[784caroline]

We are taking a Med Cruise this November and looking for any suggestions for a hotel stay in Barcelonea on cruise departure and Venice on cruise arrival. Other ports of call will be Nice France, Florence/Pisa Italy, Rome, Naples/Capri, Greek Isles (Mykonos (SP), Athens, Istanbul , and Split Croatia...all suggestions on what to see and do are welcomed?? WE have been to Rome, Naples, and Athens before (10 years ago plus) so they are covered and most likely will get a tour guide for Istanbul.

[chelsea24]

Caroline, in Barcelona, one of the best hotels to stay in is the Hotel Colon. It is across from a beautiful cathedral and easy walking in any direction. Not far from Las Rambles. http://www.hotelcolon.es/eng/hotel/index.asp This link will explain more. Cut and paste it into your address. Las Rambles wakes up around 10pm. Everything is later in Spain. It's where all the shops and cafes are. We took a similar cruise to the one you're taking and we went a two days early so we could really enjoy Barcelona. It soon became of of my favorite places.

In Capri, don't miss The Blue Grotto, as I mentioned in another post. We were in Venice for 2 days but stayed on the ship. The cruise we took ended up back in Barcelona. Are you going to Monte Carlo too? Let me know if you are. I don't see that you have it listed. Oh, you will love pulling into Venice. It's beyond romantic. Be aware that everything is so much more expensive than it was 10 years ago. We had been to a few of these countries before, but this last year, we were really surprised at the prices!

[chuckinca]

If you want to see David in Florence, buy tickets a few months in advance from the Florence tourist office. The Doumo cathedral is about 4 blocks towards the river from David's (the Academia) and Ponte Veccio is about 6 blocks toward the river from Doumo so all three can be walked to and covered in about 4 hours.

[784caroline]

For Barcelona we want to find a place near Las Ramblus but you are correct...the prices are out of sight not only for Barcelona but all of europe. When we dock in Naples we plan to go to Capri..we have been there before and it is beautiful. While on our last trip we actually swan into the Blue Lagoon (this was after hours) and you are correct its a sight not to miss. WE will be on the Celebrity Summit and it will not be stopping in Monte Carlo.

As far as FLorence is concerned, we have not decided what to do while in Liverno...go to FLorence and sightsee in Pisa and the local area....but appreciate for the suggestion about "David".

[chelsea24]

Caroline, the Hotel Colon is near Las Ramblas. It's only about a 7 minute walk. Really gives you the feeling of Spain and excellent service. Just a thought.

Florence is my favorite place to shop for leather and jewelry. SteveZ about the Ponte Veccio. Another great love of my is visiting lots of beautiful cathedrals.

[Sidney Lanier]

HI,

We stayed at Locanda Orseolo in Venice. The location was excellent, only a few blocks from St. Marks Square, right on the canal and with a special entrance from the canal to the hotel. Staff were excellent, friendly and extremely helpful. Breakfast was great.
Email to: info@locandaorseolo.com - Web: http://www.locandaorseolo.com

Since the hotel was right off the Square we never got lost as there were many signs pointing to the square.

We were in Venice for three days and just wandered the city and all the squares and back alleys. Took the ferry to Morano and found exquisite items I would have liked to have bought - money was the problem.

It was fascinating going into the old churches. They had oils on the walls by the great masters, without the guards.

I was sorry I did not buy a hand made mask. Could not decide which one I liked the best, went to shops where the masks were hand made.

If you need more info please let me know.

Florence, I wish we had more time to spend there. We were in Florence off season and had no problems getting into the museums.

Have a wonderful time.

Hyacinth Bucket

[chelsea24]

Hi HB! Welcome Back! Where are you??? Now here's a real Travel expert! xxxooo, chels

[Sidney Lanier]

HB must have used my (Sidney Lanier's) window instead of her own. Actually we're still in France in a hotel close by to Charles De Gaulle Airport; we leave for NY tomorrow afternoon (Wed.) and will be back tomorrow night. She'll be in touch. It's been a great trip!!! How are you and Vetman? Please tell him we asked for him. See you in June when we get back to TV!

