Cruising - Greece, Malta & Sicily

Linda: Never been to Sicily, but have spent timein Rhodes and Malta, both off a cruise and on our own for extended stays. In both these, I would suggest you forget about tours, get a good map and walk. Rhodes old town is right off the cruise ship pier and there is plenty to see. Visit the Grand Masters' Palace, walk the streets and marvel at how they built them 800 years ago to collect the wind keep the place cool. Walk round the walls. See the windmills on the harbour breakwater. Comb the stores for leathers and silks. I buy belts and ties when I go there! Malta. Climb up the ramp as you come off the ship. Look over the square where the unique local buses leave from. Find your way down to Republic and go along to and tour the Co-Cathedral of St. John and the the Grand Masters' Palace, linking what you learned in Rhodes with what you learn here. Go to the end and turn right. Look for the Malta Story and enjoy the movie. Walk down the hill and back along the sea wall to the ship, look out for the cannons used as bollards on the wharf. If you can find a copy of "The Kapilan of Malta" by Nicholas Monserrat for a novelized hisory of Malta. Two places we have really enjoyed.

Linda, You will have a fabulous time. In my opinion, Rhodes Town is fascinating. I really enjoyed walking around the city, seeing the Palace of the Grand Master, and just soaking it all in. Ships dock literally outside the city, so there is basically no chance that you would miss the boat. For Malta, Valletta has a lot to see, if you are inclined to do tha ton your own. Taxis wait outside the ship and can take you to the town gates, then you can taxi back when you are done. Again, like in Rhodes, the ship is so close to the city, I don't think there would be a possibility that you would miss it. I also took a bus to Tarxien and the megalithic tombs, but if you are concerned about the ship, you could skip that and spend all your time in Valletta. On my first time in Malta, we also went out to Mdina and really enjoyed that. PM for any more info.

Thanks to both of you for the great info. I believe we will probably go ahead and do the walking - will need that after days on the ship anyway! Thanks again. Linda

One piece of advice with the cruise ships - do your homework to find out where they dock in reference to where you actually want to tour. In Malta, our port in Valletta was roughly half a mile from the gates to the old city, which doesn't seem like a lot, but it is all up hill (and you'll want to save energy for walking around - there's a lot to see!). There are cabs waiting, but be prepared for the hard sell of the cabbie's own personal tour of the city. Other ports of call are even farther away ... one good tipoff is if the cruise company puts the port location in parentheses after the name of the touristy spot: for example, Norwegian Cruise Lines does it this way: Rome (Civitavecchia) because, obviously, Rome is not a coastal city. All that being said, though, I always prefer to come up with my own plan. I find the ones offered by the cruise ship to be overpriced (even factoring in ground transportation), uninspired, and often with unavoidable detours to shops or restaurants that have special deals with that particular operator. As for sites, can't speak to Rhodes or Sicily, but the St. John's Co-Cathedral in Valletta is not to be missed!