Excursions in Spain

We will be traveling to Spain and Portugal on the Celebrity Equinox in Oct.

I would love suggestions for excursions or suggestions of ports that are easily accessible to sites without excursion.

Malaga

Cadiz,(Sevile)

Palma de Mallorca

Cartagena

Gibraltar

Lisbon

We want to go to the Alhambra. The excursion notes that it is a strenuous outing. We are 66 and 67 year olds in fairly good health. We do not climb mountains. Is it really that strenuous?

Thanks for any suggestions

Living in the Uk, we have spent many holidays touring around Andalucia, it is one of our favourite places to visit. We have spent many holidays there albeit land based and so have not done ship tours etc.

Granada and the Alhambra is a fabulous place to visit. I would presume that a ship or private excursion would take you from Malaga to Granada which is quite a drive, and then take you up to the palace. The palace is quite spread out with some steps but on the whole not too strenuous (up and down wise) but does involve quite a bit of walking.

Seville is lovely with the Alcazar, Giralda, the Catedral and Plaza de Espana, but again is a coach ride inland from Cadiz. Cadiz itself has a lot going for it but I would recommend Seville if one had to choose.

If you did not want to do excursions, then Malaga, Cadiz and Palma do have places to visit. Gibraltar and Lisbon are very accessible from where the ships normally dock. Gibraltar is 'old style' british but has to be 'done' once.Lisbon is lovely and again would recommend a DIY approach. Cartagena is one place we haven't visited.

The Ahlambra is only strenuous in that you will be doing a lot of walking. Not a problem for seniors without mobility issues. And we do personally recommend that folks go to the Ahlhambra and Generalife as it is a fascinating place to visit. DW and I were fortunate to have had some good advice and a few years ago we spend 3 nights at the Parador (hotel) located within the Ahlhambra. This is the most popular (and most expensive) Parador in Spain and it was worth every cent. Having breakfast on the Parador's patio and gazing out at the Generalife was worth the price of admission as was being inside the Ahlhambra after most of the day tourists were long gone.

Hank

We did many tours with Spain Day Tours last fall. I can't say one thing about them except they are EXCELLENT. The guides spoke VERY good English and had small groups. Flexibility was wonderful. If the guides saw buses at a site, we did something else first and then went back. We got to see and taste (literally) some wonderful local things that a big tour group wouldn't get to do.

In Barcelona we did Barcelona Day Tours which apparently is the same company.

X2 on Spain Day Tours. We did the tour of Alhambra in May and I'm 72 and had heart surgery in a year ago and I found there was a lot of walking but not too strenous.

Have a great time,

J.

We did many tours with Spain Day Tours last fall. I can't say one thing about them except they are EXCELLENT. The guides spoke VERY good English and had small groups. Flexibility was wonderful. If the guides saw buses at a site, we did something else first and then went back. We got to see and taste (literally) some wonderful local things that a big tour group wouldn't get to do.

In Barcelona we did Barcelona Day Tours which apparently is the same company.

Spain Day tours A/K/A Barcelona Day tours A/K/A Top Day tours would be a good company to tour with. Check your Roll Call, I am sure you can share private excursions with people on your cruise. Alhambra is a two hour bus trip each way, lots of walking, very little climbing a good site to see. Cartagena, you can either do the ships tour or by yourself. Make sure to go to the Museo Teatro Romano, small entrance easily missed. You take a elevator to the top and it opens up to a huge area of Roman Ruins. Many streets in Cartagena are marble, just amazing. Enjoy your cruise.

We will be traveling to Spain and Portugal on the Celebrity Equinox in Oct.

I would love suggestions for excursions or suggestions of ports that are easily accessible to sites without excursion.

Malaga

Cadiz,(Sevile)

Palma de Mallorca

Cartagena

Gibraltar

Lisbon

 

We want to go to the Alhambra. The excursion notes that it is a strenuous outing. We are 66 and 67 year olds in fairly good health. We do not climb mountains. Is it really that strenuous?

Thanks for any suggestions

Spain Day Tours has an excellent excursion to Granada that is much cheaper than the ship excursions. As others have said it is a lot of walking but not difficult.

In Gibraltar one of the best ways to tour is to get a taxi tour. The taxis will be lined up at the ship and offer a great tour at a reasonable price. They usually will get you to share with others so they get a full taxi. So either form your own group or they will form it for you. Was good tour.

Palma is easy to see without an excursion. You can see the cathedral from the port area. Our cruise offered a shuttle to the area around the cathedral where there is a fair amount to see just walking around.

Have not been to the other ports. Enjoy

Some of you destinations have already been mentioned so I will not repeat.

Cartagena is quite a pretty little town with cobbled streets and lots of small shops. If you want a quieter day you may be happy just having a wander around. A couple of drinks and some tapas?

Palma de Majorca again is an old town. It has a wonderful old Cathedral worth visiting and lots of shops. Lovely linen including embroidered table clothes. If you fancy a bigger tour there is a lovely train ride through the mountains...can not remember it's name but you will find it on any tourism site.

Have a great cruise.

Cartagena is quite a pretty little town with cobbled streets and lots of small shops. If you want a quieter day you may be happy just having a wander around. A couple of drinks and some tapas?

Just make sure that you turn off the main street [just a very short distance] to find less touristy restaurants and bars!

We will be traveling to Spain and Portugal on the Celebrity Equinox in Oct.

I would love suggestions for excursions or suggestions of ports that are easily accessible to sites without excursion.

