Shore Excursions in Venice, Barcelona and Dubrovnik

[Avery]

We are new travelers to Venice, Barcelona and Dubrovnyk (or to anywhere in Europe for that matter). We are a group of 18.

 

Based upon posts I'm reading a number of travelers say we can do Venice, Barcelona and Dubrovnyk without a formal tour operator. True or false and why?

 

If you recommend a tour operator in any of these ports, please advise.

 

If you recommend touring on our own, is there some web site or other resource that we can use as a guide in touring these cities?

 

Thank You

[NH Cruiser]

You might want to provide a little more information about your length of time in Barcelona and Venice. If you're in port only for a few hours vs a pre/post stay, an excursion might be better. Also, you can do a search on the CC Europe board for specific ports to see what others are doing and who they recommend for private guides.

 

In Dubrovnik, you can take the ship's shuttle to the walled city and spend the day walking the wall and wandering old town (http://www.dubrovnik-online.com/). Our first visit here, we took a shore excursion that included a visit to Cavtat (beautiful sea-side resort) and then a tour in town. The problem was we didn't have time to just explore all the side streets. We're doing that on our trip next October.

[mountainmare]

We just returned--check my post Millennium Oct 5- 17. There was a group of 16 people in our roll call who were able to travel independantly.

[Avery]

Thanks NH Cruiser.

 

We'll be in Barcelona from 7am to 5 pm. We'll be in Venice from 2 pm through 3 pm the next day.

[sanbmet]

We did a short excursion in Venice on the day we docked which gave us a first look at the city and a tour of the Doge's Palace and St Mark's as well as a first experience with the water taxi procedure and location for the ship shuttle. Then we had the option of staying longer on our own and taking the ship's shuttle back. We did the second day on our own and we had no trouble wandering around and enjoying the ambiance of the city.

Make sure you have a good fold out map.

 

Dubrovnik is wonderful. Definitely take the shuttle in and do the wall and city on your own. Walking the wall takes a few hours if you stop along the way to enjoy the views and take photos. You can get a "talking wand" to fill you in as you go.

[mountainmare]

For Barcelona the hop-on hop -off bus would be a good option.

[Bruin Steve]

I've been to all three ports multiple times...here's my take:

 

Barcelona:

We've taken the ship's "City Tour" and Flamenco excursion while on the Millennium...but also stayed a couple of nights post-cruise...We had taken the city tour sort of as a lark...I don't really like the tour--it takes you to La Sagrada Familia (in my estimation the #1 site in Barcelona) for only an outside view...and to the Old Cathedral and to Montjuic for mostly a bus drive through...but misses most of the best sites--Parc Guell, Casa Mila, Casa Batllo, Las Ramblas...The Flamenco night excursion was a complete waste of time...

Barcelona is one of those cities where it's really best to have a full few days...So, a lot depends on ho much time you have...We got everywhere on foot or by bus, but there's also a hop-on/off tourist bus if you want to go that route...

Another way to do it, if, say, you only have a port day, is to take a taxi from the ship to La Sagrada Familia, then a taxi to Parc Guell, then a taxi to Casa Mila and Casa Batllo and then a stroll down Las Ramblas and back to the ship...Or, you could do all this using public transportation or that hop-on bus...If you have a few days there, just make sure your hotel is near Placa Catalunya--which works as a great hub for all of these spots...at your leisure...

 

Venice: The attraction is the town itself...and again, a lot depends if this is just a port stop or if you have a few nights pre- or post-cruise...

First, buy a copy of the AAA Spiral Guide - Venice...Great for the maps and illustrations and easy to carry and use. Also buy a Vaporetti pass (12 euro pp for 24 hours, 25 euro for 72 hours)...this is the public bus/boat that will get you anywhere in Venice--including Murano, Burano and Lido and even to the airport by bus...Depending on how much time you have, you 1) MUST visit Piazza San Marco- take a tour of the Doges' Palace--either the "Secret Itineraries tour or the self-guided tour, 2) Visit Rialto Bridge and the shopping area, 3) Visit the Ghetto and take the Synagogues Tour from the Museo Ebraico...only visit Murano or Burano if you have at least a couple of days...the boat to Burano takes some time and requires some transfers...and the "glass factories" on Murano tend to be a rip-off...you can buy the same glass in Venice...

 

Dubrovnik: The first time we were there, we took a tour that included Cavtat--and found Cavtat to be incredibly dull...Vowed we'd never go again. When we were there in July, our ship (Oceania Nautica) offered only excursions that included Cavtat...So, we decided to just wander the city on our own...At the last minute, they added a tour that didn't go to Cavtat...it was a city tour with a trip to a family farm in the Konavle Valley...So we signed up...Had a FANTASTIC time...If your ship offers it, I recommend it...It included enough free time in Dubrovnik for us to walk the walls halfway around (on the Adriatic side) and to visit the Synagogue...It also made that great photo stop on the way to Konavle where you get those great almost-aerial shots of the city...

If you don't take an excursion, yes, you can tour Dubrovnik yourselves and have a decent visit...Make sure to go op onto and "walk" the walls...There is a small charge of something like 7 euros per person and there are some fantastic views...Dubrovnik is an unbelievably picturesque little city...

