Nice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Santorini, Mykonos, and Athens Agenda, reasonable?

[misery1001]

Villefranche

Walk to the Train bus stop station.

Bus (#100) to Monte Carlo (L’octroi to Place d’ Ames) (day pass €4 , 10:40am, every 20 min, 0.5 hr)

Rick Steve’s walking tour (0.75 hr)

Musee Oceanographique (€12.50, reduce €6, 1.75 hrs)

Bus 100 to Nice ( 2:15pm, every 20 min, 40 minutes)

Eat Ice cream at Fenocchio (3pm, on place Rossetti and rue de la Poissonerie)

Rick Steve’s walking tour from end to start (1 hr)

Quai Des Etats-Unis and walk towards Parc du Chateau(0.5 hr)

Parc du Chateau (elevator €1 roundtrip, 1 hr)

Bus 100 back to Villefranche (5:50pm, every 20 minutes, 10 min)

 

Costs: €17.5 (or €10 reduce) + Foods

 

 

 

Florence (Monday, most museum are closed)

Take the taxi to the Livorno Central (€15, or take bus n1 if close to entrance, buy from tobacco shop, €1)

Train to Florence (Firenze, 7:11 [8:33], 7:30 [9:03], 7:43 [9:23], 8:11 [9:33], 9:11 [10:42], €7)

Self guided walk(10am)

Stop and enter Duomo

Baptistery (Look at the door)

Step into the courtyard of Palazzo Vecchio

Find Gelateria Carrozze for Gelato (open 11am)

Go to Pitti Place Museo degli Argenti and Gardens (11:30 am, €8)

Go to central market and have lunch

Train to Livorno (15:27[16:49], 16:27 [17:49], €7)

Taxi/bus to port (€15, might able to take bus n1 if close to entrance, buy from small store, €1)

 

Costs: €30.5 + Foods

 

Rome

Shuttle to entrance of the port

Walk to Train Station Stazione ferroviaria (0.25 hr, take 08:02 train)

Go to Roma Termini (09:20, all day train and metro ticket, BIRG €9, 1.25 hr)

Take Metro to Colosseo (Blue line)

Purchase ticket at Palatine Hill (€11, inc. Colosseum, also ask about tour time for Colosseum)

if we couldn’t go to the 9:45am tour, Palatine Hill Walk (0.5 hr)

Colosseum (English Tour 10:15 am €4, every half hour, 1hr)

Take Rick’s Steve Self walk guide for Roman Forum (or English tour at 11am € 4, 1hr)

if we couldn’t go to the 9:45am tour, glimpse through Palatine Hill Walk (0.25hr)

Take Rick’s Steve self guided tour from Pantheon to Spanish Steps (1pm, 1.5 hr)

Subway to Ottaviano Pietro (0.5 hr)

St. Peter’s (1 hr)

Vatican square (0.5 hr)

Walk to train station (0.5hr)

Train to Civitavecchia (4:30 train)

Walk to port entrance (0.25 hr)

Shuttle back to ship

 

Costs: €28 + Food, no tour €20 + Food

 

 

Naples

Go to Circumvesuviana Train Station (30 min)

Take train to Pompei Scavi (7:22, 7:50, 8:22, 8:50, 30 min, € 3.20)

Visit Pompeii (3 hr, €10)

Go back to Naples (Station: Nopli Collegamento)

Return ticket can be used for Metro station (2pm, M: P. Cavour)

Pizza for lunch

At the station, Turn right from the station and walk 2 blocks(.25 hr)

Archaeological museum (2 hr, €9)

Walk back to port following self walk guide

 

Costs: €25.4 + Foods

 

 

Santorini

Boat tendered to port Skala

Volanco excursion with local tour companies (3 hr, ~€15)

Get back to Skala

Cable car to Fira (1pm, .5 hr, €3.5)

Find Bus to Oia (1 hr, €1.2)

Oia (1-2hr)

Bus back to Fira (1 hr, €1.2)

Cable car to Fira (1 hr, €3.5)

Go back to Cruise

 

Costs: €22 + Foods

 

 

Mykonos

There would be a shuttle from port to city center (around €4)

if wanted, take the bus to a beach (Bus fare, €1-2)

Come back to Beach (Bus fare, €1-2)

Walk around town.

