To Go It Alone In Florence Or Not? Your Thoughts, Please.

[chazalez]

We've been looking at several tour companies to get us from the dock in Livorno to Florence, take us around town, and get us back to the ship. But we've also been thinking we could save some money by taking the train from Livorno and seeing Florence ourselves on foot, with the help of some robust advance preparation (tourbooks, friends, etc.). To any who have tried both ways: is it worth the money to hire a driver? Thanks in advance for your input!

[Tania]

It all depends on your perspective: do you plan on returning to Florence or is this a once in a lifetime trip?

 

No doubt, a driver will get you through the sights but at what cost? 400-500 euros is a lot of bucks, even if you are four. For that money you can get a hotel for three days in Florence and buy a lot of travel books. I think 400 euros is price gouging since you only get a driver and not a trained guide. My opinion.

 

I personally cannot see spending that kind of money because I plan to return. I don't want to be rushed from sight to sight...I prefer to do a little sightseeing and then stop at an outdoor terrace...repeat...

 

During our first trip to Florence, a four day stop, we saw the main sights at our leisure. Last summer we took the "Florence on your own excursion" at $65. No schedule headaches, no worrying about finding a cabbie willing to take you to the train station, no rail strike worries... The only thing I didn"t like about it was having to return to the ship an hour before sailing but I guess they have to because of possible traffic.

 

This time, we saw the Santa Croce Church, the Baptistery and the Duomo(again) as well as the Profemuria Santa Croce, a pharmacy dating back hundreds of years. We stopped to buy my daughter a leather jacket and other leather goods... ANd of course, we did some people watching from a couple of cafes.

[psygist]

Tania,

 

When you did the "Florence on your own" excursion, did the bus make a photo stop at Piazelle Michelangelo for a view of Florence?

[willy paul]

We were on a Marco Polo cruise three years ago and took the bus to Florence and made our way through the city. We went to the Iffizi Museum, saw the Ponte Vecchio and the Duomo. We booked the museum in advance and there was a local tour guide leading people through the Duomo for few euros. We found it easy to get around, saw what we wanted and stayed as long as we wanted. The bus did go up to get the overview of the city, which made for great pictures.

 

You do need to plan in advance to get any tickets for museums, the waits were long, very long, without reservations.

[chazalez]

So if we do go it alone, where is the train station (in Livorno) in relationship to the Millie dock? Or would you recommend hiring someone to pick us up and drop us off at the port? Additionally, since part of the risk of a non-cruise sanctioned transfer is the possibility of being left behind should some unforeseen circumstance (rail strike, insane traffic, etc.) arise, we're curious: has this ever happened to anyone on this board, either personally or to someone else on their cruise? Just trying to gauge probability. Thanks!

[Andym]

So far out of 4 previous Med cruises, I have experiences 10 people in total, left at port. Villefranche(2), Naples(2) and Rome(6).

 

Why do you think so many people go on deck for sailaway, not for the view, but to try to see latecomers frantically waving from the dock!!!!

[Tania]

psygist, I remember driving by for the view at the end of the day but not actually stopping. It could be that I was too tired to get off the bus:)

 

Andy, I think you're right! I saw it in Scotland. On that same cruise, a group from the US arrived late in Southampton and had to fly to BIlbao, Spain to catch the ship.

 

chaz...^Probabilities... Look at where your next port is, estimate the cost of getting there, do you have your passport in case you have to fly...To me, it is not worth ruining a vacation for the sake of a few dollars.

 

There is a local bus or a cab to take you to the train. Again, how long will this take? Cabbies want the higher fare to Pisa or Florence, not the train station.

 

This situation had me stumped: From the piers, I've taken the local bus in Cork, the trains to Rouen and Brugges, rented a car in Bordeaux...but I simply didn't like the odds in Livorno nor in Rome for that matter.

 

Good luck!

[navel1ring]

We did the Florence on Your Own through RCCL which also stops at Pisa. It was great! No worry about transportation to & from ship & plenty of time to walk all over Florence. 14 people were left behind after a storm put the trains out of commission, they had to catch up with the ship in Rome.

 

Wendy

[vjblk]

My sister and I did the "Florence on your own" on the Constellation a couple of years ago. We too looked into taking the train but decided we didn't want to worry about train strikes, traffic, etc. Even though this may have shortened our time in Florence, we still had time to walk around and see alot of the sites. With limited time we just planned our day out in advance and that helped. We elected to not wait in the long lines for the museums but did get to the palace, the Santa Croce church, and had time to have lunch and do some shopping. It was short but we enjoyed our first taste of Florence. Our bus also did go up to the overlook on our way out of Florence.