 

Good luck...

[NH Cruiser]

In Venice, you could take a vaporetto (or ship's shuttle) down the Grand Canal to St Mark's Square, then tour the Doge's Palace and Basilica. If you have time, take the elevator up the Campanile (Bell Tower) which will give you a birds-eye view of Venice. You can walk a short way down Riva degli Schiavoni, a wide promenade along the water front, where there are lots of shops selling Murano glass. From St Mark's Square, you can walk through the shopping area (Mercurie) to the Rialto Bridge. If you're interested in a gondola ride, take it the first night and lookfor one that does the side canals. You can then go back to St Mark's Square to listen to the dueling bands. The next morning you might want to explore the Dorsoduro area and Santa Maria Gloriosa dei Frari, or visit the Ghetto (I would do the a ship-sponsored tour to the Ghetto).

 

In Barcelona, look for other cruisers to share a private guide, who can customize your itinerary so you see as much as possible. Try to make time to walk Las Ramblas and visit the Mercado (market) and the Bari Gotic area, as well as those sites Bruin Steve suggested. Here's a link that might help you plan Barcelona (http://www.aboutbarcelona.com/).

[debscruise]

This is going to be my second cruise. The reason I would take excursions is so a guide would talk about the history of the area we are exploring therefore gaining some knowledge of the cities. If your not interested in it's history and just enjoy the views, then I guess going independently is a good option. In the future if I were to go back, I would go on my own.

[crusana]

For Barcelona the hop-on hop -off bus would be a good option.

Hi,

Both Venice and Barcelona are doable on your own. It is what we just did a few weeks ago. Barcelona, I agree get a ticket for the BUS TURISTIC for 18 Euros which you purchase at the bus. They will take you to main attractions and give you a coupon book.

For Venice, make free reservations for the Basilica Di San Marco (http://www.alata.it/eng/Booking/sanmarco.asp) ahead of time and go to the top to the museum. Take a gondola ride. Feed the pigeons. Walk and get lost.

Hope this helps!

crusana

[NANCYR2]

Our group did 5 independent tours with companies that I checked out on CC boards. We did Venice, Santorini, Barcelona,and Dubrovnik on our own.

 

I used limoinrome for Rome and Florence. In Naples we used driveamalfi, and in Villefranche we used revelation-tours. Each tour was terrific. We saw more and did more in those 8-10 hour days than one could imagine. Each driver/guide was unique and had lots to offer. Claudia was a guide we added to the driver. She was exceptional.

 

In Barcelona the on/off bus allows you to see the whole city.

 

Nancy

[Avery]

Nancy:

 

Thanks for all your input. We're all rookies so you'll forgive me if I ask how you went about planning your tours in Venice and Dubrovnik? We know nothing about either city, don't know what highlights to hit, or for that matter how to get around a be sure we don't get lost....and most importantly get back to our ship before it leaves!

 

Thanks again

 

Avery

[NAS-KARR]

First of all..IMO...break away from the group and tour these on your own to see just what YOU want to see..where YOU want to go and.....you get the picture, your time being so limited.

Venice and Barcelona each have TONS of sights and sounds and restaurants and so on to go to.

DW and I spent 2 days pre-cruise in Barcelona and 2 days post-cruise in Venice and still left destinations to be seen.

 

In Venice alot of your famous sights are walkable and while getting there you see so much.

In Barcelona the best for you IMO is the HO-HO.

 

This is so very breif I know but the many details you'll read on this board can be brain throbbing so I'm make'n it short and sweet.

 

 

Have a great cruise and I know you'll talk about this the rest of you lives.

 

CIAO,

[shoshona2]

Dear Avery,

 

Steve has given you some great ideas of the highlights of each city. Just be advised that you have a very short window of time on each day to "cover" each city. You will only have an overview and will have to go back someday to see more. We have been to Barcelona twice and will go back next year. It took two days to do the "on-off" buses, since there are two different directions and sights to cover.

 

We are also returning to Venice next year and I found some other places to visit. Go to Frommers. com and Fodors.com and read all you can about the different ports and then pick and choose what you want to see. Since you have a group of 18, you will NOT get everyone to agree on what sights to see. So break up into smaller groups as NAS-KARR suggests.

 

Have a wonderful cruise!!

 

Sheila

[GramaFran]

In Barcelona we used Barcelona Taxi for our tour and pick up from ship to hotel and hotel to airport. Our 5 hr tour of Barcelona was a whirl wind tour we saw everything with short stops for pictures as I am handicapped and did not want to walk around too much. We did walk around in the Gothic Quarter, Park Gruel, La Stragda Familia, The castle at Montjuic to see the view. The cost was 40 Euros per hour for the pick up and tour. We paid 35 Euros for the drive to airport the next day.

[NANCYR2]

Avery,

 

We did a 2 nite pre-cruise in Barcelona. the on/off bus was a great way to tour the city. Before arriving in Barcelona, we called the hotel we had booked. they recommended a taxi service that would pick us up at the airport, take us to our hotel, and then to the ship on the day we departed. There were 16 of us. It worked out for all of us very well.