Windmills

Watch the sunset

Head back to Cruise (around €4 for shuttle)

 

Costs: €10 + Foods

 

 

Athens

Ship docks near Piraeus station (E10 to E6; Metro access = Electric Railway Line 1) (0.25 hr)

Take the subway to Akropolis (needs to transfer at Omonia) (€0.70, 0.25 hr)

Temple of Olympian Zeus (ticket all attractions, €12, reduce €6, Open at 8am, 0.75hr)

Acropolis Hill (2 hr)

Ancient Agora(1 hr)

(Central Market, 12pm, lunch, 1hr)

Fleamarket(1hr)

Either (1.75hr):

Anafiotika

Roman Agora & Tower of the Winds (0.5 hr)

Walk around Plaka

Or take Rick’s Steve walking Guide (2hr)

Go back to Piraeus station (4:30 pm,€0.70)

Go back on cruise (5pm)

 

Costs: €13.4 (or €7.4 w/ ISIC)+ Food

 

I got a few questions....

1. Santorini: Is it easy to find a local tour at the port?

2. Livorno: Is it true that we can take the bus to the station? I heard about it from another message board. Does the cruise dock at the port in Livorno, or somewhere near Livorno?

3. Livorno /Naples: Why can we use B.I.R.G. train tickets for Rome and not in Livorno or Naples?

 

Thanks to everyone on this board!!! Without you, I don't know how can I plan all these....especially since my bf is not helping out:mad:... well... he pays all the expenses on the excursion :D... I guess I have a better deal!!

 

Still need to work on Rhodes and Sicily.... any suggestions? Are they easy to do?

[piratesmate123]

Love the detail in your planning. You will be going to some of the same ports as us. In Santorini, who is running the volcano tour? Do you have a contact number? Linda Please reply to lndft@netscape.net as I don't always find my way back to the right Board. Linda

[Welshlady]

Hi, Just saw your post. Your itinerary is very detailed, I think I'll be pinching some bits!! I wouldn't leave it that late to get a train back from Rome. The trip is about an hour and a half and if there are any delays you won't get back until gone 6pm. It's also rush hour. I'd leave Rome by no later than 3.30pm. Secondly, the itinerary has been altered - the ship is not going to Rhodes, now going to Kusadasi in Turkey instead so we'll be able to visit Ephesus which sounds really interesting. You obviously missed the posts on the main cruise board about 3 weeks ago. RCi wrote to us in the Uk to inform us of the change. Have you not had anything in the US? Have you registered for the Meet & Mingle get together? I'm really looking forward to meeting everyone now!!

[Paul S]

Misery1001,

 

The detail of your itinery worries me.

 

It's good to have a plan, but from the level of micro-planning I would be very concerned that something untoward blows your plan apart with a risk of ruining your day.

 

Maybe the bus will be cancelled and you'll lose twenty minutes, or it takes a bit longer to get round one of the visits. Will it be a problem for you?

 

Just to take Florence, where I spent a ten day vacation a few years back. One hour to see the Duomo, Baptistry and courtyard of the Palazzo Vecchio is very tight. The interior of the Baptistry is also worth visiting, and as the building is multi-sided (I think octagonal?) there are several doors to see. There is a world of difference between "ticking off" and having long enough to take pleasure in what you are seeing. You don't say when you are going. However, it was 90F when I was there, and you don't want a forced march between the Palazzo Signorina and the Pitti Palace then back again to the central market.

 

I appreciate that planning for the trip is part of the fun, and I've spent some time researching for my upcoming East Med cruise in a couple of weeks time. However, my personal experience is that for us such detailed timings increase stress level (I know it's one of the wonders of renaissance art, but quick, or we won't get to the next place in time!). My personal preference is to take a more laid back approach, which I find allows me to get a better feel for where I am, and if I don't get to see all the sights then there is always next time, whenever that may be.

 

I'm not in any way suggesting that your approach is wrong, we all do what feels right for us, but I do hope that you will have enough time to enjoy and appreciate the places you are visiting and things you are doing. Having spent a few days in Athens in January, I know I couldn't keep up with your planned itinery for a full day, I'd be completely worn out well before the end.

 

Paul S

[carlmm]

Your plans for the Italian ports sound quite reasonable. It is good you choose like two major points of interest to you in each city and do not try to see everything in just one day. This will allow you to react flexible and either spent some more time at the choosen places or to stop somewhere you walk by and find interesting.

 

2. Livorno: Is it true that we can take the bus to the station? I heard about it from another message board. Does the cruise dock at the port in Livorno, or somewhere near Livorno?

3. Livorno /Naples: Why can we use B.I.R.G. train tickets for Rome and not in Livorno or Naples?

 

The ships dock in Livorno yet the port is really huge. As I understand the bus is only an option if you happen to dock right at the port's exit. A taxi is the more reliable way.

