City visit recommendations

[aunteemom]

We are cruising out of Lisbon and have been there before. Can you recommend any must see cities that we could get/fly to prior to our cruise 

[gumshoe958]

Porto? Madrid? Barcelona? All have regular, short flights to Lisbon.

[aunteemom]

Have been to all three.   That’s why this is a dilemma.  

[gumshoe958]

Well Lisbon has flights to most major European cities and most of them are within 2 or 3 hours so take your pick.

[Globaliser]

2 hours ago, aunteemom said:

We are cruising out of Lisbon and have been there before. Can you recommend any must see cities that we could get/fly to prior to our cruise 

 

Lisbon?

 

Unless you have previously lived in Lisbon for many months, I find it hard to believe that you've exhausted everything there is to see and do there.

[aunteemom]

I spent about a week in Lisbon and saw a great deal. So ready for a new adventure. Too much too see. 

[sleepingcat]

How about flying in to Madrid and then using the brilliant modern high speed Spanish rail network to visit say Granada and Seville and thence on to Lisbon by train?

 

or fly in to Malaga ditto. 

 

Do you only want cities? if not the Algarve coast of Portugal is lovely and the west coast between Algarve and Lisbon very untouristy and beautiful. 

[markeb]

Probably a better question here:

 

https://boards.cruisecritic.com/forum/149-other-mediterranean-ports/

[edinburgher]

Can you recommend any must see cities that we could get/fly to prior to our cruise 

 

POST #4

Well Lisbon has flights to most major European cities and most of them are within 2 or 3 hours so take your pick.

 

Absolutely spot on. Europe is tiny compared to the US so a relatively short journey can bring a huge amount of diversity in terms of language, culture, architecture, food, weather  and everything else you can think of.

 

Three points you did not mention  and if you add them now, readers could reply more specifically

 

Firstly, Which month of the year?

 

Secondly, did you have a specific country in mind? and

 

Thirdly,  how many days will you have?This because some capitals in particular require more than 2 or 3 days, for others that would suffice.

 

And an afterthought. Wheret would be your preferred European flight destination? (helpful as a starting point)

Edited April 12, 2023 by edinburgher

[debsjc]

When you were in Lisbon before did you train the train out to Estoril and Cascais? 

I agree with sleepingcat the scenery in some parts of the Algarve is beautiful, and easy to explore with a rental car.

 

If you especially want a city, Seville would be my pick. 

 

 

[edinburgher]

Can you recommend any must see cities that we could get/fly to prior to our cruise 

 

So so many options, but until the OP can give some additional info, too difficult to offer a selection.

Edited April 15, 2023 by edinburgher

[aunteemom]

Have 4-5 days pre cruise. Have taken train to Sinatra in past. Have been to Madrid, Sevilla and Granada.  Have not been to most parts of Belgium or Switzerland except for Bruges. Traveling in mid June.  Have been to many large cities in Europe but not many smaller cities. Not opposed to big cities though. Easier to get to. Will be flying from Los Angeles to wherever we decide to go pre Lisbon unless we stay in Lisbon and do day trips from

there 

[Zach1213]

You mention Switzerland...it's a wonderful place, highly recommended. You could base yourself in Zurich or Lucerne and explore the eastern half of the country pretty easily from there, and it's easy enough to get between Zurich and Lisbon. 

 

Curveball - Morocco. Marrakech would be a great place to base yourself for a few days, and there are nonstops from there to Lisbon on multiple airlines. My wife's family is in Marrakech and I simply cannot recommend it enough. 

[edinburgher]

Will be flying from Los Angeles to wherever we decide to go pre Lisbon unless we stay in Lisbon and do day trips from there 

Thank you for the added info.

Mid-June should be a lovely time for most of Europe as the hottest temperaures won';t have arrived at that point and the weather should be pleasantly warm almost everywhere.by then.  And 4-5 days is a decent amount of time to at least crack some of the big cities and enough for smaller cities or large towns if they can offer a side trip or two.

 

A few suggestions, but I suspect others will have many more and may disagree with some of these.

 

Spend it all in Istanbul, our personal #1 favoutite European city in he whole of Europe.  Totally fascinating and with a multitude of sights to explore. We have spent a total of 12 days there and didn't run out of ideas.

 

Vienna.  An archiectural gem should you have an interest.

 

Barcelona.  Again, an incredible amount to see and do.

 

Berlin, likewise, but take a day out to visit Potsdam, almost a suburb of Berlin..

 

Valencia with a side trip or two.

 

Desenzano del Garda.  Perfectly located for exploring pretty Lake  Garda towns and villages by ferry, but take one or two days out (or an overnight) toiisit pretty Verona (of Romeo and jJuliette fame).  A lovely mix of lake scenery and Verona.

 

Sorrento, perfectly located and with all the transport necessary to visit Naples, Pompeii, Herculaneum, Mt Vesuvius, Capri, Ischia and the Amalfi Coast.  Easily reached from both Rome and Naples and even if you visited Pompeii and/or Herculaneum a few years ago, due to the ongoing excavations and additional areas being opened up to the public, you would probably find "new to you" excavations to explore, plus the parts of Pompeii you probably had to miss first time around as it is really too huge an area tocovere in one day for most folks.

