Greenock, Scotland

[Happy4cruise]

Originally Posted by DeloreanGirl

Greenock is pretty simplistic. There's not much to do but it's a cute town filled with nice people. We didn't have any interest in Glasgow so we stayed in Greenock and walked around that day. It's an easy walk from the ship.

Here's my review of it with photos if that helps any....
http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showp...&postcount=115

My husband & I will be on the Caribbean Princess TransAtlantic cruise at the end of August- stopping in Greenock on August 28. We opted not to take an organized tour here. Thanks for the info & photos of this port. Looking forward to exploring the town on our own!

[highlandlassie]

Got tears in my eyes reading all the comments about Greenock, my wee home town, anyone got any questions just shout - and I will try my best to answer

[highlandlassie]

2. Train from Greenock to Wemyss bay (1/2 hour) and ferry to Rothesay (35 minutes) on the Isle of Bute (another scenic island). If you have time and it is open a bus meets the ferry to take you to Mount Stuart, the home of the Marquess of Bute, generally open in the summer to the public.
http://www.calmac.co.uk/timetables/s...y-rothesay.png

You cannot get a train direct from Greenock to Wemyss Bay. You would need to get a bus from Greenock town centre to Port Glasgow Station or a bus to Branchton Station - a taxi would be cheaper and cost under £20.00 ferry cost around £7 return fare

[atlasali]

We did the Princess Great Britian Cruise May 26, 2012. This port was
fabulous. From the moment we stepped off the ship and were offered a sip of Scotch; we felt that we were enveloped not only in the warmth of the whiskey, but in the collective arms of the people:
The gentleman who enlightened me about my clan, The McNeills of Barra.
The driver and informative guide on the FREE tour we took. They even dropped us off at a train station so that we could go into Glasgow. Glasgow was a big, modern city. Next time, I think I would stay at Greenock and enjoy the rest of their interesting bus tours, and shop in the town.
Finally, they sent us away with the bagpipes playing and the volunteers waving flags, and an inflatable mascot who was amusing and enthusiastic. It was so sad to leave. But, the sailaway was beautiful, with the sounds of the pipes still playing in our heads.

[leonardch]

Loved your response to my question. We have scheduled an excursion for many hours..to see Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile and Princess Street. We love to wander and relax..this tour will be from 7:30a.m until 5p.m. and our ship leaves port at 7pm.
Should we pass on the Edinburgh Castle? We are so confused..this is our first time.

[leonardch]

Loved your response to my question. We have scheduled an excursion for many hours..to see Edinburgh Castle..Royal Mile and Princess Street. We love to wander and relax but afraid to miss the castle. The tour will be from 7:30a.m - 5p.m. and the ship leaves port at 7pm. Should we pass on the castle? We are so confused..this is our first time.

[Scotsguy31]

Greenock is also my home town, been really nice seeing all the ships coming and going the last few months. Gets me excited for my cruise in November!

To the last poster going to Edinburgh. It would depend how you were getting there? If going by train, I would allow 2.5 hours each way as you have to change station in Glasgow and Greenock West or Central train station is a taxi ride from the port. Much wiser to not have all that travelling and just stay in either Greenock or Glasgow. Maybe spend the morning in Glasgow and after lunch get the train down to Greenock for a wander.

[atlasali]

Originally Posted by leonardch

Loved your response to my question. We have scheduled an excursion for many hours..to see Edinburgh Castle, Royal Mile and Princess Street. We love to wander and relax..this tour will be from 7:30a.m until 5p.m. and our ship leaves port at 7pm.
Should we pass on the Edinburgh Castle? We are so confused..this is our first time.

It is a long way to Edinburgh from Greenock, on the other side of Scotland. Aren't you stopping there? We did. If not, then I would make the trek. (Just like we did a very long day from Le Havre to see Paris for the day.) Edinburgh is a beautiful city. I never saw a single bit of graffiti or even a tag. Perhaps workers head out at 4am to scrub off all ugliness, or perhaps the people of Edinburgh teach their children that it is wrong to vandalize buildings...I don't know; but I was very impressed. We are going back next May to spend more time in Edinburgh. I heard good comments about Holyrood Palace.