In Venice, all had done some reading about the city before leaving. We booked the ship's tender service to get us to St Mark's Square. We walked and walked and explore the back streets. Venice was a real treat for all of us. There were no tours needed.

 

We too had many questions before we sailed. Everything worked out wonderfully for the whole group.

 

Nancy

[Capsu78]

We, as a couple, did all 3 on our own. I think trying to plan for 16 might be problematic if the group wants to always be together. I would opt to have split into "aggressive" tourists who want to see as much as possible, the shoppers, and those who want to spent longer time slots at highlighted areas.

On other issue not mentioned is it is easy to find english speakers in Venice and Dubrovnic, harder in Barcalona. Even getting a taxi was more difficult and we were just going to the main center.

[Floflegs]

If you decide to do Dubrovnik on your own and walk the walls I would recommend you do the walls before it gets too hot and too busy and then explore the town.

[notmartha]

We did all 3 ports on our own in a party of 7. I would say that Old Town Dubrovnik is so small that you really should have absolutely no problem just walking around it and look at the sites yourself after taking the shuttle bus from the port to the Old town. There's really not a lot besides walking the wall (steps involved - not for the infirmed or handicapped), eating (try the seafood restaurants), and shopping. Some people join tours to see the surrounding countryside, but we didn't. Others just hire a taxi cab for a couple of hours to see the surrounding areas.

 

Venice is a city for walking, and while you can join a tour so you don't have to figure out how to go from point A to point B you don't absolutely have to use a tour. The only problem I do see going on your own is that inadvertibly someone will be behind looking at shops and such and the streets around San Marco is narrow, so you may lose a member of your group along the way. Also, if you want to maximize time and wanted to see the outlaying islands (Murano/Borano) and don't mind paying a lot more for the privilege a tour group is probably best to save time.

 

Barcelona is very spread out. This is one port that I think either getting a tour guide or getting on the hop on/off tour bus would help. Don't bother walking from the dock to the Columbus Monument - it's a 20 minute walk across the bridge along a busy road, not very scenic. We walked all the way from the dock to Sagrada Familia - took 2+ hours since we were stopping all the time (fruit stand, pastry shops, bathroom breaks, etc), and getting lost. There really wasn't much to see on the way, as compared to Venice. I think there's also a tourist site for seeing the spanish village for arts & craft, but we didn't go there. The tram stop for that attraction is pretty close to the dock though.

[travelbrit]

when cruising time on-shore is always limited (especially with my wife's shopping habbits !!). i've used this site many times :- http://www.nozio.com as a quick city guide reference.

[JPH814]

We were in these ports in July. I concurr with most recommendations re: Venice and Dubrovnik - they are easy to do on your own.

 

In Barcellona, we did the hop-on-hop-off bus and it ended up being the most disappointing day of our trip. We were there on a Wednesday in July. Maybe it was a one bad day thing, but the traffic was terrible and many streets were partially blocked for construction. The bus crawled along the route and by the time we realized we were better off walking, we were too far away to get off the bus.SInce you were not moving, it was too hot to sit up top in the sun and if you sat sownstairs you really could not see much. The announcements in the bus were given in several languages so the amount of description in English was very limitted.

 

We are in our early 50's and in pretty good shape. We should have taken a taxi to Las Ramblas and spent the day walking - even to the Sagrada. A lot of interesting sites are within a relatively close area and walking the streets would be a lot more interesting than sitting on a slow moving bus.

[pcur]

I won't comment on Dubrovnik, because we stayed on the ship that day. Very rainy.

 

We found Barcelona and Venice very easy to see on your own. As far as planning is concerned, read, read, read these boards. Do searches and read the old threads. There is wealth of DETAILED information on how to do stuff.

 

As Bruin Steve says, get a map while you're planning. I always do, because then I can become familiar with the places and directions I'm reading about in guide books or online. My personal favorites are the laminated fold up or pop-up city maps you can get at Borders or Barnes & Nobles. Very handy to take with you.

 

Barcelona:

The ship has a shuttle (1 - 2 Euros pp each way) to the statue of Columbus at the entrance to the port. Directly across from the statue is Las Ramblas. A mile stroll down this boulevard is a treat, and when you get to Cataluyna Plaza you can take the HOHO bus. There are two with stops in the square, so pick the one with the shortest line. Also, make sure you allow for time anywhere you get off, because there may be a line for the next bus. We sat on top and took the whole city tour twice. Loved the commentary and the view up there. Then get off where you want the second time. One loop is about 1 1/2 hours.

 

Venice:

 

Whether at Piazzale Roma near the ship's dock, or in San Marcos square, buy a 24 hour vapretto ticket (about 12 Euros????). Take the #1 ALL THE WAY up and again back to see both sides of the Grand Canal. With your laminated map you can get off where you want and walk. On the San Marcos side, they have signs posted everywhere to guide you to the square.

 

Doge's Palace is a great tour. Several threads on that on this board.

 

I never made it to the Jewish Ghetto museum, but I read it's extremely interesting.

 

Also, take a vapretto over to Murano for the glass factory and shopping.