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Help build our custom tour


cdnmr
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We are looking at a custom tour, just the 2 of us, no more than 4 for sure.

 

We know we want to have lunch at the Beacon (or similar restaurant) mainly to relax with food/drink and have an amazing view.

 

We are also going to hit a beach for an hour or so.

 

What else out of the "regular sites" should we include and what should we pass on? We would rather see 2 or 3 sights in addition to lunch/beach as opposed to trying to cram a dozen sights in.

 

Some possibilities:

 

  • almost definitely will do a waterfall...which one?
  • cathedral?
  • craft market?
  • volcano?
  • mud bath?
  • Marigot Bay?
  • fishing villages?
  • botanical gardens?

Lots of choices, which ones would be worthwhile to add to our beach/lunch? I estimate we have approx 2 hours left to fill after lunch/beach and drive from/to port

 

Thanks for any input.

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We are looking at a custom tour, just the 2 of us, no more than 4 for sure.

 

We know we want to have lunch at the Beacon (or similar restaurant) mainly to relax with food/drink and have an amazing view.

 

We are also going to hit a beach for an hour or so.

 

What else out of the "regular sites" should we include and what should we pass on? We would rather see 2 or 3 sights in addition to lunch/beach as opposed to trying to cram a dozen sights in.

 

Some possibilities:

 

  • almost definitely will do a waterfall...which one?
  • cathedral?
  • craft market?
  • volcano?
  • mud bath?
  • Marigot Bay?
  • fishing villages?
  • botanical gardens?

Lots of choices, which ones would be worthwhile to add to our beach/lunch? I estimate we have approx 2 hours left to fill after lunch/beach and drive from/to port

 

Thanks for any input.

 

This is definitely for Reed Princess to answer, who has all the up-to-date Information, and will respond with her best recommendations for a driver and the collating of the best St Lucia experience.

Be patient, the best is worth the wait.

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This is definitely for Reed Princess to answer, who has all the up-to-date Information, and will respond with her best recommendations for a driver and the collating of the best St Lucia experience.

Be patient, the best is worth the wait.

 

Thanks, tour operators and their s-l-o-w responses is improving my patience for sure.

 

Think I have it narrowed down but finding a tour operator to reply with something other than 1 sentence reply or copy/paste half their website into a message is difficult.

 

Hoping to (in any order):

-Tet Paul Nature Trail

-Anse Chastanet (or similar beach with view, hopefully of Piton(s)

-lunch with a view at Beacon restaurant

-Diamond Falls/gardens

-Back to walking distance of the ship around 3-315pm (we prefer non-ship excursions but dont like cutting the return time close)

 

 

Anything additional would be gravy.

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We are looking at a custom tour, just the 2 of us, no more than 4 for sure.

 

We know we want to have lunch at the Beacon (or similar restaurant) mainly to relax with food/drink and have an amazing view.

 

We are also going to hit a beach for an hour or so.

 

What else out of the "regular sites" should we include and what should we pass on? We would rather see 2 or 3 sights in addition to lunch/beach as opposed to trying to cram a dozen sights in.

 

Some possibilities:

 

  • almost definitely will do a waterfall...which one?
  • cathedral?
  • craft market?
  • volcano?
  • mud bath?
  • Marigot Bay?
  • fishing villages?
  • botanical gardens?

Lots of choices, which ones would be worthwhile to add to our beach/lunch? I estimate we have approx 2 hours left to fill after lunch/beach and drive from/to port

 

Thanks for any input.

If you have never been check out Cosol tours, great tour!

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Thanks, tour operators and their s-l-o-w responses is improving my patience for sure.

 

Think I have it narrowed down but finding a tour operator to reply with something other than 1 sentence reply or copy/paste half their website into a message is difficult.

 

Hoping to (in any order):

-Tet Paul Nature Trail

-Anse Chastanet (or similar beach with view, hopefully of Piton(s)

-lunch with a view at Beacon restaurant

-Diamond Falls/gardens

-Back to walking distance of the ship around 3-315pm (we prefer non-ship excursions but dont like cutting the return time close)

 

 

Anything additional would be gravy.

I'm cruising, so have limited Internet access - and am cruising, so haven't been active!!

(thanks for the kind words Port Royal)

 

Your plan sounds decent - but you're going to lose a lot of time going up to Beacon and back down into Soufriere. (at least 20-30 minutes in round trip time between Soufriere and Beacon) And a lot of time on the Anse Chastenet road (it's 2 miles and takes easily 25-35 minutes one way due to the nature of the road itself, easily lose 40 minutes to an hour just on the drive.)

I'd recommend Tet Paul, Piton Falls mineral baths, lunch in Soufriere proper, maybe Belle View or Petit Peak, then Soufriere waterfront for beach.. Then back to ship.

Also, remember it's at least 1.15_1.5 hours one way to Soufriere, so plan accordingly . You simply can't do all that much if you want some actual beach time...

 

Cosol and Spencer Ambrose have excellent tours that hit much of what you want to see for s fraction of the cost of DIY.... As does Herod's, Franks, James, Real St Lucia Experience, Serenity, etc.

 

A private driver will run around $200+ for the day plus entrance frees and lunch/drinks.. Leave plenty if time for your return to the ship - only one road back!!

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I'm cruising, so have limited Internet access - and am cruising, so haven't been active!!

(thanks for the kind words Port Royal)

 

Your plan sounds decent - but you're going to lose a lot of time going up to Beacon and back down into Soufriere. (at least 20-30 minutes in round trip time between Soufriere and Beacon) And a lot of time on the Anse Chastenet road (it's 2 miles and takes easily 25-35 minutes one way due to the nature of the road itself, easily lose 40 minutes to an hour just on the drive.)

I'd recommend Tet Paul, Piton Falls mineral baths, lunch in Soufriere proper, maybe Belle View or Petit Peak, then Soufriere waterfront for beach.. Then back to ship.

Also, remember it's at least 1.15_1.5 hours one way to Soufriere, so plan accordingly . You simply can't do all that much if you want some actual beach time...

 

Cosol and Spencer Ambrose have excellent tours that hit much of what you want to see for s fraction of the cost of DIY.... As does Herod's, Franks, James, Real St Lucia Experience, Serenity, etc.

 

A private driver will run around $200+ for the day plus entrance frees and lunch/drinks.. Leave plenty if time for your return to the ship - only one road back!!

 

Thanks port royal, merinski and reed princess for the input.

 

We'll look at rearranging some stops princess, I hadn't thought about the travel time back and forth. Now that I look at roads on google they really do get from A to B in a pretty roundabout path. We'll definitely look into the baths as well. Really hoping we can do lunch at one of the restaurants higher up the hill (strictly for the views and to be able to sit for awhile and enjoy) but will look in town if it means not missing out on something we really want to see.

 

It's our first time in St Lucia but I just booked a cruise for November 2019 and it looks like we'll be back for our second visit next year. Anything we miss this time will be on the agenda for 2019.

 

I have read up on most shared tours available and while many look great, we're going to stick with a private tour. I prefer my/our schedule and the ability to change the itinerary if we like (we may love the beach and want to skip the restaurant completely and just eat at beach, I like having that flexibility). We've booked 2 private tours but let them know if we bump into cruisemates with no plans/similar tastes in tours we'd invite them to join us.

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