Thomson as I'm sure a taxi would be much more expensive and I don't think it's a local bus job. (Interesting and scenic journey and quite a decent amount of time in Cassis itself.)

 

I think from Rapallo you can get the local ferry to Portofino. We did the Thomson transfer (it was last minute and a rearranged port so we didn't know if or whether we could do it independently as we hadn't researched it before leaving home) but I'm sure others will be able to help with that.

 

If you are concerned about how much time you get to look around and how much on the coach - that information should be in your Destinations Guide or ask at Destinations Services. Some trips are mainly coach based for the less mobile but you will be able to find that out before you commit to a trip and be sure it suits what you want.

 

Once you've done a trip or two on your own though you will be surprised at how confident you become to make your own arrangements - but I'm a big believer in going with the ship if there is any doubt about timings or if a DiY approach is going to be stressful (eg worrying about train connections/enough time to change platforms) Sometimes it's worth just paying up and sitting back and relaxing!

 

Happy planning - I hope you manage to do at least a few DiY's as it's very rewarding and saves you a great deal! :)

 

Thank you so much for the information and quick response it so helps to have other thoughts on these matters - PPony

[joeholiday2]

Thanks Kruz and Sheila, some bits there that will help me for my next cruise.

 

If you want a DIY from Toulon I can recommend the cable car up to Mont Faron.

 

The tourist info office in the main market square will sell you a combined bus and cable car ticket for less than the price of the cable car alone. They are very helpful, will phone up the cable car to check if it is running (it won't if it's too windy) and advise you where to catch the bus. The bus driver will tell you where to get off if you ask him.

 

PPony, my advice is that it's all in the research you do beforehand, a few hours using google can save you a fortune, and make for a more enjoyable and rewarding DIY trip.

Best guides are : http://www.tomsportguides.com/portguides.html

You can DL them and save to your phone or tablet or just print them off.

Frommers is also a good website, they have some good maps and suggested itineraries.

[kruzseeka]

Pleased to be of help Joe. :)

You have reminded me of another useful tool for research - Google Earth. When we were planning to catch the train from Livorno to Pisa we intended to walk to the station so used the little man on Street View to 'walk the walk'. It was brilliant as we could see there were proper pavements, that the route was direct and easy and also spot some landmarks along the way. It definitely adds to your confidence if you have 'seen' where you are going beforehand! ;)

[joeholiday2]

I have used Google earth before as well, it is good as you can notice landmarks. Also used it to map out distances using the ruler tool.

 

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