Which of these ports don't really need an excursion?

[craig01020]

I am booked on NCL’s Dawn next October from Southampton. Since I’ve never been to any of these ports before, I was hoping to get some opinions on which ports should be seen while on an excursion, and which ports do not need one. On previous trips, I have had some really fun days just exploring some ports on my own, others not so much.

 

The ports for this cruise are: Zeebrugge, Belgium; Le Havre, France; Le Verdon, France; Bilbao, Spain; La Coruna, Spain; Vigo, Spain; Oporto, Portugal.

 

Thanks.

[ISLABONITA]

Everyone's interest in exploring are different so with that in mind I will share the only port I did a walking tour ( different itinerary , mine was the British Isles) but in Zeebrugge we got a taxi for 6 of us at the outside of the entry terminal and arrived on the main square where I had previously booked a red umbrella walking tour. Great info and time spent exploring areas that were not all touristy and then returned to a couple after for further exploration.  This was my favorite place that we had stopped at.

 

[Celialeah98]

Hi!

 

We did a land trip to Portugal this summer. We went to Porto for 3 nights and did take an organized exursion to the Douro Valley. So if you want to go to the Douro Valley then I suggest a ship's tour as they guarantee you will be back in time for departure. You can do Porto on your own. If you like Port wine, the port lodges are on the other side of the river in Vila Novo De Gaia. Some close for 2 hours for lunch, so it may be a good idea to either book a tour yourself or just  reserve a lunch on your own in one of the lodges if that is how you would wish to spend your day. 

 

If you want to eat the best Francesinha  sandwich in Porto go to Brasao, information at  www.brasao.pt. Our tour guide from our day trip to the Douro Valley recommended Brasao over all the other restaurants in Porto. Our tour guide is from Porto but now lives near the ocean in Vila Novo de Gaia. He goes to Brasao himself with his friends.  His recommendation was spot on. Reservations are needed even for lunch. We got to the Brasao restaurant when it opened for lunch and were seated, but told not to linger as they needed the table in 45 minutes. Restaurants will be open for lunch 12-3pm, then they close and reopen around 7pm.

 

Taxis and ubers are cheap and easy to use throughout Portugal. Porto has public transportation too but we did not use it as it was easier for our group of 4 to use Uber.

 

Happy Planning

[Globaliser]

13 hours ago, craig01020 said:

... which ports should be seen while on an excursion, and which ports do not need one.

 

Of the ports you list, I think that the only one that really requires getting away from the port town is Le Verdon, but you'd want to have a good think about what you want to do and see. It's most obviously a good starting point for seeing the wineries of the Medoc, but not everyone will want to do that. The city of Bordeaux is reachable, but a long way away.

 

From memory, Le Verdon is also one of the harder ports from which to DIY, so you may be more likely to be constrained to take a ship's tour, with all its disadvantages. I think that I eventually gave up trying to work something out, and made it my day to stay on the ship.

 

Similarly, although A Coruna has a bit more to offer, it's a good place from which to get to Santiago de Compostela, which is probably rather more interesting. This is pretty easy to DIY.

 

For the others, as ISLABONITA says, everything depends on what you're interested in doing and seeing.

[Turtles06]

From Le Havre, I would strongly suggest booking a private tour (get some folks from your Roll Call) with Overlord Tours and seeing the D-Day sites.  Interesting, emotional, and excellent experience.

 

From La Coruña, it would be great to visit Santiago de Compostela.  (I believe you could also do that from Vigo, though it might be farther.)  You can look into DIY, but you could easily take a tour there too.

 

I was unimpressed with Vigo (where we wandered around on our own); sorry I can't be of more help there. 

[Raisinette]

I did a TA this fall stopping at a few of these ports and offer the following opinions!

 

There is N O T H I N G at Le Verdon, the port guard doesn't even have a hut, he/she operates out of their car, and the 'port' is just about in a field.  I wasn't interested in any wine country type excursions but other people on our roll call mentioned that on previous stops here there was a shuttle service to 'Soulac Sur Mer' on the opposite side of the penninsula, about a 20 minute or so bus ride away.  The day we were here the port was engulfed in fog - you could hardly see one end of the ship from the other.  However, we took the free shuttle and halfway to Soulac Sur Mer all the fog disappeared.  Soulac Sur Mer is a small summer resort town, a main street with many small stores, cafes, pharmacy etc.  From where the bus dropped us off to the beach was about a 7 minute walk down the main street.  We really enjoyed this as a quieter day compared to some of our other stops. The ship was still fogged in when we returned.

