Report: Western Mediterranean ports on our own

[sddbb]

Cannes, 7am-2pm

 

Our main goal was to see Nice.

 

We got off the tender in Cannes at 7:45-ish, and the town of Cannes was still very quiet. We got a map of the town at the information center(even though it was still closed) and walked towards the train station. The walk was about 20 mins and we tried to buy the train ticket to Nice at the self-service machine but somehow it did not recognize our credit card. So we went to the counter and used the same credit card to get 2 tickets to Nice instead. (by the way, the French trains are much nicer than the Italian ones in general). Got to Nice before 9, took the tram down to Place Massena, and began our stroll along the sea to Vieux Nice. We walked around Vieux Nice, visited the market and took a crepe break. We strolled back to Place Massena afterwards and took the tram back to the train station at around 11:30am. The train station is actually within walking distance, about 6 blocks away and slightly uphill, but we decided not to walk. We got in to an internet point near the train station for 50 cents Euro per 30 mins. After that we attempted again to buy the train tickets at one of the machines at the train station to avoid the lines, but did not succeed. So we got our tickets at the counter and arrived in Cannes at around 1pm. The walk back to the port was quite nice by this time of the day, especially since it was during the time of the Cannes film festival. Many shops were open and the streets were full of good-looking people. There was also a bazaar set up near the port where some artists were selling paintings and souvenirs. We walked towards the port leisurely, taking photo stops at time, and got to the port at 1:45, only to find that there was a LONG queue for the tender. We stood in line for 45 mins before we finally reached our room at 2:45.

[sddbb]

Thanks sddbb for your very useful info.My family are cruising next month,and will be visiting Rome,Florence and Cannes. My plan for Rome is to board at San Pietro station on the return journey,but standing only for over 1 hour after a long day is not appealing,and will be hard for the kids!

Looking forward to your Livorno review,that is the one journey that worries me,as I know from ship to Florence is a bit of a hassle!

 

Hi baljaffray, I should also mention that there were stops between the San Pietro Station to Civitavecchia and some people did get off. However it might be more crowded by next month...

[larie]

Sorry posted on the wrong thread

[fllchick]

Great review of Livorno! This is one that we're planning on doing on our own in October, and I was glad to see that you had time to do Florence and Pisa in the one day. Did I understand correctly that you took a taxi back to the port from Pisa, and not the train?

[sddbb]

Great review of Livorno! This is one that we're planning on doing on our own in October, and I was glad to see that you had time to do Florence and Pisa in the one day. Did I understand correctly that you took a taxi back to the port from Pisa, and not the train?

 

Correct. and we took it from the Pisa train station. There's also an option to take a cab from the field of miracles.

[themnms]

nice reviews, thanks for the info