EUROPEAN CITIES: How close do cruise ships really get, or are the cities all 2 hours away by bus?
 

We're "thinking" of a European cruise this summer, but my husband is not able to spend long hours on a bus. How close do the ships get, to the actual cities? Most lines advertise "Paris" but it's obvious that a cruise ship won't be anywhere near Paris, however, some of the other cities appear to be along the coasts. Does the size of the ship make a great deal of difference? We were on the Golden Princess this year (to the Caribbean) and loved it. It goes to Europe but I'm not sure how close we would be. Can anyone help me on this? Thank you very much.

Obviously, a lot depends on the itinerary and what you want to see. I can tell you that Livorno (Florence) and Civitaveechia (Rome) are both an hour and a half to two hours by bus (shorter by train). Villefranche is 20 minutes by bus from Nice and Monte Carlo. But to go to St. Paul de Vence or Eze, it would be much longer. Naples to go to Sorento or Pompeii is an hour by bus; but to get to Capri, its 45 minutes by hydrofoil.<BR><BR>Peter

You might look into a Baltic cruise; most ports are near, or sometimes in, major cities. Stockholm, Oslo, Helsinki and Copenhagen are all within walking distance of cruise ship docks (maybe a long walk but not a 2 hour bus ride). Most ships dock a little way from St. Petersburg but if you are on a very small-ship cruise line you will debark in the heart of the city near the Hermitage. As a bonus, a Baltic cruise is unforgettable!

Unn- You might also look into Windstar Cruise lines- smaller ships but they get into smaller and closer ports-- we did Rome to Nice and the only time we were on a long bus ride was a 2 -2 1/2 hr bus ride from La Spezia into Florence.....<BR><BR>and when they dock in Monte Carlo,you are a short walk and elevator up to the top of the town...<BR><BR>However, if you do want to see Eze or St.Paul de Vence , or Nice or Cannes, you will need to be on a tour bus or transport of your own.....<BR><BR>If you do Princess Cruises and hit the ports of Lisbon and Barcelona, you can walk into town....The same with Venice or Dubrovnik......<BR><BR>Usually with the Med, as Peter said, you may be on a long bus ride for only certain cities---

I too recommend the Baltic Cruise for being close to the cities. We went in July and it was perfect in all respects.

Something you might want to consider--although it's a totally different cruise experience--is a riverboat. Dielman and Viking have lovely ones. On a riverboat, you basically tie up in the center of town.

Go to the following site. Click the city/town in the left column and, voila, your answer plus much, much more info appears.<BR><BR>http://www.cruisecritic.com/ports/index.cfm

We were on the Golden for a Mediterranean cruise last year. The cities that the ship docked directly in were: Barcelona, Naples, Venice, Athens, Ephesus, and Istanbul. We had to tender in at Monaco. The only city that required an hour drive to was Florence. It was wonderful, although this year they have taken Turkey off the schedule.

Paris is a 2.5- 3.0 hour bus ride from port. The excursions leave very early, and you are gone all day.

Don't plan to see much of Paris that day -but a few hours is better than nothing. Yet as mentioned elsewhere, there are many great cities that are ports of call as mentioned: Barcelona, Lisbon, Venice, Istanbul, Stockholm, Helsinki, St. Petersburg, Amsterdam just to name a few. We've done Florence and Rome on cruises and thought we spent time travelling, we still enjoyed the days.