Port Rating:

Venice is an expensive city. The entrance to the Palazzo Ducale is 16 euros and the fee for the Vaporetto boat is 7 euros.

Port Rating:

We were here on a Sunday. The old town is really nice but the whole area is geared to tourists. Almost all the people you see are tourists, icecream sellers and souvenir sellers. In a certain way it felt like walking in the open air museum of Arnhem (Netherlands) packed with tourists.

A walk in the town can be exhaustive because of the heat, the big crowds and the steep steps. This means you need a hat, a bottle of water and good walking shoes.

Port Rating:

Because there was much traffic in the port and we heard stories about traffic jams and bad taxi drivers, we choose to take the metro to the National Archaeological Museum. We consulted a girl from the Tourist Information near the ship and she said we could take a regular bus from the ship to the Metro and buy a public transport ticket in the bus. The bus driver did not sell bus tickets however and he said we had to buy tickets at a kiosk. The many kiosks did not sell bus tickets either so we ended up walking 20 minutes to the Piraeus Metro Station. At a machine we bought some tickets ( 1,40 euros per person for 90 minutes public transport). The metro has no air conditioning and goes a long way above the ground, so it felt more like a train. We went to Victoria Station.

We did not have a detailed map and there were no signs of the museum near the metro stop. There were lots of policemen so we asked where we should go and eventually reached the museum after a 10 minute walk.

Because it was World Environment Day we visited this museum for free (normal entrance is 7 euro). The museum is very large. It is better to visit it several times during a couple of days. Although it was June, the museum was only open until 3 PM.

Inside the museum we loved the prehistoric part the most. There are hundreds of well preserved statues from different eras. Descriptions are in Greek and English. The museum has got a good free wifi connection and also some free computers with Internet connection.

At 3 PM we walked back to Victoria Station. At that time the policemen were dressed like Riot Police. On the journey back we could catch a bus with the public transport tickets.

Port Rating:

In the Cruise Port of Izmir it was possible to get a return journey by taxi without guide for 120 euros (see photo). Outside the port we arranged a taxi for 100 euros. This was a Dacia without air conditioning and an extremely kind taxi driver, who did not speak much English. The journey, partly on toll roads, was easy and quick.

At the lower entrance was a traffic jam because the parking was almost full. We payed 25 TL per person to get in the open air museum. It is also possible to pay with euros. Behind the entrance there is a separate desk for audio guide rental (15 TL or 7 euros per audio guide). The audio guide was unfortunately rather limited.

We walked through the ruins with earphones on our heads and saw a play with actors dressed up as Roman warriors and Egyptian princesses. The "Egyptian princesses" were belly dancing and imitating the dance of the "walk like an Egyptian" song. This was funny.

At the entrance of the Terrace Houses we payed a separate entrance ( 15 TL, also payable in euros) and we saw some extraordinary mosaics and wall decorations. It was special to see the many archaeologists during their work. The path from the Terrace Houses exit to the main ruins is extremely unsuitable for people with walking difficulties.

Although it was not hot in Izmir and it was raining during the journey, the ruins were very hot. We really needed lots of water, our hats and sunglasses.