beanmenow

I'm taking my 70 y/o mom on a 12 day Western mediterranean cruise for the first time. Our Ports of Call are Barcelona, Nice, Florence, Rome, Naples, Dubrovnik, Venice and Kotor.
I'm paying for everything, so my budget is limited. We're arriving 2 days early in Barcelona to explore. Pls advice which ports I should take a tour, and what places are not to be missed. My mom is religious.
Any advice and suggestions are appreciated. I'm so excited!

Reme

We were over seventy when we were in Barcelona a couple of years ago. We hired a car and driver for half a day. We saw a LOT. He was not offering shopping oportunities. Regretably I can't remember his name or agency, but we found him on the internet. There were three of us and it was cheaper than tours offered by the cruise line. Likewise we booked a tour to The Monastery of Montserrat, which your mother might like. It takes half a day. But leave time to walk around Barcelona and get tapas.

Florence, Rome and Venice are full of religious sites. Again a little work and you can find private tours that may be cheaper than cruise line excursions. Takes work but worth it.

abram

We found Barcelona, Venice, and Dubrovnik very easy to explore on our own without a tour.

In Naples, we hired www.tourofitaly.com for an all day excursion to the Amalfi Coast; shared with two other couples, it was quite reasonable.

If you go to the Roll Call board at www.cruisecritic.com and find you cruise line, your ship, and your sailing date, you can connect with fellow passengers to share tours.

Lionara

I would suggest Dubrovnik and Venice - as Abram said - very easy for touring

jacketwatch

Most if not all of those ports are self doable. You can do a search for independent tour operators thru google and check what you find thru trip advisor. You can also ask them if they can arrange a shared tour as this will reduce costs.

As for Rome of course you must see the Sistene Chapel and St. Peters. This may be enough for your 70 yr. old mom. BTW of this is in the summer it could be hot so consider how much exertion your mom can take. A fully private tour (no sharing) may be good because if uts hot you don't want to wait on the tour to finish if your mom gets fatigued.

In Florence the Duomo or church is a must see I would think. We simply got a cab in Livorno and saw this and stopped in Piza as well.

Best of luck. Larry