Malaga

Cadiz,(Sevile)

Palma de Mallorca

Cartagena

Gibraltar

Lisbon

 

We want to go to the Alhambra. The excursion notes that it is a strenuous outing. We are 66 and 67 year olds in fairly good health. We do not climb mountains. Is it really that strenuous?

Thanks for any suggestions

I did a food tour in Lisbon and it was wonderful! Eat Portugal Food Tours with Celia, we ate and ate and toured, loved it!

In Cadiz, right across from the pier where you dock, they have a catamaran that goes to a quaint little fishing village called El Puerto de Santa Maria. It's a great little town with lots of seafood restaurants along the water and some nice walking/shopping areas. Great place for tapas. You could also make arrangements to take in a Bodega tour. We visited Bodega Terry and had a great time touring their cellars, checking out their horse stables, and tasting of a variety of their sherry.

Great thread it's helping us with our October cruise.

Just make sure that you turn off the main street [just a very short distance] to find less touristy restaurants and bars!

My rule of thumb in any port town is to walk away from the main pedestrian streets. Take any side street away any square and find a little cafe for lunch. Have always had great luck with this plan. Ajjaco, Corsica and Rhodes come to mind and the delightful cafes we found.

We always order cheese and cold meat plate, bowl of olives, bread, and local wine or beer. :D

Cartagena is a very easy DIY town, there's an old fort that's easy walking distance, albeit up a steep hill, it has spectacular views. There's also the ruins of a Roman theatre nearby. The town is small & charming, with plenty of sidewalk cafes serving sangria & tapas, it really makes for a nice, relaxing day :)

We will be traveling to Spain and Portugal on the Celebrity Equinox in Oct.

I would love suggestions for excursions or suggestions of ports that are easily accessible to sites without excursion.

 

Cadiz,(Sevile)

Palma de Mallorca

Gibraltar

Lisbon

 

Thanks for any suggestions

If it's any help, in my signature below is a link (Spain/Portugal/Gib) to videos I made from visits to the 4 ports above. All very easy to do on your own if you wish to. All the best, Tony

Hi Jan,

We are Melanie and Larry from Austin. We are traveling with dear friends, Gay and Mike from south Florida. We're about the same age and all in pretty good shape too. Definitely no mountain climbing though! I don't think Alhambra will be too strenuous.

We want to go on small group tours in all the ports too.

We have booked a small group in Cartagena with Spain Day Tours. You are welcome to join if you're interested. www.SpainDayTours.com

We also have a 1/2 day to Monserrat with Barcelona Day tours on Oct 3 which there is still room on. www.BarcelonaDayTours.com

We are still looking to book tours in Majorca, Gibraltar, Lisbon, Cadiz and Malaga.

Let me know if you'd like to join either of these tours or if you have any options we might join in on for the other ports.

It should all be fun! You can email me if you like at: mbuhrman at gmail dot com.

 

In Gibraltar one of the best ways to tour is to get a taxi tour. The taxis will be lined up at the ship and offer a great tour at a reasonable price. They usually will get you to share with others so they get a full taxi. So either form your own group or they will form it for you. Was good tour.

 

I was wondering if you might remember how much they charged for the taxi tours.

Thanks!

I was wondering if you might remember how much they charged for the taxi tours.

 

Thanks!

Here is the current information/price list - scroll down to page until you see 'Are you arriving on a Cruise' - there are 3 tour options

http://gibraltar-rock-tours.com/

The basic 1.5 hour tour costs 25 Pounds - taxis take 8 people. An identical tour booked on the cruise ship (I have used Thomson as an example but all ships are similar) costs 33 Pounds so you will save 16 Pounds per couple.

Here is the current information/price list - scroll down to page until you see 'Are you arriving on a Cruise' - there are 3 tour options

http://gibraltar-rock-tours.com/

The basic 1.5 hour tour costs 25 Pounds - taxis take 8 people. An identical tour booked on the cruise ship (I have used Thomson as an example but all ships are similar) costs 33 Pounds so you will save 16 Pounds per couple.

Thanks so much for providing all this information.

Thanks so much for providing all this information.

My pleasure. The tour is interesting and good value. Just come out of the cruise terminal building and the taxis (actually mini-buses) are waiting outside.

In Gibraltar one of the best ways to tour is to get a taxi tour. The taxis will be lined up at the ship and offer a great tour at a reasonable price. They usually will get you to share with others so they get a full taxi. So either form your own group or they will form it for you. Was good tour.

That was our experience in Gibraltar, too.

Join 'Roll Calls' connection party on this site, enter the ship and date you are going. You will be I touch with others on same cruise who are organising small private tours. I have been on tours with Spain day tours and were excellent. Also free walking tour in Barcelona 'runner bean tours, are excellent.

Join 'Roll Calls' connection party on this site, enter the ship and date you are going. You will be I touch with others on same cruise who are organising small private tours. I have been on tours with Spain day tours and were excellent. Also free walking tour in Barcelona 'runner bean tours, are excellent.

Yup ... done that but on a small ship (200 pax) so not making much progress with roll call although did turn up one couple and doing a shared tour in Seville.

Already signed up with Spain Day tours for Montserrat and registered for a free walking tour there also with Runner Bean Tours. Thanks for the recommendations as it makes me more confident that I made the right choices re: companies to use. :D

If it's any help, in my signature below is a link (Spain/Portugal/Gib) to videos I made from visits to the 4 ports above. All very easy to do on your own if you wish to. All the best, Tony

Appreciate the video of Dubrovnik. Thanks