Cruise ships at anchor below the hillside town of Charlotte Amalie

Days ashore, port by port

Your ship docks at eight. Be back on board by five.

Which Ephesus tour beats the ship’s own coach. What Florence costs from Livorno. Whether a private driver gets you into Rome and back before the gangway lifts. Reviews of the excursions you book yourself, in the ports your itinerary already lists.

Go ashore on your own terms Every port on the list →

664excursions written up

from $8cheapest day ashore

110under $50 a head

Where does your itinerary stop

All ports and coasts →

Start here

Ephesus, Florence, Rome, and a boat out of Kos.

The four days ashore more cruise passengers pick than any others. What each costs a head, and the one line of small print to read before you pay.

Italy ashore

Three Italian berths, three completely different days off the ship.

Livorno puts Florence and Pisa within reach. Civitavecchia is Rome and nothing else. Naples is Pompeii and the coast road south. Find the berth your itinerary lists, then pick the day.

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.0 · Full-Day Panoramic Bus Tour of Rome

Florence and PisaOne coach, two cities, the Accademia slot booked ahead. from $23

Rome for a dayColosseum, Pantheon, Trastevere, back for all-aboard. from $30

Pompeii and the coastThe buried city before the heat, Positano after lunch. from $85 All 100 Italian days ashore →

Where the gangway drops

Eight berths that carry most of the Mediterranean and Atlantic season.

A ruined city twenty minutes inland, two Tuscan cathedrals on one coach, Rome ninety minutes up the motorway, Vesuvius over the bay, the Acropolis from Piraeus, a caldera you reach by tender. Pick the berth, then pick the day.

Best ofKusadasiEphesus, and the hill road up to Sirince Best ofLivornoThe berth Florence and Pisa are booked from Best ofCivitavecchiaRome in a day, Lake Bracciano if you would rather not Best ofNaplesPompeii, Vesuvius and the Amalfi coast road Best ofPiraeusOne hill, one museum, an hour from the quay Best ofSantoriniA tender port, a cable car and the flat side’s vines Best ofInvergordonLoch Ness, a distillery and the Cairngorm road Best ofKochiBackwater boats and a tuk-tuk through Fort Kochi

Off the ship, on your terms

A private guide beats a coach with fifty strangers on it.

The ship’s excursion desk sells seats. Booked independently, the same morning becomes a driver at the terminal gate, a licensed guide at the site and a schedule built around your berth rather than the ship’s.

Private guides Small groups Cars and VIP Terminal pickup Lunch included

Before the gangway lifts

Every excursion ashore is really a question about getting back.

Miss all-aboard on an independent tour and the ship sails without you. So the small print matters more than the itinerary: who meets you at the terminal gate, whether the operator guarantees the return in writing, what the plan is when a tender port turns choppy, and how much slack sits between the last stop and the quay. These are the operators who answer it up front.

Guaranteed return Pickup at the terminal Small groups Lunch included Private guides

What fills up first

The days ashore passengers book before they finish packing.

Every excursion we have written up →

More travellers pick these than anything else in the catalogue, and the reason is usually the same. They get you there, and they get you back.

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 8,527 reviews

FOR CRUISERS: Skip The Lines PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR &On Time Return

Review of a private Kusadasi shore excursion to Ephesus, the House of Mary, and Artemis, with port pickup and on-time return.

From · $39

Read our review →

2 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 7,233 reviews Top Choice For Cruisers: Ephesus, Mary’s House WITH TICKETS+LUNCH from $29

3 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 5,807 reviews PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR FOR CRUISERS: On-time Return and Skip-Line from $29

4 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.8 · 5,137 reviews Full Day Boat Cruise to 3 Islands from $35

5 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 2,338 reviews Hilo Shore Excursion: Volcanoes National Park & Black Sand Beach from $159

6 ★★★★★★★★★★ 4.6 · 2,010 reviews Arrecife: Timanfaya and Green Lagoon for Cruise Passengers from $58

7 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,670 reviews ALL INCLUDED: Ephesus Ruins, Mary’s House Tour incl ENTRY TICKETS from $59

8 ★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 1,552 reviews For cruise passengers: Guided ATV Tour of Dutch & French St. Maarten

Kusadasi

One berth, one ruined city, and a hundred coaches racing it.

Kusadasi is on the itinerary for Ephesus, twenty minutes inland. The ship’s coach puts you in the middle of the crowd at eleven. Booked yourself you can stand at the Library of Celsus before the first group clears the lower gate, with Mary’s House and a Sirince lunch still ahead of you.

