Your ship docks at eight. Be back by five.
Which Ephesus tour really guarantees the return. What Florence costs from the Livorno berth. Whether the operator collects at the pier or leaves you to find the taxi rank. Reviews of shore excursions in the ports cruise itineraries actually call at.
Four port calls that sell the whole cruise.
The days people book before they have chosen a cabin. What each one costs at the pier, and how far inland it goes.
01The Kusadasi callFOR CRUISERS: Skip The Lines PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR &On Time ReturnThe Library of Celsus, the terraced houses, and a driver who watches the all-aboard. Ephesus is twenty minutes from the berth.
02The Livorno callFlorence & Pisa, Accademia & TowerTwo cities in one day ashore: the Leaning Tower before lunch, the Accademia after. Ninety minutes each way on the autostrada.
03The Civitavecchia callFull-Day Panoramic Bus Tour of RomeRome sits eighty kilometres inland from the pier. The panoramic run covers the Colosseum, the Vatican walls and the bridges without a missed connection.
04The Aegean callFull Day Boat Cruise to 3 IslandsThree islands out of Kos, a swim stop at each and lunch on deck. The cheapest full day here and the one people describe at dinner.
The two questions that decide a day ashore.
Does the operator collect at the cruise terminal, and will they get you back before the gangway lifts. Independent excursions cost a third of the ship's own, and the good ones put both promises in writing. These are the tours that do.
Six berths that carry most of a Mediterranean itinerary.
A Turkish pier twenty minutes from a Roman city, two Tuscan ports that both mean Florence, the berth that means Rome, Naples for Pompeii, Piraeus for the Acropolis, and a caldera you tender into. The best day out from each.
Italy puts three great cities within a day of a berth.
Every Italian port →
The Italian calls are inland days. Florence is ninety minutes from Livorno, Rome eighty kilometres from Civitavecchia, Pompeii forty from the Naples quay. The distance is the whole decision: pick the excursion by how it drives, not by the sight at the end.
Florence and Pisa on one call
The coach runs to Pisa for the Tower, then on to Florence for the Duomo and the Accademia. It is a long day with two motorway legs, and the operators that book the Accademia slot in advance are the ones worth the money.
Rome, eighty kilometres inland
The port shuttle, the regional train and the panoramic coach all reach Rome, and they are not equivalent. The coach days that include the Vatican and the Colosseum without a change are the ones that get people back on time.
Pompeii, Vesuvius, the Amalfi road
Pompeii is a forty-minute drive and needs a guide to make sense. Adding Vesuvius or the coast road turns it into a full day, and the Amalfi leg is slow whenever the summer traffic backs up at Positano.
The most popular shore excursions on the site.
Every excursion we have reviewed →The days out more cruise passengers take than any others, and what earns each of them the slot.
1
FOR CRUISERS: Skip The Lines PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR &On Time Return
Meet your English-speaking guide at Kusadasi cruise port, then travel by private, air-conditioned vehicle to Ephesus, the House of the Virgin Mary, and the Temple of Artemis. Guides such as Fatih, Dicle, Banu, Ulas, and Zeynep have tailored visits for different walking abilities and interests. Terrace Houses, shopping, and craft stops can be added or declined.
From · $39
Read our review →
2
Top Choice For Cruisers: Ephesus, Mary’s House WITH TICKETS+LUNCH
from $29
3
PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR FOR CRUISERS: On-time Return and Skip-Line
from $29
4
Full Day Boat Cruise to 3 Islands
from $35
5
Timanfaya and Green Lagoon for Cruise Passengers
from $58
6
ALL INCLUDED: Ephesus Ruins, Mary’s House Tour incl ENTRY TICKETS
from $59
7
For cruise passengers: Guided ATV Tour of Dutch & French St. Maarten
8
PRIVATE TOUR FOR CRUISERS: Mary’s House (Meryemana) and Ephesus
from $29
Private car, small group, or forty people on a coach.
The same sight costs three different prices depending on what you ride to it in. Here is what each way of leaving the pier opens at.
What a day ashore actually costs.
Every excursion on the site grouped by price. The ship's own tour desk starts where the middle band ends, which is the whole argument for booking your own.
Port walks, hop-on buses, tuk-tuks in Kochi and the short runs from a Mediterranean berth.