La Coruna - I did a ship tour that took us to many areas in and around the city, included snacks, guided walking tour, enjoyed it, but did it mainly because I had an excess of onboard credit to use.  The ship docks right in the city with a very short walk to harbourfront cafes, shops etc.  You can do this on your own if this type of activity appeals to you.

 

Good luck with your planning!

[Kwilliams0922]

On 12/27/2022 at 9:41 PM, Raisinette said:

I did a TA this fall stopping at a few of these ports and offer the following opinions!

 

There is N O T H I N G at Le Verdon, the port guard doesn't even have a hut, he/she operates out of their car, and the 'port' is just about in a field.  I wasn't interested in any wine country type excursions but other people on our roll call mentioned that on previous stops here there was a shuttle service to 'Soulac Sur Mer' on the opposite side of the penninsula, about a 20 minute or so bus ride away.  The day we were here the port was engulfed in fog - you could hardly see one end of the ship from the other.  However, we took the free shuttle and halfway to Soulac Sur Mer all the fog disappeared.  Soulac Sur Mer is a small summer resort town, a main street with many small stores, cafes, pharmacy etc.  From where the bus dropped us off to the beach was about a 7 minute walk down the main street.  We really enjoyed this as a quieter day compared to some of our other stops. The ship was still fogged in when we returned.

La Coruna - I did a ship tour that took us to many areas in and around the city, included snacks, guided walking tour, enjoyed it, but did it mainly because I had an excess of onboard credit to use.  The ship docks right in the city with a very short walk to harbourfront cafes, shops etc.  You can do this on your own if this type of activity appeals to you.

 

Good luck with your planning!

What cruise line did you sail with that had the shuttle service? 

 

[Harters]

From Zeebrugge, you can get the coastal tram through Nieuwpoort all the way to De Panne, near the border with France. They run every 15 minutes and, with a day card, you can treat it a a "hop on, hop off" service.

https://www.belgiancoast.co.uk/en/inspiration/coastal-tram

 

These are nice little towns which I've visited over the years. I always have my car so havent actually used the tram.

 

Edited April 10, 2023 by Harters

[Raisinette]

41 minutes ago, Kwilliams0922 said:

What cruise line did you sail with that had the shuttle service? 

 

Princess.

[sleepingcat]

On 11/22/2022 at 9:04 PM, craig01020 said:

Bilbao, Spain; La Coruna, Spain; Vigo, Spain; Oporto, Portugal.

Bilbao,  ive just looked where the ship will dock, its miles, you ll need a tour. (note I put 'cruceros Bilbao' into my maps programme. try doing that for all your ports )

 

A Coruna: ship docks right in the city centre, just walk off and wander, nice historic buildings and cafes, we loved it. 

 

Vigo,  also possible to just walk off and historic centre again but a bit less fun than A Coruna.  We didn't/t but next time probably will use a ferry to get out onto the harbour and islands. 

ps October, its not going to very warm  by then, and Bay of Biscay may be rough. 

[edinburgher]

Which of these ports don't really need an excursion?

 

Bilbao and Oporto are easy DIYs if you do some homework pre-trip.  Bilbao there should be ship shuttles which would drop off at the start of the historic area, and a not long walk to the riverside and the Guggenheim. Either from a Coruna or from Vigo, I would recommend a shorex or train to Santiago de Compostela.  it is closer to A Coruna than to Vigo, but it depends which city you would prefer to explore should you not take an excursion..

 

Oporto you will need to take transport into the centre, but I recommend you take it to the Vila Nova de Gaia area for the waterfront, boat trips, views of the immpressive bridge and for visits to port houses.

 

There are many previous threads about all of your ports and very easy to find and read them for info if you use the SEARCH tool under your user name. Note you must be on the correct board as your ports are a mix of France, Spain, Belgium and Portugal.

 

And read information on each of your ports to help you decide in which you would want an excursion and which you would be happy to explore independently.

 

From le Havre, for a first visit, I would also recommend Honfleur and there is no need for a shorex to do that.  Only a couple of threads down on the French ports forum, there is this very helpful guide on how to reach it.

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.co.uk/topic/2929793-le-havre-to-honfleur-an-easy-day-visit/

 

Edited April 11, 2023 by edinburgher

[Globaliser]

I was reading the paper this morning and saw something that made me think of this thread: a review of a Bilbao restaurant in the Old Town, less than a mile from the Guggenheim. (It may also be accessible via this link or this link.)

[Harters]

On a cruise last year that we were cancelled on, due to catching Covid, we planned to visit the Guggenheim  and had booked lunch there. They have two restaurants - a Michelin starred one (which is where we'd booked) and a more casual one. Both seemed to focus on local food.