Can Italy Be Seen Affordably?

We've been booked for a cruise of mostly Italy since last March which will depart April, 2015. Great price on the cruise on the NCL Epic for 10 days. Final payment will be due in January. We plan on using FF miles on United but it will still cost over $200. in taxes for the 2 "free" tickets! I started looking at the ships tours and it looks like most of them average over $100.pp. I've seen some independent tour operators listed and I guess it could be cheaper if your get a group together to do a semi-private tour.

If I sign up for one of these independent tours and the price goes on how many are going, how does it work if no one else goes on the tour?

Any tips on how to keep costs down in Europe and still get the most out of seeing the sights?

Thanks in advance!

You need to define "affordably". Public transit is excellent in Italy (like most of Europe), a reasonably inexpensive way to get around. That being said, the "best" way to see Europe and monitor your costs is to see it via a land tour. Visiting a city via cruise ship forces certain costs on you, such as getting from the port to the city/attractions, which are frequently not near the port.

Part of the issue that makes Europe expensive is taxes. So, there are fees and taxes for the airport, which you are using, even of your flight is an award seat. The plane still lands, uses a gate, ground services, etc, which have a cost even if your ticket is "free".

 

Any tips on how to keep costs down in Europe and still get the most out of seeing the sights?

 

Thanks in advance!

One way to keep costs down -- and get a lot out of it -- is to research what you want to see and how to get around on your own in advance.

You don't mention what ports in Italy you are visiting, but it is entirely possible to get an overview of a few key sites in Rome on your own by taking the train from the port. Or to visit Florence from Livorno (again by train), or to get to Pompeii from Naples. And in Venice, the best way to sightsee is to wander using your own feet and the vaporetto system (like buses that run on the canals).

It can be a lot of fun to figure it all out and to read about what you will see. Trust me, you'll get so much more out of it if you have a good grounding before you get there. And that's true whether you do things on your own, on a private/semi-private tour or on a ship tour.

Thank you! The ports we are visiting departing from BCN are Cagliari, Palermo, Naples, Rome, Florence and back to BCN. We'll stay 1 day pre and post in BCN. We were to Barcelona back in 2001 and seen some of it. We were also in Rome and Naples.

By affordable I was hoping to keep tours from $50-100pp, at the very most. I do know that Rome is more then an hour from port. I do want to get what I can out of it because it's always possible we won't get there again. If I don't have the miles for air saved we wouldn't be going. The price for this 10 day cruise with the gratuities paid was to good to turn down!

I know that BCN has the hop on, hop off bus. I think we did that years ago and it was a good way to see the city and stop at some of the sites.

Public transport is the cost-effective answer in Italy, as in most of Europe.

Day-return Civitavecchia to Rome by train about €12.

Day-return Livorno to Florence by train about €18, or Pisa about €7 return, plus NCL's payable shuttlebus between ship & Livorno station.

Day-return Naples to Pompeii by train about €8, or less to Herculaneum, or Sorrento a guess of about €16.

Or Naples to Sorrento or Capri around €16 one-way by fast-ferry.

Venice cruise port to city a combination of shanks's, driverless people-mover & vaporetto (canal water-bus) for a few euros, or NCL might run a shuttleboat at around $15 for all-day.

Lots of detail if you run a search for your ports on this forum.

No guide of course, so you'll need to do your research on where to go & what to see. And never rely on the last-possible train/ferry/bus back to the ship - always give yourselves a fall-back.

Some tours are available as "seat in bus". Same arrangement as ship's tours - you buy only your own seats at a fixed price from the tour operator, or a consolidator such as Viator or City Discovery or CruisingExcursions (google them), and filling the bus or van is their problem. The others touring with you probably won't be from your ship. You do need to check out the operators cos quality varies, and ensure that the pick-up / drop location and timings suit.

A half-way house between ship's tour & private tour.

Since you've got no experience I'd caution you not to arrange a tour-share van. There can be risks & complications with numbers, payments & responsibilities.

Instead, use your RollCall to find other cruisers who are doing that & are looking for sharers. Very broadly the cruiser organising a tour-share will provisionally book a tour, figure the cost per head (might be a sliding scale depending on numbers), & seek sharers via the RollCall & perhaps elsewhere. He/she may want a deposit or payment by the time the tour operator requires confirmation, or want their sharers to pay in advance direct to the operator, or may do it on trust.

If there are insufficient takers by confirmation time and the price is consequently a lot higher, then you cancel - as other provisional sharers and the organiser probably will. But at that point it's cost nothing to anyone, just some wasted effort by the organiser.

At confirmation, of course everyone should stand by their commitments - but not everyone does. You are unlikely to have to pay more than you agreed, but for instance if two out of sixteen let the others down it's normal to chip in. You can check this with the person organising the tour-share.

The organiser fixes the itinerary, but sharers can ask for variations. And if, say, the organiser wants to go a little off-route to buy a tee-shirt at a Hard Rock Café (as happened on one tour-share we joined) then that's fair enough - "organiser's perks" ;)

Of the ports that I listed

- a tour is a good alternative to the train for Florence / Pisa

- it's an alternative for Rome, though IMHO the train is better.

