Mediterranean Medley 9th August

Hi I'm looking for advice on this itinerary. We like to DIY when we cruise and I've managed to research most ports, except I can't find much info on Toulon. It's our anniversary that day and wanted to do something a little more special but begrudge spending money on ship excursions as I find them over priced.

Any advice or tips for the others ports too would be great.

We stop at

Livorno

Villefrance

Rappallo

Toulon

Barcelona

Thanks in advance

Jo

I know I've said this before but for gemini77 I advise doing the boat rip from Rapallo to Portofino DIY rather than the Thomson trip. It's 10 euros return and runs every 30 minutes from near where the tender drops you off. It also stops at Santa Marguerita. The Thomson trip was £35 two years ago. I believe there is a cable car in Toulon although we haven't done it but loved Toulon.

Although I share your view on DiY wherever possible, I would say that the half day trip from Toulon to Cassis was great. It's an old fishing village and has a lot of character and charm

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=Cassis+pictures&client=firefox-a&hs=PW6&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=6DLQU4bqHaSg7Ab4yoDwAg&ved=0CCEQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=619

Hi

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of the boat to Portofino and have looked at that on the internet. Thanks.

Cassis looks lovely too.

Do you know if St Tropez from Toulon is doable DIY?

Hi

 

Thanks for the advice. I like the idea of the boat to Portofino and have looked at that on the internet. Thanks.

 

Cassis looks lovely too.

 

Do you know if St Tropez from Toulon is doable DIY?

Don't know about getting to St Tropez from Toulon (do Thomson run a trip there - that would give you an idea if it's within reach) but I found St Tropez rather underwhelming. Was that just me or how do others rate it? :confused:

We spent our Toulon day at the beach. The little train took us straight there and we got sun beds on a very nice private beach. It was €25 for a sun bed, parasol and a very good lunch.

We did the trip to Cassis from Toulon the first time we docked there and then stayed in Toulon the second time.

Cassis was lovely and the ride along the La Crete (or something similar) road was spectacular.

However, we were surprised how much we liked Toulon itself this April. A fascinating Maritime Museum (show your Boarding Card to get a discount), excellent openair local market, nice beaches and lovely back street bars and restaurants. We took the ´Petit Train´ right from the cruise terminal and this was a great way to get your bearings.

As Thomson offer a trip to St Tropez it should be do-able DIY, however, we have visited there in the past (not on a cruise) and were somewhat underwhelmed.

Well I'm glad it's not just me campolady - you hear such a lot about St Tropez I wondered if I'd missed something when we went. We rated it OK but thought 'OK we've seen it now, not bothered about going back!'. Most people on our trip preferred Port Grimaud where we also stopped.

Villefranche is very easy to get the train into Montego Carlo. The station is a 10 minute walk from the tender drop off but Villefranche is a charming little place in its own right. There are waterfront cafes, a beach, little train to see round the town or go over to the other side of the peninsular to Beaulieu, quaint alleyways and if you are interested I can give you info/instructions on how to get to Villa Ephrussi which is walkable from the town and has the most fabulous views and beautiful gardens. (I'm finding it hard to get this device to copy the link but Google Villa Ephrussi for an idea of what its like - might not be your thing but we enjoyed our day there and in Villefranche more than Monte Carlo although that was interesting and worth doing).

Livorno - you can DiY to Florence but although we are keen independent travellers it's not an expedition we've been prepared to undertake because of the length of train journey which also involves changing trains so getting connections iirc so that's always put us off. If you really want to see Florence I think you will get far more time to see the city and far less hassle to do the Florence on Your Own transfer. On the other hand getting to Pisa from Livorno is easy - only 15 mins on the train and very cheap.

Barcelona is an easy DiY city - either you berth right in the centre at the bottom of the Ramblas or the shuttle bus will drop you there if you berth in the main port. (Short distance as the crow flies but worth going by shuttle imo as it's a bit of a trek getting out of the port complex.) After that it's up to you. Barcelona is a big city with lots of places worth visiting but I'd advise you get a map, do some research on Barcelona and decide on what you most want to see and plan a route to make the most of your day. There is a HoHo and the Metro is excellent and very cheap to get around.

If you need any more help with anything I've suggested just ask.

Don't know about getting to St Tropez from Toulon (do Thomson run a trip there - that would give you an idea if it's within reach) but I found St Tropez rather underwhelming. Was that just me or how do others rate it? :confused:

We also went there many years ago and were quite disappointed. Not nearly as glamorous as you expect.

Thank you all for your help.

Your thoughts on st tropez are very welcome. You can DIY by bus but it takes 2 hours I don't think there is a train and it sounds like its lovely but not worth that much effort.

We may stay in Toulon and splash out on a night in the grill being our anniversary.

We are definitely doing the Hoho in Barcelona as we missed out last time due to an unplanned strike! And will probably DIY to Monaco.

I always find Cruise Critic very helpful when you are indecisive.