 

Prague.  Quite small, so  one or two days side trips.

 

Budapest, ditto.

 

Nice with so many side trip options both coast and country.

 

Last for now, Krakow, Poland.  2-3 days only for the city, but the two really popular and easy side trips are to the monster Wieliczka” Salt Mine.  Impressive hardly does it justice.  Read about it online.  The second really big side trip is to visit The Auschwitz-Birkenau. concentration camp.  A truly moving and unforgettable experience which puts some events of WW11 iinto perspective.

 

And i should also include both London and Edinburgh.

 

 

Edited April 19, 2023 by edinburgher

[edinburgher]

Thread has gone unusually quiet. Nobody else with thoughts/suggestions?

 

Will be flying from Los Angeles to wherever we decide to go pre Lisbon

aunteemom, would any of the above be even remotely on your radar?

[Cotswold Eagle]

1 hour ago, edinburgher said:

Thread has gone unusually quiet. Nobody else with thoughts/suggestions?

 

Will be flying from Los Angeles to wherever we decide to go pre Lisbon

aunteemom, would any of the above be even remotely on your radar?

I suspect many people thought there was little value in this thread just becoming a long list of cities and towns in Europe and North Africa that we enjoy, especially with the OP’s somewhat vague “been to some, not to others” approach! Maybe if there were a few more criteria to apply other than “must see”!

 

By the way, are you having trouble with the ‘quote’ function?  It’s sometimes hard to distinguish when you are quoting (in bold) or answering (also sometimes in bold!) Just highlighting the relevant part of the post(s) you are replying to and pressing quote is working for me, as you can see 😀
 

[Globaliser]

11 hours ago, edinburgher said:

Thread has gone unusually quiet. Nobody else with thoughts/suggestions?

 

10 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

I suspect many people thought there was little value in this thread just becoming a long list of cities and towns in Europe and North Africa that we enjoy, especially with the OP’s somewhat vague “been to some, not to others” approach! Maybe if there were a few more criteria to apply other than “must see”!

 

I think that the Beautiful South did a song about the present situation.

[edinburgher]

15 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

I suspect many people thought there was little value in this thread just becoming a long list of cities and towns in Europe and North Africa that we enjoy, especially with the OP’s somewhat vague “been to some, not to others” approach! Maybe if there were a few more criteria to apply other than “must see”!

"Somewhat vague" is a definite  understatement.  I thought it more of a throwaway remark as there was no indication whatsoever of personal interests, (architecture, museums, scenery, history as examples) and there is of course no such thing as "must see" as vacation locaions are usually a personal choice related to personal interests.

 

Having said that, somewhat reluctantly  I submitted as I think it is within the spirit/ethos? of CC to share with other members, so perhaps the OP might engage for a similar reason.

 

Interestingly enough, the reference to Desenzano del Garda. is not an unusual suggestion.as Lake Garda and indeed D. del G are mentioned in a current thread about Hotel at Lake Como which digressed a little..

 

Much as we personally enjoy city breaks, as we usually visit for at least seven days, we like to mix and match a little to take in some scenery in a less busy location.

15 hours ago, Cotswold Eagle said:

 

By the way, are you having trouble with the ‘quote’ function?  It’s sometimes hard to distinguish when you are quoting (in bold) or answering (also sometimes in bold!) Just highlighting the relevant part of the post(s) you are replying to and pressing quote is working for me, as you can see 😀

 

 

Thank you Costwold Eagle for the quotes tip as I never did get around to figuring how that worked, and now I know, however I don't always want a full quote as some are very lengthy, preferring to copy/paste only the part i want.  BTW, you are located in a beautiful part of England, one we spent two weeks in many years ago and from which we ventured far and wide from our base just outside "Chippy".  Our only  slight  disappointment was Georgian  Bath as it resembled Edinburgh New Town so much, we thought it not "new to us" at all apart from the Roman Baths which we though were wonderful.

Edited April 21, 2023 by edinburgher

[gnome12]

36 minutes ago, edinburgher said:

Thank you Costwold Eagle for the quotes tip as I never did get around to figuring how that worked, and now I know, however I don't always want a full quote as some are very lengthy, preferring to copy/paste only the part i want. 

If you highlight only a part of the posting and click the quote this, you only get what you have highlighted. 

[Harters]

1 hour ago, edinburgher said:

the reference to Desenzano del Garda. is not an unusual suggestion.as Lake Garda

We've stayed twice in Bardolino. Nice place with decent restaurants. The ferry service is excellent for visiting other towns on the lake.

[edinburgher]

5 hours ago, Harters said:

We've stayed twice in Bardolino. Nice place with decent restaurants. The ferry service is excellent for visiting other towns on the lake.

And the Bardolino wine is also excellent!

 

We very much enjoyed the Lake GardaVerona combo as it perfectly suited our preferences.

Edited April 21, 2023 by edinburgher