Shore excursions in Italy.

[dltaeg]

Hi all.

 

We are going to Italy with RC in Aug (3 adults, 3 kids) and really want to explore Italy (we are also visiting France and Spain but not so bothered about them).

 

All the excursions I've looked at give you (especially Pisa) about an hour to explore on your own and we were really hoping for more time than this.

 

Are there any other ways to get to, say Pisa without booking a shore excursion with RC (I'm on the roll call for the cruise too but its rather quiet).

 

Thanks :)

[Clarea]

Another good place to look is the Italy Ports of Call forum:

 

http://boards.cruisecritic.com/forumdisplay.php?f=595

[B35]

Hi all.

 

We are going to Italy with RC in Aug (3 adults, 3 kids) and really want to explore Italy (we are also visiting France and Spain but not so bothered about them).

 

All the excursions I've looked at give you (especially Pisa) about an hour to explore on your own and we were really hoping for more time than this.

 

Are there any other ways to get to, say Pisa without booking a shore excursion with RC (I'm on the roll call for the cruise too but its rather quiet).

 

Thanks :)

To be honest, there's nothing much in Pisa apart from the tower, it was a big let down for us. If you haven't been to Florence yet, it's by far the better choice of an excursion.

Edited April 2, 2016 by B35

[poz222]

Skip Pisa... You will not need more than an hour, but honestly, invest that time in Florence!!!

[Redrobo]

http://tuscanheart.com

We used Dani from Tucan Heart. Great person to deal with and his Grand mother has afantastic taste in Ice cream. We did Pisa, Lucca and Monte Carlo visiting a vinyard for lunch, stopped off on our return to the ship for a Gelato, granny's favourite

[ken_nyc]

We are doing the Best of Florence through Rome Private Excursions and not stopping in Pisa. It's a long ride from La Spezia so we wanted to have all of our time in Florence because there is so much more to see there. Here is a link if you are interested in checking out the excursion company: http://www.romeprivateexcursions.com/shore-excursions/

 

We have not used them yet but have 2 tours booked with them for our Harmony cruise.

[Keith1010]

I would highly recommend Florence. Pisa is OK but to me other then the leaning tower of Pisa that's all there is to see, but in Florence there is so much more to see.

 

Keith

[Crazy planning mom]

I wouldn't skip Pisa if you have tweens/teens. My 13 yr old ds was glad to climb it but an hour is all you need. Combine it with a visit to Florence or Lucca.

[Crazy planning mom]

I know you said you aren't so concerned about France and Spain but they were great ports especially Barcelona.

Barcelona has beautiful architecture from Gaudi. Check out Sagrada Familia and Parc Guell. We also went to Camp Nou since my ds likes soccer.

[Keith1010]

I wouldn't skip Pisa if you have tweens/teens. My 13 yr old ds was glad to climb it but an hour is all you need. Combine it with a visit to Florence or Lucca.

 

That's good advice.

 

I just wouldn't do Pisa as a standalone with nothing else.

 

Lucca is another nice option.

 

Keith

[The A Team]

Hi all.

 

We are going to Italy with RC in Aug (3 adults, 3 kids) and really want to explore Italy (we are also visiting France and Spain but not so bothered about them).

 

All the excursions I've looked at give you (especially Pisa) about an hour to explore on your own and we were really hoping for more time than this.

 

Are there any other ways to get to, say Pisa without booking a shore excursion with RC (I'm on the roll call for the cruise too but its rather quiet).

 

Thanks :)

 

We did the Italian cruise sailing out of Barcelona last Sept & used: Italy in Limo service for tours italyinlimo@gmail.com in 3 cities. They were absolutely wonderful, very personalized to what we wanted to see and how long we stayed & cheaper than RC tours (there were 4 of us). BTW, Barcelona is wonderful & so much more than "typical" tourist stops!

[dltaeg]

Thank you all for the replies. As it seems an hour is enough at pisa I think we will book one of the RC excursions.

 

I will be looking into Florence too and hopefully might find an excursion where we can combine the two :)

[dltaeg]

Pisa and Florence are a great combo! I love Florence. For Rome you really need several days to scratch the surface. Any one day tour will just leave you tired and wanting more, but still amazing. If you can, try to eat in Italy. But remember that real Italian restaurants don't open until 7:30 or 8 p.m. Anything open earlier is just for tourists (outside of lunch/Penni places.

 

 

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

I think the tour we are planning on for rome gives us about 5 hours. I'm super excited about going to Italy as we have never been before and I've wanted to go ever since high school. We are already looking at another trip to Italy after the cruise and I know we are not going to get time to do half as much as we want in 5 hours :(

[bogofman]

if your ship stops in Livorno, its possible to get the local train to Pisa,

 

its only about 30 minutes away and very cheap.

