Postcards from Italy

Cruise Passengers: Questions About Shore Excursions in Italy?

cruise passenger shore excursions italy

Image © Concierge in Umbria

All Ashore That’s Going Ashore!

Cruise ship arrivals in Italy have increased ten fold in the last fifteen years. Venice is on the itinerary of one third of the cruise ships in the world and 2 million visitors arrive in this city annually by cruise ship!

Not surprisingly, we are receiving an increasing number of inquiries from cruise travelers wondering can I do a private tour as my cruise excursion? How does that work?

While we are a custom tour company, meaning that we personalize all of our itineraries to our clients’ needs and tastes, we have cultivated a number of activities specially suited to cruise travelers’ scheduling needs.

How do You Arrange a Shore Excursion?

shore excursions italy capri blue grotto

Image © Concierge in Umbria

We start with you. What drew you to this cruise itinerary? What are your personal interests?

Then we match our network of curated experiences and top-class guides with your (or your group’s) personality.

Love food and cooking? Learn to make Genoa’s world-famous pesto and feast on the fruits of your labor. Live for art? See Venice through the eyes of Peggy Guggenheim with a stroll through her favorite artisan shops and neighborhood haunts.

And if you have the opportunity to dock in some of Italy’s smaller ports, we’ll whisk you off with a driver and ferries to other must-see cities along the coast.

What Can You Do in Italy’s Top Ports?

shore excursions italy postiano

Image © Concierge in Umbria

Depending on your cruise, you may dock directly in a city, as is the case in Naples, Venice, and Messina in Sicily, or in a nearby town, such as Civitavecchia near Rome or Livorno near Pisa and Florence.

In these latter cases, even getting into the main sightseeing city can be an inconvenient headache without a guide or pre-booked excursion. And there are certain things that your cruise operator could never include in their excursions – activities too exclusive for mass tourism – that we are able to offer our guests.

In Taormina, join a local celebrity chef to select the day’s restaurant ingredients at the market. Skip the lines at Florence’s Uffizi and Accademia Galleries as your guide walks you through the city’s treasures. Experience Venice like a noble on private tours of the palazzos owned by the city’s oldest families.

Travel Specialists

Maria Landers

Brian Dore