Hop on Hop off

[kirky]

I am looking to use the hop on and hop off buses in Rome and Barcelona. I know the bus in Rome is the 110. If I take the train into Rome, where do I catch this bus? Do you just look for a 110 bus stop and then pay the driver? What is the cost for a day?

[kruzin']

try internet search trambus open or trambus I found it 1 time but cant remember how

[wwinfl91]

Here's a link to one of the hop on hop off buses in Rome

 

http://www.trambusopen.com/index.cfm?area=home

 

Here's another one with lots of transportation links

 

http://roma.freewebpages.org/roma-tr.htm

 

And one more on hop on hop off buses in Europe

 

http://www.travel-uk.org/Hop-On-Tours-Europe.html

 

Have a great next cruise.

[kirky]

Thanks for the links, they were excellent

[wwinfl91]

Thanks for the thanks.

 

I had gathered them up on a Yahoo group site I set up for our November Golden Princess TA cruise that is leaving from Rome. Here is a link to it if you want to check out what else is there. We are going to be in Rome for 6 days before our cruise and I have been mainly working on links for it but there are also links for our stops.

 

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/goldenprincesstransatlanticnov2006/

 

Have a great next cruise.

[Mike Andrews]

We took the 110 Bus from right outside Rome Termini Station and it is a great way of doing Rome on your own.Be wary of long lines in high season as several other posters have written of waiting for some time.Barcelona's open Top buses are also excellent

[Yellowjacket1]

We just returned from our cruise on the NCL Jewel that left out of Barcelona. We had originally intended to use the hop-on hop-off bus in Barcelona to tour the city. Right after checking into our hotel in Barcelona, we headed to the Plaza Catalunya and the tourist information office there. While walking there we passed by the hop-on hop-off bus stop for the Plaza Catalunya. What we saw were three of the buses arrive at the stop full of people, no one getting off, and a line of approx 120 people waiting for a bus to board. Given the heat and that we estimated the wait to be about an hour or more to even board a bus, we decided to forego the hop-on hop-off bus and tour Barcelona on our own.

 

Their metro system is as good as any and we were able to go everywhere we needed on our own. Like Paris, you can buy a packet of metro tickets (a T-10 ticket that contains 10 rides for about 7,20 euros). We took it to the Sagrida Familia, Parc Guell, Montjuvic and to Plaza Espana to board the train to Montserrat (we bought a separate ticket package for the train to Montserrat). Since we only had about a day and a half in Barcelona before the cruise, this worked quite well.

 

Let me know if you have any questions. Hope to write a review of the overall trip later.

[Carmic]

Yellowjacket1.............sounds like you didn't have any problem learning the metro system. Did you research it before you left or were you able to go around with the info that they give you? We are going to Barcelona in October and was wondering if the buses would be full and what we would do if they are...........always nice to have another plan.

 

Carol

[Yellowjacket1]

Carol,

 

Like you, my wife is a planner and even though we intended to use the hop-on hop-off buses, yes she did familiarize herself with the Barcelona Metro system (actually, she was able to find a book about Barcelona in a Barnes and Nobles that contained the Barcelona Metro system map). That was our back-up plan as well, to use the Metro.

 

We stayed at the Hotel Continental Palacete (which had been recommended by others on these boards and which we can also recommend). It was about 3 - 4 blocks from the Plaza Catalunya where there is a tourist information station. We found the people in this station to be quite helpful in finding our way around Barcelona. In addition, many of the stations have their own Information stations, or in one case, we went to the Metro Station Captain's window and got the information we needed. The Metro maps are easy to read and we found the system to be very safe and easy to navigate. Each station has automated ticket dispensers that will provide info in multiple languages and the major Metro stations have individuals who seem to be able to help you with information or using the dispensers (although not all these individuals know English, we were able to get by with their little English and our little Spanish).

 

Hope this helps.

 

Steve

[Carmic]

Steve.............thanks for the info. We are only in Barcelona one night before our cruise so I want to make the most of it. Sounds like we can do better with the Metro. We are staying at the Hotel Continental Barcelona on Las Ramblas. I read about the sister hotel but decided on this one because it is right there at Las Ramblas.

 

Carol

[canadiansnowbird]

Hi Carol:

 

We are also staying at the Hotel Continental Barcelona for three days before our cruise and I was going to say I would let you know how it is until I saw that you are on the Brillance 10/02/06. We are on the cruise before you, leaving 9/20. Did you get a room overlooking Las Ramblas? I have some correspondence from a cruiser that recommended the hotel. Not fancy, but central for the three days we are staying there.

 

Canadian Snowbird

[Carmic]

Canadian Snowbird.................yes, we have a balcony room overlooking Las Ramblas. Can't wait. Are you getting excited as we are? Hope you have a good cruise.

 

Carol

[Member]

Yes, between 9:30 to noon, the Plaza Catalunya stop (and some others) can be very busy on certain routes, particularly the southern one. If this happens, we go across the square to jump on the northern-route bus first. From there we change back to the southern-route bus at Plaza Espana if desired.