[melody hounddog]

Originally Posted by highlandlassie

Got tears in my eyes reading all the comments about Greenock, my wee home town, anyone got any questions just shout - and I will try my best to answer

Hi Highlandlassie!

We would like to see Stirling Castle. Would it be better to rent a car or get a taxi from the cruise terminal. There are 4 of us and the ship's tour is very expensive and includes a stop that we would prefer not to see.

Thanks for your help!

Mel

[Hockeygirl123]

We would love to go to Edinbough. Has any used anyone or is there a group that is going . May /15. Queen Mary.
My husband and I wold love to join.

Our ship will be docked for 9 hours.

Is it possible?

[FritzG]

Originally Posted by travelbig

I haven't done it myself, but there are tours offered by locals and have been mentioned on here very favorably.

http://inverclydetouristgroup.co.uk/

There is a "Contact" section on that web site and I guess if you asked them that question, they would be glad to tell you.

Other than that, I wouldn't know. The town itself is pretty small.

We took a tour with this group in September, and I think it was the best tour of our entire trip. It's obvious that these volunteer guides love their city and want visitors to have the best experience possible. They are very knowledgeable; there wasn't a question that they couldn't answer in great detail.

You can book tours in advance which we didn't know so we were only able to get 2 spaces on one tour.

[highlandlassie]

Originally Posted by melody hounddog

Hi Highlandlassie!

We would like to see Stirling Castle. Would it be better to rent a car or get a taxi from the cruise terminal. There are 4 of us and the ship's tour is very expensive and includes a stop that we would prefer not to see.

Thanks for your help!

Mel

Hi Mel

I have asked my BIL as he drives and also a taxi driver part time - what date will you be in greenock



BIL has just got back to me....


Taxi would be very expensive . Car hire is probably the best bet but there isn't any car hire firms in Greenock now, enterprise in linwood would probably pick them up at the terminal and then go to linwood to do the paper work

[highlandlassie]

Originally Posted by FritzG

We took a tour with this group in September, and I think it was the best tour of our entire trip. It's obvious that these volunteer guides love their city and want visitors to have the best experience possible. They are very knowledgeable; there wasn't a question that they couldn't answer in great detail.

You can book tours in advance which we didn't know so we were only able to get 2 spaces on one tour.

A connection to my hubby is one of the volunteer, she said I can give her a call and go down one her one day - there is a waiting list for volunteers,

[melody hounddog]

Originally Posted by highlandlassie

Hi Mel

I have asked my BIL as he drives and also a taxi driver part time - what date will you be in greenock



BIL has just got back to me....


Taxi would be very expensive . Car hire is probably the best bet but there isn't any car hire firms in Greenock now, enterprise in linwood would probably pick them up at the terminal and then go to linwood to do the paper work

Thanks for checking with you BIL for me. Very nice of you. We will be therr in July.

I think we will just stick with the ships tour then.

[K-Roo-Zers]

Originally Posted by highlandlassie

Got tears in my eyes reading all the comments about Greenock, my wee home town, anyone got any questions just shout - and I will try my best to answer

Hi highlandlassie,

Greetings from Australia! DH and I will be visiting Greenock in July, via cruise ship and we only have a day here. We visit Cobh first (one day), then Dublin, then finally Greenock.

It appears as if many people who have visited Greenock love it, so we are looking forward to seeing as much as possible.

DH would like to visit Glasgow, and we realise it is impossible to do it all, but we would love to hear your thoughts on us splitting our time between the two - Greenock and Glasgow. We would love to do Edinburgh, but once again, it is further away I think. So many choices, such little time!!

We prefer not to do ships tours, and have no problem travelling on trains, buses etc, but we need to determine how to best maximise our time. We love to walk too, as we are right into health and fitness.

Did I also mention that DH is rather partial to an odd pint or ten???? No wonder he is looking forward to Dublin and good old Guinness!!