- it's not needed for Venice

- From Naples, the Amalfi Coast isn't safely possible by public transport within a cruiser's usual port-of-call hours so has to be by tour, the other sights and even a couple of combinations of sights are cheap & easy by ferry or train or a combination of both.

- you don't need a ship's tour or transport for any of these ports, except mebbe the Livorno ship-station shuttle.

Edited to add: Cagliari is very compact & walkable, but a steep hill to the old town perched on top. At a couple of points there are public elevators, though we only found them when we were at the top LOL

Explore the place on foot.

Nothing terribly specific in this post, but I hope it helps.

JB :)

Thanks, JB, for all the great info, as usual! That's what I was wondering about the tour-share thing. I wouldn't want to be responsible to organize and give payment for others. Which port was almost a tour necessity was another thing I was wondering about. Since we've never been to Florence we would probably get a tour. I was reading that the Tower of Pisa is no biggy to take the time and see.

I'm hoping that April is a good time to go to Europe. In our neck of the woods, April could be iffy, sometimes a little snow!

Thanks, JB, for all the great info, as usual! That's what I was wondering about the tour-share thing. I wouldn't want to be responsible to organize and give payment for others. Which port was almost a tour necessity was another thing I was wondering about. Since we've never been to Florence we would probably get a tour. I was reading that the Tower of Pisa is no biggy to take the time and see.

 

I'm hoping that April is a good time to go to Europe. In our neck of the woods, April could be iffy, sometimes a little snow!

No worries. :)

To drive the Amalfi coast needs a tour because the alternative is ferry or train to Sorrento, then bus from Sorrento to Positano or Amalfi - it's only an hourly bus service & often there's more than a bus-load waiting at the stop so another hour's wait. If that happens on your return, you'd be in deep doggy-doos needing to get back to the ship on time.

But instead of Amalfi, there's lots of other choices for Naples.

For example the 9am ferry across the Bay of Naples to Sorrento, explore the harbour, one-euro bus up the hill to the town, explore the town, the half-hourly Circumvesuviana Sorrento to Naples train as far as either Pompeii (station name Pompeii Scavi) or Herculaneum (station name Ercolano Scavi), explore one of those, same train line back to Naples. A varied & interesting round-trip.

Or a simple fast-ferry ride to the magical Isle of Capri. Fantastic views, expensive coffees.

We've visited both Florence and Pisa in one port day (sorry, cruisemom ;)). The Florence train stops at Pisa - and you can break your journey there with your Livorno-Florence ticket at no extra cost. We took the train straight to Florence, saw what we wanted to see, stopped off at Pisa on the way back, then back on the train to Livorno. The Field of Miracles (Leaning Tower etc) is about a 25 minute walk from the station so Pisa will cost you a total of about 90 minutes. If you want to see inside Florences's museums etc you won't have time for Pisa as well. And I doubt you'll have time to climb the tower at Pisa. Go armed with train timetables and you can decide on the day whether to include Pisa on the way back, or spend the rest of the day in Florence & put Pisa on the back-burner. But for an overview of both it's perfectly possible - by train or by tour van.

Cruisemom is the expert on all things old & dusty - if you want to know more about Pompeii, Herculaneum, Rome's Forum, etc, she's your lady. :)

April's OK for Italy.

Possibly cooler than you'd like. But for sight-seeing that's a whole lot better than hotter than you'd like. And no crowds if you avoid the Easter weekend.

Fingers crossed we rarely get snow in the UK in April.

No need to cross your fingers around sea-level in Italy.

JB :)

There are so many different variables that it is difficult to give an answer without really knowing the individual and their wants. But lets start out with a premise. Cruises are wonderful (we have spent years on cruise ships) but they are also very limiting. If you want to take a cruise, then cruising the Med is terrific. But if you really want to see a country be it economically or on a luxury trip, then a cruise is not a great option. The nature of ports means you are effectively limited to places within range of your port, and the further from the port the more time you spend just going back and forth to your tour destination. A land trip or tour means you can move from place to place (without a lot of backtracking) and you can spend much of the day and evening seeing the country rather then moving to and from a cruise ship. So if you really want to see and experience Italy, then consider a land trip/tour.

And for those that want to tour Italy there are land tours in all price ranges from economical tours such as by Globus or high-end tours such as by Tauck. While a cruise will get you to a few Italian ports, the same time spent on a land tour will allow you to see and experience much more of the country.

Hank

Thanks, J.B. and Hank! We were just on an 11 day Caribbean cruise that departed from San Juan and ended in New Orleans. The cruise was very cheap, but I think we spent more money pre and post cruise then for the cruise. I hate not knowing how much to budget and getting a bill handed to me after a meal.

We were on the Amalfi Coast back in 2001 and no, I would never try that on my own. I think we will go there again this time.

