10 best ports to vist departing from Southampton
Barcelona
A great city to visit with so much to offer. After a short shuttle bus from the port you will find yourself at the bottom of the famous street, Las Ramblas. My advice would be to tour the city on one of the many hop on/hop off open top buses that will take you past all the major sights including Sagrada Familia, Camp Nou and the Olympic Stadium. You will be able to get off and look at sights as you wish. When you are back at La Ramblas you can sit a have some tapas and Sangria in the many street side bars.
Tallinn
The Capital of Estonia which I visited on our Baltic Cruise. Again, after a short shuttle bus from the port you can walk around its medieval cobblestone streets leading to the beautiful Town Hall Square. When we were there, there was a local market selling locally made gifts.
Lisbon
The ship normally docks at Santa Apolonia and from there you can walk to the city of Lisbon. On one trip to Lisbon, we joined an excursion called the Hippo tour which was an amphibious bus which toured the city then entered the River Tagus for a view of the city from the river - great fun! A trip to Lisbon would not be complete without having a ride on one of the trams. I would recommend the one that goes up to the castle, so you can see all of Lisbon from its highest point.
Stockholm
My first tip for Stockholm is to get up early and sit on your balcony (if you have one) to take in the stunning sail along the 60km entrance of the Stockholm archipelago. The early start is well worth it as the views are stunning. While in Stockholm I would recommend the Abba Museum for those who were fans of the Swedish pop group. We were berthed close to the centre of the city and there was a jetty next to the boat where small boats take passengers into the main city areas.
Funchal
We stopped in Funchal, the capital of Madeira, a Portuguese island north of the Canaries in the Atlantic Ocean. Funchal is quite hilly and very different from the Canaries. I would recommend the Wicker Toboggan Ride where you are pushed down a steep hill guided by local men. Following the toboggan ride we transferred to the cable car down to sea level.
Civitavecchia
The port for the Italian city of Rome. It takes about 1.5 hours into the centre of Rome by coach, but it’s well worth it. We did a guided walking tour starting at the Trevi Fountain and took in all the famous sites and ended up at the Colosseum. We were then left to spend the rest of the day in the Vatican City. What a breath-taking building it is and well worth a visit
Gibraltar
The ship will be berthed right on the end of the runway of Gibraltar Airport. The main road for the island goes through the middle of the airport with traffic lights each side which stop traffic when planes land and take off. The main attraction of the island is not just duty free, it is the Rock and the free roaming monkeys at the top. You can also visit St Michael’s cave while on the Rock and see the stunning lake in the middle.
Zeebrugge (for Bruges)
The ship will dock in the industrial port of Zeebrugge which is a short coach ride from the beautiful Belgian city of Bruges. On my visit, we were dropped at the outskirts of the city and followed our local guide on a walking tour. The are many fabulous buildings to view including the Church of our Lady, Gruuthusemuseum and St Salvador’s Cathedral. No visit to Bruges is complete until you have experienced a trip on the canal boats, viewing the buildings from a different side. Once you have finished, enjoy some delicious local chocolate from one of the many shops.
St Petersburg
After passing through the long queues of the Russian immigration, we boarded our tour bus for a visit to the Yusupov Palace, the site of the alleged assassination of Grigory Rasputin. Before the visit we had a trip on the river exploring all the canals of this beautiful city. On our second day in the city we toured in our coach stopping at many of the stunning buildings including the Hermitage museum and the stunning Church of the Spilled Blood with its gold roof. We crossed over many of the 342 bridges in the city and spent some time at Peter and Paul Fortress, the original Citadel used as a prison and execution ground by the Bolshevik Government.
Livorno (for Pisa)
Passengers arriving in Livorno have the choice to visit Pisa or Florence. We decided to venture to Pisa and after a short ride on the coach we were dropped off on the outskirts to board a trolley train which took us into the centre of this small city famous for its leaning tower. After we arrived at the tower we strolled around the famous monument and looked around the cathedral. We then took a short stroll for a trip on the river Arno which to us back to our coach.