Do you have a recommended local beer he could try??? Naturally I would have to force him, kicking and screaming into a local pub - nothing like getting to know the locals in their own pubs!!

Thank you for helping! It is greatly appreciated.

Best wishes
Nicki

[highlandlassie]

Originally Posted by K-Roo-Zers

Hi highlandlassie,

Greetings from Australia! DH and I will be visiting Greenock in July, via cruise ship and we only have a day here. We visit Cobh first (one day), then Dublin, then finally Greenock.

It appears as if many people who have visited Greenock love it, so we are looking forward to seeing as much as possible.

DH would like to visit Glasgow, and we realise it is impossible to do it all, but we would love to hear your thoughts on us splitting our time between the two - Greenock and Glasgow. We would love to do Edinburgh, but once again, it is further away I think. So many choices, such little time!!

We prefer not to do ships tours, and have no problem travelling on trains, buses etc, but we need to determine how to best maximise our time. We love to walk too, as we are right into health and fitness.

Did I also mention that DH is rather partial to an odd pint or ten???? No wonder he is looking forward to Dublin and good old Guinness!!

Do you have a recommended local beer he could try??? Naturally I would have to force him, kicking and screaming into a local pub - nothing like getting to know the locals in their own pubs!!

Thank you for helping! It is greatly appreciated.

Best wishes
Nicki

Hi Nicki

There is an information desk at the port terminal which is run by volunteers - who offer 3 free tours of Greenock, Gourock and I think Port Glasgow

Tennants lager would be the local for Scotland - we also have Fosters here as well.

You could try and do one of the free trips that Greenock offers, I think they last 1 1/2 hrs, they would be able to drop you off at the train station for Glasgow - fast train is around 50mins and the slow train is abt 1 hr 10 mins

I see you are in Queensland, I have family there - also the one time PM of Australia, Robert Menzies - his ancestors the Menzies were originally from Greenock/Port Glasgow. The Aust national anthem was written by the person who was originally from Port Glasgow


************************************************** ********


We offer guided coach tours around our local area, which we believe will make your day here interesting and enjoyable. Our friendly and relaxed tours are guided by volunteers who are all local people, who will be happy to answer any of your questions about the area. All our tours are guaranteed to return quayside in plenty of time for ship departure.

There are three different tours; each lasting under two hours, at different times from 09:15am onwards. Our tours are very popular, so to avoid disappointment call at our information centre or speak to any of our tartan clad volunteers on the quay and book a tour.

Greenock
Our ‘Glimpses of Greenock’ tour allows you to visit a 16th Century church and our Town Hall and shows you our fine views.

Gourock
On our Gourock tour you will hear tales of local history and see some grand coastal scenery.

Newark Castle/Port Glasgow
Going east, our Newark Castle tour takes you to a typical medieval castle and on the way tells you about our maritime heritage.

[K-Roo-Zers]

Hi Highlandlassie,

Many thanks for your detailed response, and the heads up on the local beer. DH will be impressed!!

We had planned to visit the local volunteers as we have read how good they are!

Where in Queensland do your relatives lives? We are on the Sunshine Coast, which is about 1 hour from Brisbane. Although we have had lots of rain, today it is really living up to its name. The weather has been crazy all over the world - we are back to Summer again and Europe and America have copped all the snow.

Thanks again and have a Happy Easter.

Nicki

[highlandlassie]

Hi Nicki

my family live in Mackay Queensland



Mel - its quite possible you would be able to haggle with a taxi driver for a fixed price for your trip

[diplomats]

for highlandlassie. thanks for agreeing to respond to questions about greenock. on the "tripadvisor" web site, a person from greenock said that there is an avis rental agent in the Tontine Hotel in Greenock. do you know anything about that, perhsps old information?? we really want to get a car and do the "food and drink" festivals at loch lomand and inveraray on sept 14. thanks. marshall

[cmitch9999]

car rental Greenock
We will be in port here on the 28th of Sept. so far we have been unable to find any car hires that will be open for the day on Saturday, the Avis and the other local car hires both close around noon. We are still searching tho, hopefully something will work out!!