Many thanks again. This will be our 3rd time on the Dream, we love her vintage charm :)

if you are interested I can give you info/instructions on how to get to Villa Ephrussi which is walkable from the town and has the most fabulous views and beautiful gardens. (I'm finding it hard to get this device to copy the link but Google Villa Ephrussi for an idea of what its like - might not be your thing but we enjoyed our day there and in Villefranche more than Monte Carlo although that was interesting and worth doing).

I would love any information on Villa Ephrussi. It sounds like a lovely place.

Thanks Kruzseeka much appreciated

We are on the same week as you Gemini and the week before.

At Villefranche we are planning on getting the bus to Nice, it's a walk up the hill but then seems quite straightforward. But will look at kruzseekers info on the town itself and the villa, so we might do that instead.

The cable car is a good day out at Toulon, we have done it before. The tourist office at the bottom of the market square will sell you a combined bus/cable car ticket and point you in the direction of the bus stop.

Rapallo, will do the boat to portofino, just have to make sure we don't leave it too late to catch the boat back, as it's high season there may be queues.

If you have a smartphone or tablet I can recommend the trip advisor app for Barcelona, it's really good.

if you are interested I can give you info/instructions on how to get to Villa Ephrussi which is walkable from the town and has the most fabulous views and beautiful gardens. (I'm finding it hard to get this device to copy the link but Google Villa Ephrussi for an idea of what its like - might not be your thing but we enjoyed our day there and in Villefranche more than Monte Carlo although that was interesting and worth doing).

 

I would love any information on Villa Ephrussi. It sounds like a lovely place.

 

Thanks Kruzseeka much appreciated

You are tendered in to Villefranche. At the berth there is a tourist info office where you can pick up a map and get any info you require. The bay sweeps round to your right and it is sandy and people bathe there tooalthough it's not the best quality sand. Along the waterfront are pavement cafes and the little cobbled streets rising up from the promenade.

Villa Ephrussi is on Cap Ferrat - the bit that sticks out to the right. We followed the bay round, climbed some steps at the end of teh beach to get to the road followed that round (rising and bearing right in the main) and turned right when we reached a main road at a T-junction. The Villa is sign posted to the left from this road. Get the tourist people to show you the route on a map but it's fairly obvious. The sign on the wall for the Villa wasn't too obvious - on the left hand side of the road. If you try the little man on street view on Google Earth you may be able to locate and then visualise the route more easily.

I guess it took us a bit over 30 minutes to walk there - but I understand there is a bus. Alternatively I don't think it would be too expensive to get a taxi and walking back is easy as it's downhill. We had a good nosy at the villas along the way which have such gorgeous views over the bay. :)

The gardens are beautiful and you get fabulous views of your ship anchored in the bay.

The Villa:

http://www.villa-ephrussi.com/en/home

Pictures of the Villa:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=villa+ephrussi+pictures&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=PijRU8M-sefsBr3-gLAD&ved=0CCEQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=619

Pictures of Villefranche:

https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=villefranche+pictures&client=firefox-a&hs=idM&rls=org.mozilla:en-GB:official&channel=sb&tbm=isch&tbo=u&source=univ&sa=X&ei=5yTRU5zvLpHy7AbI8oHICQ&ved=0CCEQsAQ&biw=1280&bih=619

We also did the ride to Beaulieu on the other side of Cap Ferrat on the little land train.

It was a low key but relaxing day and a very pretty spot which is often overlooked as people dash off to Monte Carlo or Cannes.

Thanks Kruzseeka.

That looks a lovely place to visit, I think you have sold it to me.

We may get the combined ticket and have a look at the greek villa too. Might not want to walk over there though if it's too hot.

Just mapped it out on google earth, it's a little over 1.5 miles to the villa.

Thanks Kruzseeka, a low key relaxed day sounds good to me will keep the villa in mind it looks lovely on the web.

Joeholiday2 you never know our paths may cross that week. We've got an outside plus, which is an upgrade for us, we are usually happy with a normal outside. Push the boat out as they say :)

We've never stopped where we've needed a tender before. Daft question but how do they work?

Thanks Kruzseeka, a low key relaxed day sounds good to me will keep the villa in mind it looks lovely on the web.

 

Joeholiday2 you never know our paths may cross that week. We've got an outside plus, which is an upgrade for us, we are usually happy with a normal outside. Push the boat out as they say :)

 

We've never stopped where we've needed a tender before. Daft question but how do they work?

They lower usually three lifeboats which are the tenders and put a kind of landing stage at the side of the ship for you to step out onto (just like stepping onto the gangway - nothing scary) then the crew help you to board the tenders. Sometimes they bob up and down a bit but it's a well rehearsed procedure and is pretty efficient at getting passengers ashore. These tenders operate a shuttle service to the dock on land throughout the day. Just turn up at whichever staircase and deck they tell you.

Often they will let the people on organised trips off the ship first because they have coaches on land waiting to take tour parties to various destinations. After that independent travellers can go ashore. You can go back to the ship whenever you want to - just turn up at the tender dock and they fill up the boats and take you back.

That's brilliant thank you, it all seems really easy. I'm sure the minute we get on the ship it will fall back into place. We just haven't cruised for a couple of years.

Thanks again

Jo