World Travel with Bob: Cadiz and Malaga, Spain

Our final port stops on our Viking Saturn cruise were in Spain.

Cadiz: We had a very short walking tour in Cadiz. The cruise port is located in the small central city. We started our walk from the port and visited several historic plazas with stately buildings, the wharf area and the Mercado.

Malaga: Many ship guests took a full-day visit to The Alhambra. Since we had already been there during a precious cruise, we decided to remain in port. Instead, we had a private guide for a walking tour of Malaga. We strolled past the historic post office, back and government office and took an elevator up to the Alcazaba Fortress. While visitors can walk up to the Fortress, the elevator is very convenient and leaving the Fortress to the central city area is an easy downhill walk.

The Alcazaba Fortress is a heavily restored site - but perhaps reflecting a more modern restoration than original features. The tile work, arches and ceiling restoration were examples of creative restoration. Our guide pointed out several locations where visitors could see original construction methods.

Entering the central city, our guide brought us to a Catholic Cathedral, where we could view the processional floats that would be used to celebrate Easter Holy Week. The floats are elaborately decorated and manually pulled by many parishioners through a parade route.

Our last stop was the local market, with fresh meats, seafood, fruits and vegetables. Our guide said local residents tend to do their grocery shopping at this market rather than the larger supermarkets.

A final note: When cruising we enjoy engaging private guides for small group touring. Where do we find our guides? First, we typically reach out to our Barcelona-based tour agent (and former Rick Steves guide) and see if he can share his personal contacts for a local guide. Baring none, we will check with ToursByLocals, GoWithGuide and Viator. If considering a guide from one of these three online agencies, we'll carefully review tour description, time, cost, past ratings and customization opportunities. Once we have a private guide in mind, we initiate an email conversation regarding tour details. We also look at the tour cancellation policy - especially for refunds if a cruise ship cancels a port stop.