I would, by a landslide, take cooler temps then hotter! I'd rather need a light jacket then a sleeveless top.

Another good thing I like about this cruise is that the departing times range from 5 to 7:00 with 6:00 being the normal. This could easily be a 7 night cruise and more exhausting. Spreading it out to 10 days gives some resting time.

Look for the search feature on this page to the right of the blue bar near the top. Put in phrases such as "rome on your own" and you should get some good information. You can also search on YouTube and find videos of taking the train to places such as Rome.

The first time I went to italy, I made a list of all the ports. Then I got on this board and looked up DIY and read like crazy. I did most ports on my own with a bunch of research. The ports I really thought I could not cover all the area,I booked tour sharing. I always started my own groups, posted on my roll call and never had any trouble filling them (I used italytoursharing.com). The tour shares are usually cheaper than the ships and much more personal. The tour shares ( groups of 8) are cheaper than privates obviously too so there's a couple ways to save.

I usually end up doing three shared tours and the rest on my own. Utilize public transport like crazy. For instance in venice, the airport bus takes u right next to the port. No need for expensive taxis.

Thanks, JB, for all the great info, as usual! That's what I was wondering about the tour-share thing. I wouldn't want to be responsible to organize and give payment for others. Which port was almost a tour necessity was another thing I was wondering about. Since we've never been to Florence we would probably get a tour. I was reading that the Tower of Pisa is no biggy to take the time and see.

 

I'm hoping that April is a good time to go to Europe. In our neck of the woods, April could be iffy, sometimes a little snow!

Ships' tours are never our first choice. There are some companies who offer tour-sharing that they organize. Spanish Trails is one that comes to mind, you just sign-up on their site for the tour you want. There are also many ports that have a "Free Walking Tour" program. The guides work for tips and many report the tours are of a very high quality.

Have you looked into self-guided and/or independent walking tours? As suggested, the forum search tool can assist (it seems like you've been using the boards for awhile so you are probably familiar with these resources). Rick Steves offers a number of free audio tours on his website - they are great!

Keep in mind that you've traveled a great distance and already invested a fair amount of time and money (even at a discount) so weigh your options carefully to avoid disappointment.

I appreciate all the good advice and input! What did we all do before internet? I have a few bookshelves of tour and travel guided. I still do buy them, but it's nice to get info right from a number of people that have been there.

I appreciate all the good advice and input! What did we all do before internet? I have a few bookshelves of tour and travel guided. I still do buy them, but it's nice to get info right from a number of people that have been there.

The people who write guidebooks haven't been there?

By affordable I was hoping to keep tours from $50-100pp, at the very most. I do know that Rome is more then an hour from port. I do want to get what I can out of it because it's always possible we won't get there again. If I don't have the miles for air saved we wouldn't be going. The price for this 10 day cruise with the gratuities paid was to good to turn down!

 

I know that BCN has the hop on, hop off bus. I think we did that years ago and it was a good way to see the city and stop at some of the sites.

Rather than setting an individual budget for each tour, we usually set a total budget for all tours. This allows us to have both inexpensive days and a few splurges, while overall staying within budget.

We visited Rome a few years ago on our own which made for a very inexpensive day. We took the train from Civitavecchia and used a combination of walking and the metro to get around. We visited the Trevi Fountain, had a quick visit to Piazza Navona, did an Underground Colosseum tour and visited the Forum. Total cost of tickets and transportation was around 35 euros each.

For the Amalfi Coast and Tuscany, we joined a tour with others on our roll call. I highly recommend checking out the roll call for your sailing.

In Barcelona, we bought a T10 card for the metro (10 rides for 10 euros) that we shared and used this to get around.

I agree with the above posted who mentioned how you've already invested a fair amount of money, so weigh your options carefully to avoid disappointment.

The people who write guidebooks haven't been there?

To be fair, information in guidebooks is often outdated.

And it's kind of hard to ask a guidebook additional questions the same we can ask other travellers on the internet ;)

I think that's what I'm really trying to do, is set an over-all budget of what this trip will cost. Pinch some corners where we could and splurge where we need and want to. Yes, it is a long way to go so we do want to get the most out of our time there.

I'm not sure what Rick Steve's travel books are considered. He seems to visit and write about his travels and I enjoy watching his travel shows. I'm not sure about Fodor's or Eye Witness or Frommer's. Before I got on the internet they did give us some guidance.

Rick Steves' books, particularly his book on cruising the Mediterranean, are excellent sources for figuring out how to do things on your own -- where it's practical and where other alternatives may be better.

I find guidebooks are best for history and information on the sights themselves, but the internet is a better source for current hours, costs (admission, train fares), public transportation schedules and other details that are more subject to change.

John Bull gives great info, and I've learned lots from Hank on different threads. All I can add is that someone on my former med cruise organized Rome in Limo tours in Rome, Naples (Amalfi) and Florence. With 7 passengers in an 8 passenger Mercedes van, the cost was about 80 Euros pp, which seemed like a bargain. Check out Rome in Limo.....