 

Trains to

 

Lucca and Florence e also possible

 

 

Only problem is the trip from port to the train station is not easy without two buses.

 

1 to get out of the port ( compulsory $)

then local bus to the station.

 

 

From La Spezia,

 

Train takes longer but you could visit the

 

Cinque Terra as we did last year.

[fragilek]

Also keep in mind that it may be very very hot it Aug hitting the 40's C. We stayed for a week just outside Florence last August and we only managed 1 morning in Florence going in at 6.30 am to avoid the worst of the heat - 2 grown girls in tow (17 and 22 yr). They really struggled in the heat, however the 17yr old was in crutches lol. If you hit a hot spell I would suggest Pisa and Lucca as an alternative - Lucca (a lovely old medieval town) seemed to have more shade and more places to just sit and have a cold drink - Florence is incredibly busy and finding cafes that allow relaxing drinks (esp near lunch time wasn't easy.). We felt rushed to move on in the cafes and hurried at all the sites. The queue for the cathedral was already 1/2 mile long 1hr before opening (also take note my youngest wore a long skirt and a t shirt - not a strap top and still did not get in as the back neck of her t-shirt was too low - went down to between her shoulder blades - the front of the top was very high up against her neck (we had told her to wear it and the long flowing skirt as it covered her shoulders and upper arm and her legs - she was nor a happy bunny as others got in with long shorts and strap tops with scarfs over them- so if you go make sure dress appropriate and if possible throw in some scarfs. - We had a laugh though as an American tourist standing behind us in the queue did have a go at the guard with - "So what kind of church is this that doesn't let the crippled child in" - However florence is a lovely place but better in sept or may.

[dltaeg]

Also keep in mind that it may be very very hot it Aug hitting the 40's C. We stayed for a week just outside Florence last August and we only managed 1 morning in Florence going in at 6.30 am to avoid the worst of the heat - 2 grown girls in tow (17 and 22 yr). They really struggled in the heat, however the 17yr old was in crutches lol. If you hit a hot spell I would suggest Pisa and Lucca as an alternative - Lucca (a lovely old medieval town) seemed to have more shade and more places to just sit and have a cold drink - Florence is incredibly busy and finding cafes that allow relaxing drinks (esp near lunch time wasn't easy.). We felt rushed to move on in the cafes and hurried at all the sites. The queue for the cathedral was already 1/2 mile long 1hr before opening (also take note my youngest wore a long skirt and a t shirt - not a strap top and still did not get in as the back neck of her t-shirt was too low - went down to between her shoulder blades - the front of the top was very high up against her neck (we had told her to wear it and the long flowing skirt as it covered her shoulders and upper arm and her legs - she was nor a happy bunny as others got in with long shorts and strap tops with scarfs over them- so if you go make sure dress appropriate and if possible throw in some scarfs. - We had a laugh though as an American tourist standing behind us in the queue did have a go at the guard with - "So what kind of church is this that doesn't let the crippled child in" - However florence is a lovely place but better in sept or may.

 

This is something I'm dreading. Me and 2 of the children are very fair skinned and burn really easy so it's going to be hard keeping them out the sun and suncream topped up, hats on, ect. I suggested Norway but the hubby wanted Italy.

 

Thanks for the tips too, I think we might wait till the children are a little older to do the cathedral as much as me and the hubby would love to go I don't think it will be ideal with 3 young kids.

 

Bless the american too haha but it sounds like they are really strict with dress codes so I will be packing a few scarves just incase we do decide to go anywhere. You'd think with it being some where so hot they would be a little more lenient.

[fragilek]

This is something I'm dreading. Me and 2 of the children are very fair skinned and burn really easy so it's going to be hard keeping them out the sun and suncream topped up, hats on, ect. I suggested Norway but the hubby wanted Italy.

 

Thanks for the tips too, I think we might wait till the children are a little older to do the cathedral as much as me and the hubby would love to go I don't think it will be ideal with 3 young kids.

 

Bless the american too haha but it sounds like they are really strict with dress codes so I will be packing a few scarves just incase we do decide to go anywhere. You'd think with it being some where so hot they would be a little more lenient.

 

I would give it a miss- Out of all the cathedrals/churches I have been to - this was the most disappointing- Its mainly a big empty space- Its more impressive from the outside. Were else are you going on this cruise- Last year we cruised - Rome, Santorini, Kussidasi and Bodrum. We did DIY trips in all of them with no issues. If you want any info on these