Lisbon, Vigo, La Rochelle, Guernsey

[smurfchops]

Going on a cruise around the Med -- anything we must see in these places on day trips? We usually take an open top bus, would this cover everything ? And what weather should we expect in late May ?

[dannydingbat]

Lisbon can be a bit boring if you have no time for architecture or shops. I have been there 4 times, the first was very disappointing as we took a wrong turning out of the curise ship terminal and ended up walking around some fairly rough areas. The next time, I took a train down to Estoril and Cascais which are where the seaside is. The next time we did the same again and last time I took the train to the centre of Lisbon, the underground to Esadio de Luz, Benfica's football ground, to have a look around. Theres a big shopping Mall opposite. Lisbon has trams and good trapnsport and you might like to investigate going over the Tegus bridge to see the Christ statue and up to Sintra which is nice.

Vigo is a farily large town with a shopping centre with some designer shops (and a good C&A) and a market. Other than that, I did not think that much of the place.

Never been to Guernsey and LaRochelle

[smurfchops]

dannydingbat, can we get open top buses near the port at Lisbon, or at Vigo?

[dannydingbat]

Difficult to say where you will be docking as there are lots of places some near the centre, some not.

Open-top tourist buses have been used since 2000 in Lisbon. As well as the Carristur services of the Lisbon transport operator Carris, services are also operated by CityLine and Cityrama. Carristur services include the Circuito Tejo and the Circuito Oriente. The former operates half-hourly and the latter hourly, both from the Pra�a do Com�rcio. The Tejo service goes via the north of the city and Estrela to Bel�m, before returning along the coast to Lisbon; the latter goes to the Parque das Na��es, the former Expo 98 site, at Oriente. Adult fares for either service are about a tenner. Carris also operates a four-hour Sintra tour in yellow single decker coaches labelled "Sightseeing". This tour includes Colares, Cabo da Roca, Guincho, Estoril and Cascais as well as Sintra and its adjoining sights. It costs about �30 and leaves P�. do Com�rcio at 14.00 each day. CityLine services run from Pombal and go via the P�. do Com�rcio to Bel�m and back, via Estrela. They use
bright yellow Volvo B10R open-top buses. They now operate from the western side of the Pra�a do Com�rcio, where a tourist bogie tram is now parked as a booking office/ information point.

I have never seen an open topper in Vigo.

[auntiebertie]

Suggest you go to www.cruisecritic.com, click on the 'boards' in the blue banner and then scroll down to the Ports of Call area and click on Europe - you will find lots of questions and answers about Europe here. In the 'Search this Forum' area on the side you can type in a city and it will find all threads about that city.

I also suggest that you look in the link for the particular cruise line you are going on to find lots of interesting info and tips. Warning: it is very US focussed and they seem desperate to know everything there is to know before setting foot on the ship [eg: how many coathangers are there...] but a wonderful site nevertheless.