[njgranny]

I absolutely fell in love with Venice. You will enjoy it so much.

[Sidney Lanier]

Ditto on Venice, which has to be one of the most unique and unusual places we've ever visited! They do have a problem there with what they call 'acqua alta,' meaning 'high water,' periodically, but they seem to be learning to cope with it. Might be worth bringing some extra clothing/footwear if you're going at a time when it might occur. Enjoy, enjoy!

[deano_hoosier]

Regarding hotel in Barcelona, we've stayed at the Regencia Colon hotel which is next door, across the street, from the Hotel Colon. The Regencia Colon is a bit less expensive than the Hotel Colon. As noted earlier, it is a short walk to La Rambla and both hotels are maybe 4-5 blocks from Plaza Catalunya which is the major transportation hub for Barcelona. For example, there is an airport shuttle bus that drops off in Plaza Catalunya and the double decker tour buses use the Plaza as a starting point for a number of their tours. We used Bus Turistic, the Northern Route (Red Line), to visit a number of the Gaudi building.

Since I don't like the interference of street noise in European city center hotels, I always pack a pair of soft foam ear plugs to use when needed. Barcelona seems noisier to me perhaps because night life kicks off so late in the evening.

There is a fun restaurant a short walk from the hotels mentioned. It is called the 4 Cats (Els Quatre Gats). Here is the website for the restaurant (http://www.grupferre.com/)

When we stopped off in Istanbul, we used the ship's shore excursion tour which was about 6 hours and really enjoyed the tour and the tour guide. The tour was spread over 2 days and cost was in the $125/person range.

Hope you enjoy your trip!
Dean

[784caroline]

Deano
I defintely noticed the price difference between the two "Colon" hotels. Are they in fact differnet hotels . Curious as to how did you get from the Barcelonna airport to your Hotel..taxi or do airport shuttles drop you off at city hotels?

[784caroline]

Do you know when high water occurs in Vencie (or how you cn find out when it occurs --- full moon?) Did they install flodd gates to prevent this occurrence or at least minimize the floods in St Marks Square??

Also regarding Venice when you get off the ship, how did you manage to get yourself and moerso the luggage to your hotel or airport...I understand water taxi are slow and expensive as is the airport water shuttle.

[deano_hoosier]

Originally Posted by 784caroline

Deano
I defintely noticed the price difference between the two "Colon" hotels. Are they in fact differnet hotels . Curious as to how did you get from the Barcelonna airport to your Hotel..taxi or do airport shuttles drop you off at city hotels?

They are two different hotels, though I believe they have same corporate ownership. A small street separates them and the Hotel Colon has more rooms that face the cathedral square so that may contribute to the pricing. I use "tripadvisor.com" to check out hotels and the Regencia Colon rates a little bit better than the Hotel Colon--both are ranked 42 and 44 in terms of popularity which puts them in the top 10% of the Barcelona hotels on tripadvisor.

We used a taxi from the airport to the Regencia. In Barcelona, the taxis use metered rates so how much you pay depends on the "route" the driver takes and he/she may pad the distance/time that way -- but according to the published rates, you can expect to pay around 23-25E for the 1-way trip. With Barcelona traffic, even the most direct route can have extra time to it on the meter to negotiate the traffic jams. I recall that we paid about 30E for the trip to the hotel.

If you don't mind schlepping your luggage the 4-5 blocks from the bus stop on the Plaza, the rate from the airport is in the range of 3-4E/person. (The most recent fare I saw on the web was 3.90E.) You can learn more about this option if you'll google "barcelona aerobus". I appears the aerobus makes 4 stops after leaving the airport and before arriving Plaza Catalunya.) The "aerobus" is the only shuttle I'm aware of and it does not make hotel stops.

[784caroline]

Deano just tried to book 4 rooms at the Regencia Colon and they would only accept 3 and this is for Mid November...so I will have to work on that. Sounds like a taxi is the way to go from the airport..for the 8 of us, hopefully we can get 2 cabs for 4 people each with luggage.


Also thanks for the resturant recommendation.