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take excursion or stay onboard?
Taking this trip oct.18 Mad/ Lisbon. Those who have gone, the 6 hour excursion on day 7. Worth taking or should we stay onboard? Does the boat sail during that time? Wife is 78 but in good shape!!! I am thinking about just staying on the boat, drinking/eating. What are your suggestions. Thanks. .
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In my opinion, unless you physically cannot do it you should take advantage of the excursions. My opinion.
If you're on the Westbound tour it looks like the options for the day are the walking tour of Guimaraes or the bike ride in the Vinho Verde both listed as 6 hours. We did the tour going the opposite direction and the bike ride and walking tours were on different days. Our bike ride got canceled due to rain so I can't confirm it's difficulty but you will definitely have a chance to discuss this with the TDs once you join the tour and can back out if you wish. Our walking tour of Guimaraes definitely didn't take 6 hours so that looks weird to me. It's a lovely little town. Pedestrian friendly. Some shops and restaurants to chill in.
These early attempts to get people to chose excursions is mainly to gauge interest. Both the river cruises I've taken recently that had that the TDs let ask questions and reconfirm choices or change your mind.
You ask a very good question, wildcat03. The river portion of this tour is quite different from other river cruises in that the boat sails during the day. We took this tour when travel was just slowly rebounding after the world closed down.
We were looking for a relaxing tour and the Douro met that requirement. The Douro valley is narrow and exceedingly beautiful, especially when the vineyards are ablaze in color as they were in mid Nov 2021 when we were on-board. My husband and I, and other guests, became mesmerized by the stunning beauty of the area. I ventured out on a few excursions but realized I was missing too much by leaving the boat. My husband was delighted to remain on the ship and he quickly became friends with the captain who had an open door policy for visiting the wheelhouse.
Only you can decide what is right for you. Once on the ship you will have a better idea of whether or not you wish to forego a few of the excursions. Enjoy and please report back after the tour's completion. Best wishes.
We skipped a couple tours … The Coa Museum we were told was not original artifacts but recreations … we skipped that. I think we stayed aboard one other time that was delightful. We skipped the Tapas walking tour in Madrid, but wished we had skipped the Pardo instead. Great art, but too much standing time between the two day tours prior to the night walking tour for Tapas. Our traveling companions said the Tapas tour was great, but we were ready for a ‘sit down’ experience.
To clarify, Sealord, do you mean the famous Prado Museum? Googling reveals that El Pardo, 15 km from Madrid, is one of Europe's best preserved Mediterranean forests & there is also an El Pardo Royal Palace north of the city. Typos can be problematic in any language. Btw I try to avoid those museum highlights tours, esp. on weekends and have been known to wander off, a TD's nightmare I'm sure.
I enjoyed the Prado largely because the local guide was excellent. Our palace guide that morning wasn't so we dumped her in the afternoon and switched to his group.
I've been known to bail too as my tolerance for just standing isn't high. I do make sure the TD knows