We are going on a 14-day cruise on the Norwegian Jade from Southampton on May 30 to the following ports:

1.Malaga (Granada), Spain
2.Barcelona, Spain
3.Villefranche-sur-Mer, France
4.Livorno (Florence), Italy
5.Civitavecchia (Rome),Italy
6.Gibraltar, Gibraltar
7.Lisbon, Portugal
8.Vigo, Spain

Since the dollar has and still is declining in value we would probably be doing the sightseeing on our own. Are most of the ports walking distance to the cities and how easily can one get to the different points of interest? Is the Vatican to the Colloseum walking distance? Is the Tower of Pisa anywhere near Florence? What are your recommendations?

THANKS!

You might post your questions under the cruise section of the forum. Better yet, go over to www.cruisecritic.com. They have a wealth of information on all the ports. You can even join a forum to "meet" other people who will be on the same cruise.

Have fun, I have been to many of those ports.

You might also try posting on the europe board.

But just a couple of points - I don;t believe ports are typically walking distance to sights.

Livorno is about 80 miles from Florence and Civitavecchia is about 50 miles from Rome.

Pisa is about 30 minutes from Florence by train - which runs fairly frequently.

The distance from the Coliseum to the Vatican can be walked (a couple of miles) but if your time is limited taxi is a much better choice.

Suggest you get a street map, with sights marked on it, for each of the cities you will be visiting - so you can plot out your visits.

The Vatican is in Vatican City. It is over 2 miles from Vatican City to the Coliseum (2.2-2.5 mi).

The Leaning Tower of Pisa is in Pisa. Pisa is about 63 miles from Florence.

You may want to spend some time with Google Maps as well as some guide books.

...and repost in the cruise forum or even the Europe forum since you're interested in what to do on land once you're there.

Barcelona: the city is close to the port. I'd focus on the Gaudi sites: Casa Mila, Casa Batllo, Parc Guell, Sagrada familia, and strolling Las Ramblas.

Gibraltar: the city is close to the port. I found an expanded tour of the sites on the Rock on the Gibraltar tourism website, and negotiated with a cab driver when we got off the ship to do this full tour (3-4 hours) rather than the standard tour (90 minutes). That still left us time to poke around town.

Lisbon: the city is close to the port. We took the tram to Belem to see the Monastery and the Mounument to the Discoveries (and have their famous local pastries). There's also lots to see in the old city.