Every Kusadasi day out

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 8,527 reviewsFOR CRUISERS: Skip The Lines PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR &On Time Return

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 7,233 reviewsTop Choice For Cruisers: Ephesus, Mary’s House WITH TICKETS+LUNCH

★★★★★★★★★★ 5.0 · 5,807 reviewsPRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR FOR CRUISERS: On-time Return and Skip-Line

Best ofAncient RuinsBest ofCity HighlightsBest ofPrivate GuidesBest ofSmall GroupsBest ofWith LunchBest ofFood & Markets

The Greek calls

Santorini, Piraeus, Mykonos, Corfu: four Greek berths, four kinds of day.

Santorini is a tender port and a cable-car queue, so the boat trips leave before the crowd forms. Mykonos is a short walk and a crossing to Delos. Corfu hands you a Venetian old town on foot. Piraeus is the Acropolis and very little else, and it is still worth the hour.

Best ofSantoriniBest ofPiraeusBest ofMykonosBest ofCorfu

Every Greek berth →

★★★★★★★★★★ 4.3 · Paleokastritsa Beach and Old Town Bus Shore Excursion

Full Day Boat Cruise to 3 Islands

Mykonos Small Group Tour for Cruise Passengers — Port Pickup

What a day ashore costs

What you actually pay to leave the ship.

Every excursion on the site, grouped by what it costs a head. The ship charges what the ship charges. This is the other column.

Under $50

Old-town walks, entry tickets, tuk-tuks and the short runs out of the terminal gate.

$50 to $150

The full-day standards: Florence and Pisa, Rome by coach, Ephesus with tickets, the fjord roads.

1Arrecife: Timanfaya and Green Lagoon for Cruise Passengersfrom $58
2ALL INCLUDED: Ephesus Ruins, Mary’s House Tour incl ENTRY TICKETSfrom $59
3Full-Day Panoramic Bus Tour of Romefrom $64

$150 and up

Private drivers, licensed guides and the once-a-cruise splurge that earns it.

1Hilo Shore Excursion: Volcanoes National Park & Black Sand Beachfrom $159
2Full-Day Tour of the Yukonfrom $173
3Skip-the-Line Istanbul: Private Tour from Cruise Ship & Hotelfrom $280

Only from a berth

Three days ashore that only make sense with a cabin booked.

Plenty of places you can reach any way you like. These three sit on almost every itinerary and on almost nobody’s independent holiday.

Twenty minutes inland

Ephesus, from Kusadasi

A marble main street, a theatre built for twenty-five thousand and the facade of the Library of Celsus, all within a few miles of the harbour road. Coaches arrive in a block mid-morning and leave in a block after lunch, so the first hour and the last two are the quiet ones. Carry the entry ticket already bought: the queue at the lower gate is the only real risk to the day.

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

See the full list →

Two cities, one call

Florence and Pisa, from Livorno

Livorno sits ninety minutes from the Duomo and forty from the Leaning Tower, which is why nearly every Tuscan call becomes both. The Accademia and the Uffizi run on timed entry, so the shape of the day is settled before the coach leaves the quay. Operators who do Pisa first usually hold the later Florence slot, and that is the version with room to eat.

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

See the full list →

The Antrim road

Giant’s Causeway, from Belfast

Belfast puts sixty miles of coast road between the berth and forty thousand basalt columns. The stones take an hour; the drive is the rest of the day, past Carrickfergus, the whiskey town and the rope bridge over the gorge. Wind closes the bridge often and the causeway almost never, so a wet forecast is no reason to cancel.

1Shore Excursion: Giants Causeway Tour From Belfast Port★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 625 reviews
2Causeway Express Tour Shore Excursion★★★★★★★★★★ 4.4 · 435 reviews
3Glasgow (Greenock) Shore Excursion: Stirling, Loch Lomond & The Highlands★★★★★★★★★★ 4.5 · 267 reviews

See the full list →

Book before you sail

Four days ashore that will not wait for the terminal kiosk.

Most of a cruise can be arranged from the cabin the night before. These four run on timed entry, single daily departures and coach seats the ship’s own excursion desk has already bought out.

01FOR CRUISERS: Skip The Lines PRIVATE EPHESUS TOUR &On Time ReturnEntry runs on timed slots and the independent allocation is smaller than the ships’. The cool morning slots go first.
02Florence & Pisa, Accademia & TowerThe Accademia and the Uffizi sell timed tickets weeks out. Without one, the day quietly becomes Pisa and a coach park.
03Naples Shore Excursion Mt Vesuvius and Pompeii Day TripOne site, several thousand passengers a day off the Naples berths. Guides holding a licensed slot are gone long before the ship arrives.
04Full-Day Tour of the YukonThe White Pass railway runs to its own timetable, and only one train of the day gets you back inside all-aboard.