 

Also, on the return trip near the port there was a couple of accidents that caused big traffic jams and it took us a long time to go a short distance and get back to the ship. The ship was delayed in leaving in that several "cruise" tours were caught up in the traffic and they waited for them. This helped alot of those that went on their own as we heard from some that they too were late in getting back and were worried that they would be left behind. They were lucky in that the ship did wait for ship sponsored tours.

 

It all depends on how much you want to stress about these types of things. They may not happen alot but they do happen and you have to decide how comfortable you are with making sure you get back to the ship on time. We did alot of research too and just decided that we didn't want to have worry about these types of things and took the "on your own" tours in Florence and Rome.

[Georgia-boy]

I wish i had the time to answer all your questions.

 

The wife and I have traveled all over Italy by train, never have been delayed, not even once. It has always been an enjouable trip.

 

We will be going by train to Florence from Livorno in Sept.:)

Then from Civitavecchia to Rone by train and return to the ship.

In Naples we go by train to Pompeii and on to Sorrento.

 

You have to make up your mind if you can stand the pressure of the what if.

I found out long ago the if i live my life trying to avoid all the what ifs i would neve do anything. Why worry, plan and do it and see how it turns out. It's called living.:) :D

Charles

[carlmm]

We will be going by train to Florence from Livorno in Sept.:)

Then from Civitavecchia to Rone by train and return to the ship.

In Naples we go by train to Pompeii and on to Sorrento.

 

And I like to add: Last year I went

by train to Pisa from Livorno in Sept.:) (And fellow passengers continued on the same train to Florence:)

from Civitavecchia to Rome by train and return to the ship.

by train to Pompeii from Sorrento.

 

In all cases we had much more time at the cities visited than we would have had with a ship's tour. And of course we could follow our priorities not theirs.

 

Two suggestion to get to the train station:

- Take a taxi. When we were there, all of the waiting drivers wanted to do only Pisa or Florence but they called a local taxi for us and even grouped us with others so that we could share a van to the station.

- Take the shuttle bus from the ship to the city center and the local bus (€ 0.9 if I remember right) or a taxi from there to the station.

 

Trains take 1 hour 22 minutes and run every hour.

 

Florence is absolutely a city to walk. One day will allow you only a very short glimpse but if you have no other chance, enjoy it.

[zwho]

I haven't read every post on this thread so feel free to tell me if I need to go back and I will see the answer to this question; assuming the trains run on time and there is no strike, is the train much faster then the ships bus from Livorno to Florence? I have pretty much decided to take the train, but I figured travel time to be equal especially since I don't want to cut it so close going back to the ship that if the train is late, I'm on my own to Civittechia! Thanks in advance.

[chazalez]

Ouch, oldbutkicking! We are not feeling any pressure either way. Just checking our options so we can have more time to enjoy life -- we truly appreciate your help! We are also trying to find the best way to spend our money considering the strength of the euro. We tend to do things on our own everywhere we go. Thank you everyone for your continual advice.

[DEL67]

When we were on the Splendour a couple of years ago we hired a car and driver to take us to Pisa and Florence because my husband is disabled and can not board a bus. It may have gone up, but I believe it was about 300 Euros at that time.

 

We did not get as much of a "tour" as in Rome and Naples, but we felt it was worth it not only because of my husband, but also because of the information he provided and for the convenience. We got to Piza before the buses and had a chance to explore part of a practically empty town. Then he took us to the overlook and explained where everything was before leaving us opposite the Doumo to explore the town. When we met up again several hours later, he suggested several other stops and we went to an old synagogue before returning to the ship. Of course, we made sure that we were back at the ship (at least 45 minutes) well before it sailed.

[canyousayvacation]

Does anyone know how far the train station in Livorno (Centrale?) is from the pier?

[Susan-M]

Does anyone know how far the train station in Livorno (Centrale?) is from the pier?

 

I'm passing this info along from a post on another thread:

"The Shuttle Bus from the Ship to Piazza Grande in Livorno is free...it runs very often. From there take Bus #1 to the Train Station...it runs every 5 minutes, very easy, and do the same thing on your way back."