Wind Surf cruise May 2005- Grand Prix

This will be our first experience on Windsurf and Europe. If anyone has any "Don't Miss" things to do in France & Italy please let me know. We are extremely excited and want to make the best of our days ahead. The Grand Prix race is on that list.

Happy New Year.

Teresa:cool:

First, make sure you read the posts here from last year's Grand Prix. You should have your expectation set appropriately to ensure you are not disappointed. Here is are my must-dos for the ports on your cruise.

Nice - Walking through old town, especially the market.

St. Tropez - Wasn't my favorite place, but there is a great view from the hill behind the town. We enjoyed sipping champagne at one of the harbor front bars, but not sure if the weather would be right for this.

Monaco - We liked the palace tour, loved the changing of the guards and the silly little train. Of course, the Monte Carlo Casino and Hotel de Paris are absolute musts!

Corsica - We did a different port, but found the island very lovely. I thought this was a good spot for tour. We just walked through the town and very must enjoyed it, but clearly the rest of the island had a lot more to offer that we missed.

Amalfi/Sorrento - There are so many great things to do, that it really depends on what you like. Pompeii is very interesting and I think a must do, but I couldn't spend that long there, while others (DH included) could spend days. Positano is our favorite place on earth, so that is a must for us but it is more a feeling than specific things to do or see. Of course, there is also Capri, but the ferry will be rough that time of year and you might not be able to get to the Blue Grotto. If I were going and never planned to go back, I'd hire a driver and start with Pompeii, then do the drive to Amalfi. You should stop in a few towns including Positano and Ravello. Of course, you need to try and buy Limoncello.

Portofino - One of our other favorite places, to wander around. Nice shopping and a great place for lunch. Hotel Splendido offers amazing food and views. We did this on our own and it was half the price of the ship tour. We also ate at Ristorante Puny another time. There are regional specials you should try.

All of the places you are going great, so have fun and tell us all about it when you get back.

Sheila

Thank you so very much for all your information. I do appreciate the time you spent to respond to my message. I am sure it will be very helpful for others on that same cruise.

This entire website has been very helpful. I appreciate Ms. Brown's, editor of this websites) for her email and all the interesting questions and answers the I have read.

We all just want to ensure our holiday away for this many days is full of exciting things to do. Sounds like this maybe my first cruise on Wind Surf but not my last.

Grazie ;)

Tanbod,

You are very welcome. This site is fantastic, but I also suggest Fodors.com message boards. But don't mention you are on a cruise as they don't respond that well to cruisers. You will have an awesome time. We cruised Wind Surf last year and in looking at vacations for next fall, our 10th anniversary, DH is not interested in any other cruiseline.

Sheila

We took the Rome/Nice and Nice/Barcelona cruises in November 2004 and stopped at many of the same ports you will be visiting. Our favorites were Portovenere and Monte Carlo. We stayed in Portovenere all day and wandered through the town. The church sitting out on the cliffs of the Mediterranean is a sight to see especially at sunset. I believe it was built in 1257! Portofino is also very special and we loved stopping there. We also took the bus from Portofino to Santa Margherita Ligure to stroll around and enjoyed it as well. If you have time and it is offered, you might consider a trip from Monte Carlo to St. Paul de Vence. We went to St. Paul from Villefranche and had a wonderful time strolling through the walled city. Very nice art galleries inside the city. However, if you have never been to Monte Carlo then I think you should see it and perhaps go to St Paul on a future trip. Of course, you'll be busy watching the Grand Prix so a side trip may not be an option. We took an excursion from St. Tropez to a vineyard nearby. We spent the day in Nice strolling through the outdoor markets and seeing the sights. What a variety of foods you can purchase at the markets! I think we ate all day long. If you have never had gelato in Italy, then it is a must at least once each day!

I hope you all have a wonderful trip! Wish we could join you.