[xtrail]

do you purchase your tickets as you board or is there an office at the train station,I assume by the name you can hop on and hop off whenever you please ,does it end up back at the train station,website says it takes 2 hours to do the route.:):)

[brimicombe]

We just returned last Monday from our cruise-Venice to Barcelona

We stayed at the Hotel Continental and were very pleased with it . It overlooks Las Ramblas and is only a VERY short walk to the buses. The rooms are small but very clean and comfortable/The 24 hour continental buffet is great and soft drinks as well as coffee,tea and juices are free.The staff is very helpful and you will enjoy your balcony at night were you will see all the people and entertainment going on every night. Enjoy Barcelona -it's a beautiful city.

 

Sally

[like2cruise]

We have reservations here and another hotel and need to decide soon which to stay at. Did you use the internet at all? Is it unlimited or for a set amount of time? Was wine and beer served? What kind of breakfast and snacks were served? Was the balcony large enough for three people? Would the room accomodate three people very easily since you said it was small?

Did you hear a lot of noise all night? Did you use the hop on and off bus...was it crowded as others have stated? Where did you enjoy a reasonable priced meal? What are the must see sites in your opinion? Well I guess that is enough questions :D Thanks for your help!

[Lise Dagenais]

I am looking to use the hop on and hop off buses in Rome and Barcelona. I know the bus in Rome is the 110. If I take the train into Rome, where do I catch this bus? Do you just look for a 110 bus stop and then pay the driver? What is the cost for a day?

Good morning

The Hop and off buses are great to visit

You can pay the driver when go board

We did it in Rome also Barcelona

When it is possible that is the way we visit

Enjoy

[davidmaveng]

During our trip in May 06, the 110 bus was on strike. Not unusual in Italy, along side of the train station (Tinmini,sic) is an independent bus company called Cia Roma, a blue bus with a open upper deck, it cost 3 euro's more than 110 and hit all the same locations, no lines! The time seperation is approx 1/2 hour from your location, hop on-off, has the earphones and everything. Enjoy Rome

[brimicombe]

I'll try to answer all your questions

 

1. I only used internet to check air reservations but was not limite to how much time I spent. Internet, though is at front desk.

2.soda,juice,waterbottles are free. Beer and wine there is a charge.

3. breakfast-cereal, assorted bagels,muffins ,toast

4. balcony will hold 3

5. If you reserved a room for (3) it will be much larger than our room for 2

6.We were there Mon-Tuesday. Not a lot of noise but I'm sure that on the week-ends it would be louder

7.Hop on-off bus is great. Depending on time of day the wait could be 20-30 minutes but only at Plaza Cataluna as it is the starting point.

8.There are many good restaurants across from the hotel-We ate at the cafeteria diagonally across -the food was good and reasonable.

9.Make sure you go to La Familia and the Gaudi Museum, also go down some side streets and see the quaint neighborhoods.

 

Hope this helps, Sally

[like2cruise]

Sally, it helps a lot...Thanks!!

[Tagoladad]

We just returned from our cruise on the NCL Jewel that left out of Barcelona. We had originally intended to use the hop-on hop-off bus in Barcelona to tour the city. Right after checking into our hotel in Barcelona, we headed to the Plaza Catalunya and the tourist information office there. While walking there we passed by the hop-on hop-off bus stop for the Plaza Catalunya. What we saw were three of the buses arrive at the stop full of people, no one getting off, and a line of approx 120 people waiting for a bus to board. Given the heat and that we estimated the wait to be about an hour or more to even board a bus, we decided to forego the hop-on hop-off bus and tour Barcelona on our own.

 

Their metro system is as good as any and we were able to go everywhere we needed on our own. Like Paris, you can buy a packet of metro tickets (a T-10 ticket that contains 10 rides for about 7,20 euros). We took it to the Sagrida Familia, Parc Guell, Montjuvic and to Plaza Espana to board the train to Montserrat (we bought a separate ticket package for the train to Montserrat). Since we only had about a day and a half in Barcelona before the cruise, this worked quite well.

 

Let me know if you have any questions. Hope to write a review of the overall trip later.

 

we've read mixed things about the bus turistic (hop-op/hop-off bus). We plan on giving it a try (I think my DW will fell better on the bus turistic than the Metro) although we are going on the NCL Jewel (can't wait to read your review) at the height of the summer (the 7/16 sailing) we'll going to give it a try. We live in New York so I guess that we're accustomed to the crowds and lines. If it's really bad, perhaps we'll try the Metro (I ride the New york City Subway and it's pretty good, so I guess we can try the metro). Thanks for the tips, we look forward to reading more about your trip.

Tagoladad@aol.com

[Yellowjacket1]

Tagalodad,

 

I've started my review of our cruise and it's posted under the thread, "Saragoza and W. Med Cruise, Pt. 1". Since I can't access the boards during the day while I'm at work, I'm only able to write in the evenings I'm home. I've got the first several days of our trip reviewed here and will hopefully complete my review by this weekend. Hope this helps and I and my DW (GeorgiaPeach) would be happy to answer any questions. These boards have helped us so much, we surely want to reciprocate.

 

Steve

[flycatcher06]

Hi I was wondering does the Hop on in Barcelona stop near the Picasso Museum? or do you think we would be better off when we get off the Liberty just to grab a cab to the Museum and then does anyone know if we can walk back from there down Las Ramblas? Thank you for any help!

We ant to see Picasso Museum, Sagrada Familia then to Las Ramblas and shop and eat and return to ship.