Something I once did, was to take the public bus from the station to the main square in Livorno and from there the shuttle directly to the ship. This is advisable only if you have some time left to look around in Livorno.

 

The Biglietto Integrato Regionale Giornaliero is a special offer of the region of Lazio which surroundes Rome and comprises all public transportation like buses, metro and regional trains.

In Livorno you buy a normal ticket of Trenitalia, Italians state railway.

The Circumvesuviana you use from Naples to Pompeii is operated by an other company.

[Steamboatin]

Misery 1001 have a very simple question for you.

 

Are you planning a vacation or an event that will turn into a "misery" for you?

 

Always thought vacations were for pleasure and not a "forced march".:D

[misery1001]

Linda, I saw from the posts here that there will be booth for the tours at the port

 

Judith, I post the itinery a month ago but no one replied; at that time our ship was still planning to stop at Rhodes. For Rome, do we really need to take the 3:30 train?? I thought the ship is leaving at 7pm.

 

Carl, so there is no shuttle within the port?? Maybe I will take the taxi then... thx

 

 

Paul and Steamboatin, it is just a plan. I will not follow it to the T.... I just want to make sure that the number of sights are reasonable.... I know I will spend an extra hour or so at some sights and might miss some other sights.... but thanks for your input

[sunandsnow]

We will be at two places on your list - Rome and Santorini. I have noticed prices have increased for Rome - 16E for col. ticket - approx. 10E for guide. I have been to Rome. 1 hour at St. Peters is not enough to barely step in the door. You would be very frustrated.

[tom_uk]

You need to find out if your cruise line is running shuttle buses at Livorno. On Celebrity last June, they were, from the ship to the Piazza Grande (?). It's from there that you can gt local buses to the station (whihc is a couple of miles further away). You can get tickets for the buses (and even the trains) at a tobaccanist's shop very near the square.

[Emom]

I think your planning is admirable and I may also "borrow" some of it.

 

I think you should consider adding Santa Croce into your planning for Florence - the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Marconi and many others are there - that and the Accademie to see the David were highlights for me. (If you make reservations you can see the Slaves and David very quickly (30-45 minutes).)

 

My biggest caveat is that you have not allowed time to get lost. Fortunately major Rome landmarks are well-signed but not all roads are; if you miss a turn it can easily take 10-15 minutes to get your bearings again. If you're not on such a tight time schedule, you can relax and enjoy your surroundings while you search for a street sign.

 

It also depends on what time of year you will be there - From June to mid September you will have tremendous crowds in many of these places that will add time (plus heat will likely slow you down).

 

When I'm by myself I travel like your schedule, however I've had to learn to be more "flexible" when traveling with others.

 

When we docked in Livorno with Princess last year, it took 10-15 minutes to drive through the cargo terminals to reach the gate of the docks. I couldn't believe how far we were and how industrial it was - definitely not someplace you would want to walk (and I generally walk out of port wherever I can).

[Welshlady]

Hello again! I just would leave plenty of time to allow for delays etc. and it's rush hour. I've seen other posts on here about the trains running late sometimes. If the ship is due to sail at 7pm then it'll probably be all on board by 6.30 ish and allow time for walking etc from stations and around the port. See you soon!

[Eileen G]

Misery1001, your planning looks a lot like mine but I don't have the times put in. The only thing I would rework is Florence. The best rule of excurisons on your own is go to the furthest place first then work your way back. If you really want to go all the way to the Pitti Palace I would go there first than walk back towards the Duomo area seeing all the sights on the way . You can better budget your time the closer you are to the station. We were planning to do the train but then decided to do "Florence on your own" so we wouldn't have to worry about catching an early train. We will be starting in the Santa Croce area and working the other way. First to the Duomo and central market area and then the Signoria Plazza and plazza Vecchio area, last to the Santa Croce area. There is so much in Florence you can't see it all in one day so just enjoy where ever you are.

[Coolcruise02]

I think your planning is admirable and I may also "borrow" some of it.

 

Me too! I am also a planner, but if things change or we spend more time at a site than had been planned, it is no big deal. :)

 

Thanks Misery1001!

[engineer38]

Having frequently travelled in Italy, IMHO it is safe to say that public transport is great fun but sometimes a bit surprising e.g finding where to get the tickets, which train/bus goes where, is it full to bursting, does the published timetable apply today etc. etc. So have a great time, but have an alternate up your sleeve for getting back to the ship. Also you will probably want to stop and have a coffee or a glass of something in a nice location rather than rush from sight to sight. Be flexible, enjoy!