Need help for DIY info with Korcula, Heraklion, Bodrum and Katakolon

Will be visiting these ports in October, would like to know any DIY info, are these ports walking distance from the pier into the town? If you have hired a taxi or a local vendor to take you around, where did you go and what is the cost for 2 people? Thanks in advance.

Korcula is an easy walkabout and an interesting place. Have not been to the other ports mentioned.

Katakolon is just one street with shops on both sides and lots of restaurants looking out on the harbour..........but that said it is a very relaxing place if you're on a port-intensive cruise. The main attraction from Katakolon is Olympia but I'm afraid I have no idea if it is possible to diy.

Gill

Katakolon is just one street with shops on both sides and lots of restaurants looking out on the harbour..........but that said it is a very relaxing place if you're on a port-intensive cruise. The main attraction from Katakolon is Olympia but I'm afraid I have no idea if it is possible to diy.

 

Gill

You can just jump on the train to Olympia. The walk from the train is about a mile.

Just in case you didn't see it, here is what I posted elsewhere.

Korcula - I have been there once. We were tendered in and left outside the walls of the old town. It was a short walk (less than 5 minutes) to the gates and then I wandered the streets. The streets of the old town are arranged in a herringbone pattern so that they go off the main road at staggered intervals. This way the wind can't blow from one end to the other but hits a brick wall opposite. (I wonder if it made it easier to fight invaders?) There are lots of jewellery and souvenir shops. I enjoyed wandering, though it was tiring as lots of it is uphill. Five minutes walk away is the modern town with cars and supermarkets, etc. My sister visited Korcula a couple of years later and enjoyed the modern town.

Olympia - The ship docks in Katakolon. It does not take long to wander around there as it's only a few streets wide. You need transport to Olympia. I know of three ways. You can go on ship's tour. You can walk into Katakolon to a travel agent and book a seat on their coach. (Just be careful as my friend and I missed it for our return trip because it had parked in a different part of the car park from where it had dropped us, and we had naively assumed it would be in the same place.) You can walk into Katakolon and catch the train to Olympia. (We returned on the train. That would be my preferred method in future.) You can find train timetables online. Once in Olympia you wander around by yourself (unless you have booked a guided tour through the ship - I don't know what they do).

I do most of my ports diy. I spend over an hour on the internet researching each one. I start by googling '10 best things to do in XXX'. You get some amazing information from there. I also search on the Cruise Critic boards for port information.

Katakolon is just one street with shops on both sides and lots of restaurants looking out on the harbour..........but that said it is a very relaxing place if you're on a port-intensive cruise. The main attraction from Katakolon is Olympia but I'm afraid I have no idea if it is possible to diy.

 

Gill

We were there in August and we thought it to hot to do Olympia so we stayed in Katakolon. There is a tourist train that we enjoyed very much for 6 euros each. Some good scenery and it stopped at a winery and then a beach. You could get off and then hop back on later. In the afternoon I walked 10 minutes to a local beach. Not the best beach but good enough for a paddle in the sea.

For both head to the right after leaving the ship, the place is small enough that you should find both easy enough. Not much else to do other than a coffee or meal in a local cafe.

Thank you everyone for replying my post. I am still continuing my research on these ports. Thanks again everyone!

Will be visiting these ports in October, would like to know any DIY info, are these ports walking distance from the pier into the town? If you have hired a taxi or a local vendor to take you around, where did you go and what is the cost for 2 people? Thanks in advance.

All easy 'walk-off' ports so no problem just going to explore independently.

Korcula as already described is a pretty place, interesting and with shops, cafes etc. It is fairly small though two or three leisurely hours would more than do it. We walked along the bay to the right of the town as you look from the ship but mainly just for the walk as there wasn't much to see. Whether it's worth looking at a half day trip I wouldn't know but if you're happy to have a relaxing day Korcula is a pleasant port of call.

Bodrum is great. Plenty for a DiY day. You can walk from the berth round the bay (flat easy walk along the sea front) which would take 15/20 minutes I would guess. Alternatively there is a free water taxi from the right of the pier which will take you to the harbour in town near to the castle - great views from the boat too as you round the imposing Castle. The Castle is extensive and interesting - we spent quite a while visiting this year and enjoyed it. Also there is a well preserved amphitheatre on the hill rising above the town - you can see it from the boat as you enter the harbour directly above the town. It's very walkable - not too far but uphill. It's a relatively gentle rise apart from one short section which is steep. Just keep rising up until you hit the main road and the amphitheatre is just across the carriageway. It's free. The remains of the mausoleum of Helicarnassus is on the way back down to town. It's very much a ruin and you can see into the site and judge whether it's worth going in. It's only a few € but although we did go in it's not the most interesting place we've seen. It must have been magnificent in its time but you need a good imagination to envisage it now,. Otherwise Bodrum has plenty of cafes, a lovely waterfront and plenty of tourist shops including those of the 'genuine fake' variety! If you haven't been to Bodrum before I'd definitely recommend you spend the day there. It's got lots to see, is very attractive, clean and geared to tourists.

You have had replies about Katakolon already. Yes very small but with some well positioned cafes along the waterfront for drinks. Nice touristy shops too but literally a one street town! The bay has hard, damp compacted sand so you can walk for some distance should you wish.

But Olympia is the big attraction and we found it very much more interesting than we had imagined it would be. We did a ship's half day tour and found the input of the guide excellent to bring the site to life. We did try going on the train on one occasion but they were on strike! I would recommend you research the timetable if you plan to go by train as it's a branch line and they aren't too frequent. Also check how many other ships are in port too to determine what the demand on the train and/or taxis might be. The beach which the little land train serves (about 400m walk from the drop off) is lovely but it might be a bit late in the year for a beach stop - there's nothing there except the beach and a couple of cafes.

We just explored Heraklion - it has a harbour area, the church is beautiful and there are old city ramparts which you can walk around. It wasn't the most memorable place we've been but we had a pleasant enough day. Knossus is the attraction there - we would do that another time but sorry can't help with transport options to places round about.

P. S. Don't know if they offer a trip to Ag Nikolaos with Spinalonga but that would be good - Spinalonga is very interesting with a fascinating history (Victoria Hislop's book 'The Island' sets the scene well) and Ag Nik is really pretty. I'm not sure how easy that would be possible to do independently from Heraklion though.

We have friends doing this itinerary and wehen we were discussing it with them the other day, I realised I'd overlooked the fort at Heraklion (although we didn't visit it when we were there). According to the Port info on here it sounds as though it's worth an hour or so for a visit so that might be something more to do in Heraklion.