Florence excursion.

[Mediterranean honeymooner]

We have reserved a Florence excursion through princess but it is very pricey so was thinking of researching private tours however with Florence being quite a way from livorno, so my question is would you take the risk? I definitely want to see the the sights like the Ufizzi, the Cuomo, David, the doors at the baptistry and as it is our honeymoon a stroll on the Ponte vecchio is mandatory.....surely? What would you recommend ?

[Colo Cruiser]

We have reserved a Florence excursion through princess but it is very pricey so was thinking of researching private tours however with Florence being quite a way from livorno, so my question is would you take the risk? I definitely want to see the the sights like the Ufizzi, the Cuomo, David, the doors at the baptistry and as it is our honeymoon a stroll on the Ponte vecchio is mandatory.....surely? What would you recommend ?

 

 

Rome in Limo does many tours to Pisa/Florence and are very reliable.

It's about a 1 hour 15 minute drive to Florence from Livorno.

It's about a 45 minute drive to Pisa from Livorno.

Buy all your attractions tickets ahead of time online.

We have booked a private tour from Livorno many times and would not hesitate to do it again.

 

The only tour I would hesitate to book privately would be one to Cinque Terre.

It's a 2 hour plus drive.

Edited May 12, 2017 by Colo Cruiser

[4cats4me]

I Recommend a private tour! We used Romeinlimo and they come highly recommended on this board. For a party of 2 it would cost around 530 €euro for a private driver. For a party of 8, 560€, so that would equate with about 80$ US per person.

I can't say enough good about this particular company. We booked all private tours for our 12 night, and we met Many people on the roll calls and were able to share the cost. Cruise ship busses had 40-50 people and we only had 6-8. We didn't have to wait for busloads of people and we also got into places that big busses can't get into. There are many private companies but the one I've listed is the most popular.

 

 

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[WrittenOnYourHeart]

We have reserved a Florence excursion through princess but it is very pricey so was thinking of researching private tours however with Florence being quite a way from livorno, so my question is would you take the risk? I definitely want to see the the sights like the Ufizzi, the Cuomo, David, the doors at the baptistry and as it is our honeymoon a stroll on the Ponte vecchio is mandatory.....surely? What would you recommend ?

 

If I do an outside excursion, I make sure I have IN WRITING what they will do for me if something goes very awry and I miss the ship. I do not accept "We will get you back on time. Don't worry." because things DO happen.

 

Having spent a week in Florence, it seems ambitious to me...

 

* The Ponte Vecchio is literally just a bridge lined on either side with shops - nothing romantic about it at all IMHO, at least not during the day when you're there. It's kind of cute at night when the shops are closed up, but during the day it's just shopping.

 

* The Uffizi Gallery is amazing, but if you're wanting to do the Duomo AND David (the doors are no big deal - walk up and look), you won't have long at all there. I did a tour that spent 4 hours in just the Uffizi and that was not enough time for me.

 

* For The Academia (where David is) you want to make sure you have tickets - I would think a private tour could arrange those, but I don't know (when I did my Med cruise I opted for a winery tour as I'd already done Florence).

[GloriaF]

One thing to consider about a Princess excursion is that the entire tour moves only as fast as the slowest person. And inevitably there will be at least one person that did not pay attention to the activity level suggestion, and has a hard time keeping up.

 

Private tour definitely!

[Colo Cruiser]

One thing to consider about a Princess excursion is that the entire tour moves only as fast as the slowest person. And inevitably there will be at least one person that did not pay attention to the activity level suggestion, and has a hard time keeping up.

 

Private tour definitely!

 

 

That's what's nice about an 8 person Mercedes van. :cool:

[sunsetbeachgal]

I would look on your roll call to see if you can find more people to share the cost with. My guess is a private tour for only two with car and driver for the day will be pricier than a ships tour, unless you find others to split it with. Nicer, but pricier!

 

Another thought is does Princess offer "Florence on your own" tour. This way you get round trip bus transportation and once in Florence, which is mostly pedestrian streets and fairly compact, you can visit the sights you choose on your own schedule. Rick Steves had great guide books to plan a day on your own

 

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[laktex]

We have reserved a Florence excursion through princess but it is very pricey so was thinking of researching private tours however with Florence being quite a way from livorno, so my question is would you take the risk? I definitely want to see the the sights like the Ufizzi, the Cuomo, David, the doors at the baptistry and as it is our honeymoon a stroll on the Ponte vecchio is mandatory.....surely? What would you recommend ?

 

Take a Taxi from the ship to the train station. Livorno to Pisa to Florence is a nice train ride and quite cheap. You arrive into Santa Maria Novella train station which is quite central. It is an easy walk to the Duomo, the Uffizzi Galery (sometimes quite a queue), Ponte Vecchio and lots, lots more. Piazzale Michelangelo is worth a visit but is quite a walk up and so I would recommend a taxi if you want to go there - the view is great. Done this many times and it really is a great trip.

 

Hope you give it a try. Trevor.

