Livorno (Florence/Pisa) excursions - help!

[Dark Defender]

As Livorno seems to be purely a "gateway" to other places, and is not great for DIY travel by all accounts, I was wondering if any of you could advise on the best Thomson excursion to take?

 

Florence on its own looks tempting as we can do things at our own pace; that said Florence and Pisa would let us see 2 places in the same day, but I fear that it would be a complete rush around exercise.Both are long trips (9 hours for Florence on its own, 10 hours for Florence & Pisa) but these are perhaps better than the other trips that are 3/4 hours each including travel I assume (which would mean lot of time on a bus with very little activity).

 

Any comments or suggestions (pleasant ones minus expletives I hope!) would be appreciated - cheers :)

[Essexlass2]

We deliberated for ages on what to do but finally decided on Florence On Your Own on the recommendation of others and not really wanting to rush about all the time. :)

[newmills]

We too deliberated for some time on this one - finally settled on the 4.5 hour Half Day (afternoon) trip ´Pisa and Tasting´ - to Pisa and then on to a Vineyard for a tour of the factory followed by a tasting of 4 Wines (one white, 2 reds and a Dessert wine). All in all an excellent excursion. Both Pisa and the Winery were only half an hours drive from Livorno - and less half an hour apart - so not too much time spent on the coach.

 

We spent 4 hours in the morning in Livorno wandering around the streets and market - there was much more to see there than we expected and the time flew by. We returned to the ship for an early lunch before setting off on the excursion.

[Dark Defender]

Essexlass2 - did you enjoy Florence on its Own, and would you recommend it?

 

Newmills - as we're boring tee-totallers the wine trip would be a nightmare for us!

[georgehelend]

This may not help. We did Florence & Pisa excursion with another cruise line and glad we got to see both. We had a tour of Florence and was pretty much left to our own in Pisa. It was a guided tour of Florence with wispers (personal audio machines) and you got to learn alot without having much free time for yourself. We felt we got to have a taste of both. We would go back to Florence to see more on our own, but really saw as much we we needed in Pisa.

Helen

[Essexlass2]

Essexlass2 - did you enjoy Florence on its Own, and would you recommend it?

 

Newmills - as we're boring tee-totallers the wine trip would be a nightmare for us!

 

We haven't done it yet but will be in Florence two weeks from today. I don't know when you are due there, but if we're back before you go I can let you know what it was like. However, if you do a search on this page for Florence On Your Own, you will undoubtedly get a lot of information. Other cruisers here have been so very helpful to us and that is what brought us to our decision. It sounds such a nice trip and not as rushed as both Florence and Pisa, which I must confess I originally fancied doing but we are now both happy with our plans for the day :)

[kruzseeka]

We have done 'Florence on Your Own' twice and really felt it suited what we wanted very well. It allows you to go where you want to, spend as much or little time at each place and go at your own pace.

 

The guide on the outward journey gave us a lot of information about the area on the way but also made suggestions about where to go and what to do in Florence (including where to find loos - not that easy! :eek: ) and the kind of places to go to for lunch if you were so inclined. She also pointed out the things to be wary of; picket-pockets, rip-off cafes/icre creams etc! If you have particular ideas about what you want to do, the guide will also give you individual advice if you need any.

 

Florence is a compact city so we had ample time to visit the Duomo ( free entry - the queues move quite quickly but I was a little underwhelmed by the inside - the marble outside on the other hand is spectacular!), we climbed the Campanile, saw the bronze doors on the Bapistry (big squash - think someone tried to steal my purse here - my bag zip was open when I moved away but fortunately nothing valuable on view - so take care!), walked to the Piazza Signoria (the Uffizi Gallery is here and the replica statue of David) then through to the Ponte Vecchio. We had a drink and some lunch on the terrace of a department store where there were fabulous views (and more toilets!). I think it was called La Rinascenti and browsed around the market and shops.

 

Here's a link to the port page on Florence which you may not have seen and if not, may find interesting.

 

http://www.cruisecritic.co.uk/ports/newport.cfm?ID=83

 

Florence is not that easy to DiY - it's possible by train but not that straight-forward, it's a fair distance, involves changes trains (usually) - although we're happy to go independently where possible/advisable we've never attempted Forence as a DiY.

 

Pisa, though, is very easy - only 15 minutes on the train. Last time we went we just did Pisa and found far more there than I had imagined and really enjoyed it. If you want details of getting to Pisa on the train get back to me and I'll try to find the post I did last year. But I think perhaps for your first visit, Florence would be a bigger attraction.

 

Hope you enjoy your visit - Florence is a beautiful city.

[ekco]

Essexlass2 - did you enjoy Florence on its Own, and would you recommend it?

 

Newmills - as we're boring tee-totallers the wine trip would be a nightmare for us!

 

I would definitely recommend it but as I have spent hours droning on about it in my posts in the recent past (one just the other day) I recommend that you do a search of the forum for relevant posts as I would hate to be boring, lol.:):)

 

Jan

[kruzseeka]

I would definitely recommend it but as I have spent hours droning on about it in my posts in the recent past (one just the other day) I recommend that you do a search of the forum for relevant posts as I would hate to be boring, lol.:):)

 

Jan

 

 

:o:o Oh dear - am I? :eek:

 

On reflection - please don't answer that! ;)

[ekco]

:o:o Oh dear - am I? :eek:

 

On reflection - please don't answer that! ;)

 

Lol, oops! sorry! I was talking about myself as I seemed to have posted a lot on Florence On Your Own, especially the Palazzo Vecchio where they have toilets.:D:D Very important that!

 

Jan

[Isis2]

We did a DIY in Livorno and went to Florence by train, which just happened to pass by the Leaning Tower of Pisa, so although only saw it from the train, got to see both :)

[SueFrankuk]

Obviously never been on a Thompson cruise but if they do an excursion to Lucca go it is a magical place!!

[Essexlass2]

:o:o Oh dear - am I? :eek:

 

On reflection - please don't answer that! ;)

 

No, kruzseeka, boring you definitely are not! Informative and very helpful, yes you definitely are and we'd all be lost without you :D

 

and you too Jan (ekco), again very helpful, thank you both :)

[yekram]

Hi, we have booked the Puccini Lake and Pisa excursion. I really hope that we have made the right choice.:)

[ekco]

No, kruzseeka, boring you definitely are not! Informative and very helpful, yes you definitely are and we'd all be lost without you :D

 

and you too Jan (ekco), again very helpful, thank you both :)

 

Lol, many thanks.:) I'm adjusting my halo at this very moment.;)

 

Jan