walking distance

[gsgb]

Hi All,

I am looking for a european cruise where most of the ports have things to see and do within walking distance of where the ship docks.
Which ports are the best?

Thank you

[paul929207]

A river cruise may be your best bet.

[soccerref]

This is a very difficult one to answer as the number of ports visited by cruise ships around the Med is huge. It also depends on the size of the ship - some are too big to dock close to attractions - the number of ships in port and the port authorities. A river cruise would be an answer but, if you want a sea cruise, I suggest you narrow down your request to more specific areas. The majority of cruise companies offer regular shuttle bus services (sometimes free and sometimes at a fee - often $10pp return) into the nearest town from where they dock and public transport is usually cheap and reliable.

[Donder1]

It has been my experience, limited for sure, that the large cruise ships dock in more industrial type areas of a particular city or region.Not pretty and many loading docks for cargo,etc. I'd try a river cruises or a small ship for what you seem to be looking for. They can get into tourist areas and small towns like Positano in Italy easier.

[smeyer418]

Try Oceania or Azamara. They both have smaller ships. Ask on each of these cruise lines threads if the stops are within walking distance. Its more of a cruise line thing than a port thing because it revolves around the size of the ship, whether they tender or port or if they stop at a nearby port instead of the actual town.
Its like Monte Carlo. Very few cruise ships port there but they port at VilleFrance Sur Mar(sur Mar means on the Sea). You can walk around VilleFrance Sur Mar which is lovely but you can also take the train or bus to Monte Carlo-easily the train station is close. But you really would like to berth at Monte Carlo and only some ships do that.

[eandj]

Definitely agree to cruise on a much smaller ship. But even then, when stopping at ports in Europe or the Med., there is so much to see that you will want to hire a driver or tour.

A river cruise that allows you to stroll smaller cities might also work for you. Those also include generally one optional excursion at each port with your fare.

What is your reason for the question? Is mobility a problem?

[tomko2]

We have been on two Med. cruises with Royal Caribbean; here are that ports that were easy to exit by foot and/or ship shuttle to Port entrance gates:
Rhodes
Naples
Cannes
Civitavecchia (Port of Rome)
Corfu
Athens
Venice
Alexandria, Egypt


Not feasible or much more difficult:
Florence (Industrial Area)
Dubrovnik (long, long walk to town)
Barcelona (long, long walk to town)
Limosol, Cyprus (Industrial Area)
Mykonos (not an overly look walk however road too narrow hence dangerous, better to take ship shuttle)

Photos of some of the ports in the link below.
Hope you find a cruise you like.
Kathy

[eandj]

Originally Posted by tomko2

We have been on two Med. cruises with Royal Caribbean; here are that ports that were easy to exit by foot and/or ship shuttle to Port entrance gates:
Rhodes
Naples A warning, Know this city well before walking it.
Cannes
Civitavecchia (Port of Rome) Stopping in Civ. is not seeing Rome. Take train or driver.
Corfu
Athens Most ships stop at Pireaus, a commercial port and city. Not where you would want to experience Athens ( a 30 min drive away)
Venice You will need to take a water cab or aliguna boat to the city center or walk about 40 min to the city center (St. Marks)
Alexandria, Egypt


Not feasible or much more difficult:
Florence (Industrial Area)
Dubrovnik (long, long walk to town)
Barcelona (long, long walk to town)This is actually easy to do. Not a long walk. Go from your ship to bottom of Las Ramblas by shuttle. (5-7 min ride) See more of the city by hop on bus.
Limosol, Cyprus (Industrial Area)
Mykonos (not an overly look walk however road too narrow hence dangerous, better to take ship shuttle)

Photos of some of the ports in the link below.
Hope you find a cruise you like.
Kathy

Note my feelings re the above ports.

[sail7seas]

Some docks are far from downtown in many European cities. Port of Athens is Pireaus.... it is located about 20 minutes of more from downtown Athens, for example. Civitevecchia (sp?) is Port for Rome and is well over an hour from the outskirts of that huge city.

[Gablin]

I found Venice easy to walk about, after catching the vaparetto, which was about a ten minute walk from the cruise ship. Another port I found easy, although steep climbing, was Odessa.
Oslo could be easy to just walk from the ship, depending on what you want to see. Bergen would require a bus ride, but they are frequent and comfortable.

It might be that there is an easier answer to your situation than just walking into town. Are you willing to share why you want to walk in?

[smeyer418]

with all respect. If you go to Egypt and do not bother to see anything else but is within walking distance of the cruise terminal you have not seen much of Egypt- especially since they tend to stay there overnight. Port Said is the same.

Its like if you went to NY and Docked in Brooklyn and just walked around...you have not seen anything worthwhile(yes I know you can see a view of the Statue of Liberty and visit Fairway and Ikea...). Its true in some ports you may be close enough to see things(San Juan if you are downtown is an example) but most places you have to ride somewhere. Some of the cruise terminals themselves are miles or kilometer long. I remember one in St johns where were in the last dock and it was two miles to the Gate!

[spere03]

Well I would suggest you Croatia. Lots of small cruise ships which cruise among islands starting from Split or Dubrovnik. Island cities are small, up to 4500 citizens on bigger one. Only Dubrovnik old city is maybe 15 minutes walk from harbor.

[bbwex]

Someone has already suggested Oceania, as their ships are smaller, and in some ports they go much further in. Azamara and Seabourne were also docked closer in when we were.

Stockholm was still a ten-minute cab ride to town. Tallinn was not terribly close, but walkable. St. Petersburg was right there for the smaller ships, but there are visa issues in Russia, so beware. Helsinki was right there off the ship. Gdansk was like Tallinn, not too far, but a little hike. Copenhagen was reasonably close by. Warnemunde -- we took off for Berlin, so I don't know how close the town was, but I think some of the beach area wasn't too far. Amsterdam (the main part of downtown) was between 5 and 10 minutes walking. Bruges or Brussels were a long ways from Zeebrugge. Dover was close, but not much to do there, and you would miss London.

In some of these ports, the large cruise ships were way, way, way out, and as someone has said, in very industrial parts of the city.

[piper61]

The best cruise I have ever taken was Grand Circles' Great Rivers of Europe. We boarded in Amsterdam and traveled to Vienna. We docked at the city docks and walked a short distance to the town. Most all of the tours are included in the cruise price.