[laktex]

Take a Taxi from the ship to the train station. Livorno to Pisa to Florence is a nice train ride and quite cheap. You arrive into Santa Maria Novella train station which is quite central. It is an easy walk to the Duomo, the Uffizzi Galery (sometimes quite a queue), Ponte Vecchio and lots, lots more. Piazzale Michelangelo is worth a visit but is quite a walk up and so I would recommend a taxi if you want to go there - the view is great. Done this many times and it really is a great trip.

 

Hope you give it a try. Trevor.

 

Oh, by the way, if you walk over the Ponte Vecchio make sure you turn left and go into the Golden View - if you can get a Table by the window it is a fantastic break - always go there for a lunch snack - usually a Pizza and a beer.

http://www.goldenviewopenbar.com/en/home-en/

[tailspintom]

We have reserved a Florence excursion through princess but it is very pricey so was thinking of researching private tours however with Florence being quite a way from livorno, so my question is would you take the risk? I definitely want to see the the sights like the Ufizzi, the Cuomo, David, the doors at the baptistry and as it is our honeymoon a stroll on the Ponte vecchio is mandatory.....surely? What would you recommend ?

Like 4cats4me and Colo Cruiser, we have also used Romeinlimo. We used them for Tuscany, Rome, Amalfi and Sicily. On each occasion they provided a comfortable vehicle with a very knowledgeable and professional driver. We would not use any other operator in Italy. The per person rate is a better cost, experience and value then a ship's excursion.

[Twotravelers2017]

We did a tour with Italy Cruises Private Tours. Just returned. They were great. We did three Tours in total with this company. My favorite ones were Florence/Pisa Livorno and Naples which was Sorrento Positano and Amalfi Coast. We also did Rome. All A++. The 8 passenger Mercedes was spotless and the guides were fantastic. Hope you get Rafael. So worth it.

And no worries about being late for your ship. Won't happen. They guarantee it or pay your flight etc big time to get to your destination. It has never happened since they are in business. Cost was very reasonable at 75 Euro a person.

 

 

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Edited May 13, 2017 by Twotravelers2017

[CGinMTL]

Another vote for romeinlimo. Have used this company several ports in Italy. Would not think of using anybody else.

 

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[Essiesmom]

We were in Livorno on HAL and took the ships Florence on Your Own transfer which let us off by the river, and walked us to Piazza Santa Croce. We were pointed to a leather shop where we could use the restrooms, and told to meet back there at a certain time. We walked to the Cathedral, wandered around in the town center and visited the Ponte Vecchio. We both had been to the Accademia many years past and figured we didn't have to see the real David again, and settled for the replica in the square outside the Uffizi. On our way back to the square we had a bite to eat, and then back at Santa Croce we visited the church there, with many interesting tombs/memorials. We used maps from Rick Steves. EM

[ccruisequeen]

It depends on what day you arrive. When I went on my repositioning cruise about 10 years ago, we arrived on Monday and all the shops were closed. We could barely find a place for gelato!

 

 

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[Pmorton3360]

We booked Italy Shore Drivers. It was great. Found others from our roll call to share. Booked our tickets on the for Uffizi and Accedamia on line. Florence is very walkable. They have an 800 number for any questions.

 

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[snowskier]

I second the recommendation for the train. Worked great, inexpensive and easy to get to. Romeinlimo is an expensive 'ride' to Florence since you already know what you want to do.

[peter1200]

We used italytours.eu for a semi-private tour of both Florence and Pisa, only 99 Euros each, they use small vans and were able to get you closer to the sites to minimize walking compared to the large buses, also provided an English speaking guide for a walking tour of Florence, much easier to move around and hear the guide with a smaller group, this was a great way to see everything and also had time on our own, a great way to see everything if this is your first time there.

[ccastner]

I think it also depends on day of the week. Most of the museums are closed on Mondays and hard to get into Santa Croce (by far the best in Florence imo) on Sundays.

 

 

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[shastatroy]

In the Livorno terminal there are several tour companies and rental car agencies. We rented a car which came with an english speaking GPS. It was very easy to navigate to Florence and park. We were on our own schedule and got back to the ship without any worries. Cost us 99 euros

[lidorose]

Even after I read all of the recommendations for RomeInLimo, I did my own research and found Tuscan Sunshine Tours. We booked a driver with them to take us to Pisa and Florence and then also booked a guide (Giulia with Florence Guided) for a walking tour of Florence. They will customize your tour to include the museums or not... whatever you like and however long you like. We also asked to stop for gelato, and our driver took us to a great place right in Livnorno - best gelato of our entire trip! Highly recommend.

[Nicki828]

We have reserved a Florence excursion through princess but it is very pricey so was thinking of researching private tours however with Florence being quite a way from livorno, so my question is would you take the risk? I definitely want to see the the sights like the Ufizzi, the Cuomo, David, the doors at the baptistry and as it is our honeymoon a stroll on the Ponte vecchio is mandatory.....surely? What would you recommend ?

 

We booked transportation through http://italytours.eu/ we were very happy with them. We stopped off in Pisa for an hour, and then made our way to Florence. We stopped for some great photo opportunities along the way. Tickets to the Accademia were prepurchased for us. We also used this company for Naples. We had a driver for the day and had a private tour guide for Pompeii who was amazing. Can't say enough good things about this company.