Suggestions for Florence/Rome Tours and Shore Excursions in Naples, Mykonos, Athens, Messina

Hello

I just returned from a Mediterranean cruise and can respond some to your post

I did take a port excursion in Florence but believe that you can do Florence on your own. I only spent hours there but we did visit the Ufizzi Gallery and it is excellent. You probably know that it is not to be missed and you are probably going to want to spend several hours at the Ufizzi.

We were taken to a shop by the name of Gold Market in the square. They sell high quality Florentine jewelry and leather.

I was shocked to find Rome so beautiful but again I was on an excursion and only spent several hours there. Did go to St Peter's Square but not inside anywhere. There are wonderful retail shops in St Peter's Square.

I took an excursion to Taormina which you could probably do on your own. Taormina is very beautiful and very old. Very walkable.

From Naples, I took an excursion to Sorrento and Amalfi. Sorrento is very sweet and very walkable. I went to a wonderful retail shop there. http://www.gargiulo-jannuzzi.it/main.htm

I was at these ports mid to late October and it was still very hot and extremely crowded. I expect that it might be hotter hen you are there and even more crowded.

How many days is the ship at sea only? Four ports in seven days does not sound like a good deal for first-time to an area-travelers. Greece, Sicily, and Naples is a massive amount of mileage to cover. Will you ever return to Europe again?

Make plans for how far Civitavecchia is from Rome. Some hotels may offer a free car service either from the airport or TO Civitavecchia with a three-night booking. (That happened to us once.) But book the car services now, unless you want to use the bus product (probably similar price and inferior service) from the cruise company.

You really need to step up and BOOK in Florence or Rome, and early enough to get the days and times you want. These will be sold out well in advance of your trip. So if you MUST see (for example) The Coliseum, find out about the options and book what you want. And assume it's non-changeable, non-refundable.

Have you been on a cruise before? It's usually better to take the cruise ship excursions, because they will hold the ship for you if there is a problem with the return bus trip. Any suggestion that only losers book the "expensive" cruise company excursions are nonsense.

Heat and sun will be an issue at Pompeii and the area. I personally think Sorrento is missable (slept there five nights.) But you don't absolutely NEED to see both Pompeii and Herculaneum. Look into the trips closely and determine how many HOURS actually INSIDE each place. It takes 8 hours to "see" Pompeii, but you "need" at least 4 hours to say you saw it.

If you want to go to the Acropolis, you should find out if the excursion is "guaranteed" by the cruise. Tourist access there is being reduced, so you may not get there without a spot on a (reviled by independent travelers like me!) cruise ship that has fifteen 49-passenger busses going that morning! Even years ago, the bus groups were a significant impediment to our simply climbing the steps to enter independently.

HI Lisa,

What a great trip to plan!

We've done a half-dozen Mediterranean cruises and visited many of these places independently as well. Many of your decisions will come down to your own comfort level with independent travel vs the security of knowing if you're on a ship excursion the ship won't go without you. Mobility is also a factor: there can be a lot of walking in all of these places.
I'm sure you'll get a ton of advice here on the forum. But here's what we enjoyed:

Florence: We've been many times and have never done a city or museum tour. The central part of the city is very walkable and easy to navigate. The Rick Steves audio guides are terrific (download the Rick Steves Audio Europe app). There's a guide for the Accademia, for example, and one for the Uffizi. So if you want an overview of each, just use the audio guide. Of course, if you want more in-depth learning, a private tour may be the way to go. The one tour we have done is a half-day Chianti wine-tasting. Loved that. Definitely buy your tickets in advance to the Uffizi and Accademia. There's a rooftop patio that serves meals and drinks on Rinascente (department store) in the middle of everything. It's sublime.

Rome is also easily done on your own if you choose to. The Rick Steves audio guides of the Colosseum, Roman Forum, Pantheon and Vatican were all we found that we needed. Buy tickets in advance. If you're walking around for three days, you're going to wander into the Spanish Steps regardless. Don't worry about the crowds. And go see the Trevi at 6:30 am before the city wakes up. BTW, it's easy to take the train from Termini to Civitavecchia.

Naples: You can get to Pompeii on your own easily by train. There's (you guessed it) an excellent Rick Steves audio tour of the site. We spent a few hours there last November and found it fascinating. I think it would be hard to see Pompeii and Sorrento in one day. We did take the train to Sorrento once and then a fast ferry across the Bay of Naples. That was lovely. Another daytrip option on the Naples stop is a ferry to Capri.

Piraeus: You can easily get into Athens on the subway from the port if you decide to do that day independently

Happy planning!

It's usually better to take the cruise ship excursions, because they will hold the ship for you if there is a problem with the return bus trip. Any suggestion that only losers book the "expensive" cruise company excursions are nonsense.

Agree with Tim about ship excursions. They are more expensive than going places on your own, but they are a lot cheaper than getting yourselves to the next port if you actually "miss the boat". We've seen people running along the pier in Naples as the ship departed. The traffice can be very bad at times.

We did ship excursions that went to Pompeii and Herculaneum -- one in the morning and one in the after noon. Got stuck in traffic on the way back from both.

Taking a ship excursion to Delos will get you priority for the tender to get to shore for the tour. You should have plenty of time to wander about Mykonos after the tour. Pop into the Rhapsody Bar for a libation with a great view of the port.

Unless there is a desire to have knowledge fed to you, Florence and Rome are easy to do without a tour. I took 2 tours in Rome last trip and we cut both short. I’m going with son and DIL next year and we will just do on our own.

In Florence the Duomo Museum is excellent and when we were there, no crowd.

Unless you are really into museums and absolutely MUST see the Sistine Chapel, i would skip the Vatican Museum.

One Youtube channel I find especially informative is RomeWise