Shore excursions in the Med
 

My husband and I will be in Nice on the 17th of October to board the radisson Diamond. We'll be in Marseiile, Monte Carlo, Barcelona, Portofino, Livorno and Rome. Are shore excursions (half day) recommended or can these areas be navigated easily on our own? Also we are considering exploring the area around Livorno instead of making the trip to Florence. Any suggestions will be appreciated.

We did that last year. Absolutely do it on your own! For the 3 of us the Rome excursion offered by the ship was $170.00 pp or $510.00. We got a cab and did the same tour with our own private cab for $200.00! And when we got tired we just said home, James! There are tons of cabs waiting when you disembark and this way you can get off on your own time, not the tours time. We did rent a cab in Livorno and took it to tour Florence and Pisa. Saved $150.00 on out own there too. If you want to see St. Peters just remember that proper attire is requierd, i.e. no shorts, etc. Bon Voyage and be sure to try, if you have not, italian ice cream (gelato)

We are on Voyager Oct. 24th. In Marseilles we will get a cab to tour Marseilles and a drive to Aix. A one day should be about 200E. for the cab.
Barcelona. Take the double decker buses. On off type with English descriptions. They stop at major points of interest. Maps, etc. at www.barcelonaturisme.com
M.Carlo. We have visited mant times. For a full day we will get a cab and drive to Turbie, Eze, Villefranche, Nice and end in Monaco to walk around the old streets in the afternoon.
Florence. Train from Livorno and walk around. Bon voyage

We rarely take cruise ship tours because they tend to be very expensive. Do some research on each port, find out what the cruise ship tours are doing, what you would like to see and do, and check out the train schedules from Livorno for Florence and Pisa, and Civitavecchia for Rome, and plan for yourself.

You can do just about anything by train/taxi or local transportation. ((b))

thanks so much for the advice. We'll do it on our own!

to bev_d: we took the aforementioned doubledecker buses in Barcelona and let me mention there are two routes. The one most folks go on (the lines will be longer at the station) is the one going to the unfinished Gaudi cathedral the Sagrada Familia. This is THE most visited tourist attraction in Barcelona and is not to be missed! Bon Voyage, Larry

Agree with all of the above posts. Avoid the cruise excursion rip-offs. During our cruise last year, we took the train to Florence & Rome, and it worked like a charm. We also took the train, and a local bus in the Villefranche/Nice area.

Besides being dirt cheap, and a lot more fun (since you are mingling with the locals), I bet we got around more quickly on the train than cabs or tour buses due to traffic congestion.

I know some people are wary of trains because of the risk of last-minute strikes, but that seems to be overblown. Have fun!