The full-day standards: Florence from Livorno, Rome from Civitavecchia, Ephesus with entry tickets.
Private drivers, helicopter days out of Alaska and the calls you only get once in an itinerary.
Three cities that belong to a berth, not an airport.
Plenty of places are easier to reach by plane. These three are the ones a cruise itinerary hands you almost for free, and the reason a port day is worth planning properly.
Ephesus out of Kusadasi
A Roman provincial capital of a quarter of a million people, with its marble main street, its terraced houses and the facade of the Library of Celsus still standing at the end of it. The site sits twenty minutes inland from the cruise berth, which is why Kusadasi fills with ships every summer morning and why the good guides are booked out a season ahead.
- 1FOR CRUISERS: Skip The Lines PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR &On Time Return★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 8,527 reviews
- 2Top Choice For Cruisers: Ephesus, Mary’s House WITH TICKETS+LUNCH★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 7,233 reviews
- 3PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR FOR CRUISERS: On-time Return and Skip-Line★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 5,807 reviews
Florence out of Livorno
Livorno is a working container port with nothing much to detain you, and that is the point: everyone drives. Ninety minutes gets you to the Duomo, the Ponte Vecchio and the David, and the day works only if the Accademia slot was bought weeks before the ship sailed. Pisa goes in on the way back for the price of an hour.
- 1Florence & Pisa, Accademia & Tower★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · 1,172 reviews
- 2Round-Trip to Pisa Cruise Shore Excursion★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 978 reviews
- 3Full day shore excursion to Florence and Pisa from Livorno with tasting★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 968 reviews
Rome out of Civitavecchia
No cruise ship berths in Rome. Civitavecchia is an hour and a quarter up the coast, and the whole city has to be compressed into the window between gangway down and all-aboard. The panoramic coach days exist for exactly that reason, and they are far more honest about the arithmetic than a taxi at the port gate.
- 1Private or Shared Guided Tour of Rome★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 826 reviews
- 2Food Tasty and History Tour in Civitavecchia★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 256 reviews
- 3Best of Rome Private Tour★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 247 reviews
In the Aegean the best day ashore is usually a boat.
Kos runs three islands and a swim stop at each. Mykonos is small enough to see between tenders. Kusadasi hands you a Roman city before lunch. This is the stretch where the excursion is better than anything the ship has planned.
Every Greek and Turkish port →
Four port days that will not wait for the gangway.
Most of a cruise can be arranged over breakfast on the morning of the call. These four run on timed entry, capped groups and short seasons that take no interest in your itinerary.
- 01FOR CRUISERS: Skip The Lines PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR &On Time ReturnKusadasi berths several ships a morning in season, and the drivers who guarantee an on-time return are the first to go.
- 02Florence & Pisa, Accademia & TowerThe Accademia and the Uffizi sell timed entry. Arrive from Livorno without a slot and the call is spent in a queue.
- 03Naples Shore Excursion Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii Day TripPompeii caps its guided groups and the site is a forty-minute drive from the Naples quay, so the morning departures fill weeks out.
- 04Full-Day Tour of the YukonSkagway runs a short summer season on one narrow road, and the Yukon days take a fixed number of coaches a day.
The market, the cellar and the long lunch between two sailings.
A port call is a short window and food is the easiest thing to get wrong in it. Book the market walk for the morning, the tasting for after the sightseeing, and the lunch that is already included when the drive is long.
By berth: where the ship ties up
By kind of day: ruins, coast, market or coach
Barcelona to Rome: the itinerary almost every first cruise follows.
Spanish ports
Marseille
La SpeziaThe newest shore excursion reviews.
The rest of the new ones →
Shore excursion from Livorno to Siena and San Gimignano by private minivan
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Wine Tour Bolgheri Half day Shore Excursion from Piombino Port
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Wine Tour Bolgheri Half Day Shore Excursion from Livorno Port
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Private Chianti and SuperTuscan Tour 2 wineries with Light Lunch from Livorno
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Private tour to Florence and Pisa from Livorno port
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San Gimignano and Volterra Private Shore Excursion from Livorno
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Private tour from Livorno port to San Gimignano & Volterra
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Florence and Pisa: Round Trip Tour from Livorno Cruise Port
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Private tour from Livorno port to Chianti Wine Region
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Private Tour to Pisa and Lucca from Livorno cruise port
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