Pisa Tour

[Excited First Timers 2017]

i hope I'm posting this in the right place!

We just found out on Saturday that our Thomson's tour to the leaning tower of Pisa (including inside the tower) has been cancelled without informing the travel agent who we booked with.

So my question is - Has anybody done this tour themselves, should we pre book tickets before we leave and who should we book with?

I'm guessing there are going to be plenty of buses at the port. We're a family of 5 - 2 x Ad 3 x Ch 17, 14 & 9. If somebody could give me as much info as possible I'd really appreciate it as it's our first cruise.

We're doing highlights of the Med cruise on the Tui Discovery departing 19 Aug

[fabnfortysomething]

i hop/

e I'm posting this in the right place!

We just found out on Saturday that our Thomson's tour to the leaning tower of Pisa (including inside the tower) has been cancelled without informing the travel agent who we booked with.

So my question is - Has anybody done this tour themselves, should we pre book tickets before we leave and who should we book with?

I'm guessing there are going to be plenty of buses at the port. We're a family of 5 - 2 x Ad 3 x Ch 17, 14 & 9. If somebody could give me as much info as possible I'd really appreciate it as it's our first cruise.

We're doing highlights of the Med cruise on the Tui Discovery departing 19 Aug

 

have you found if theres a roll call for your sailing where you could share a private tour with others from your sailing

 

do a bit more research on this forum for recommended companies-actually with 5 of you it would work out economically to arrange a private tour for just your party and they could arrange tickets inside tower

 

actually with the time you will have in port you might want to venture further than Pisa as even with climbing the tower there isn't a full day to spend there

 

how long are you in port ?

 

with only 18 days before your visit it's a bit of a rush as many private tour operators will be booked up

 

on the other hand there is the option of train from Livorno to Pisa

look up Pisa tourist information centre for climbing the tower options

[wheezedr]

The train is quite easy but a private tour or even a large cab, think van, from the port might work for a group of five. The bigger issue at this late date is whether you can get timed tickets to climb the tower if that is one of your desires. I would check that first. Along with Pisa you might consider spending some time in LUcca as it sounds like you are not going as far as Florence. LUcca is the most intact walled city of Italy and a favorite of mine to wander as well as climb and walk the walls. Most tours or cabs could easily incorporate it into a visit to Pisa.

[Excited First Timers 2017]

The Kids are gutted it was cancelled, they were really looking forward to going up the tower. If we hadn't gone into travel agent at the weekend we wouldn't have known about it.

I'm going on what I think is the official site for the tower http://www.opapisa.it/en/tickets/buy/

But can only buy tickets 20 days in advance and we don't get there til the 23rd so unable to check for spaces/times.

Can anybody suggest any private firms?

 

We are in port from either 8am-8pm or 7am-7pm so we have plenty of time.

[TMLAalum]

The Kids are gutted it was cancelled, they were really looking forward to going up the tower. If we hadn't gone into travel agent at the weekend we wouldn't have known about it.

I'm going on what I think is the official site for the tower http://www.opapisa.it/en/tickets/buy/

But can only buy tickets 20 days in advance and we don't get there til the 23rd so unable to check for spaces/times.

Can anybody suggest any private firms?

 

We are in port from either 8am-8pm or 7am-7pm so we have plenty of time.

 

So fi you don't depart til the 19th and you are in Pisa on the 23d you should be able to book tower tickets on Thursday this week. I would first check out train times.

https://app.italiarail.com/results

 

Then based on your train, book your tower tickets. You could have a nice day in Pisa that includes lunch without having a private tour for a minimal amount of hassle and money.

 

Here is a helpful YouTube:

[Adventures ahead]

Check out tuscanybus dot com. We're going to use them for transportation to Pisa and Luca with free time in each place. If you can't get the timed tickets for the Leaning Tower, you could climb the Guinigi tower in Luca with no advance booking required. There is a 'surprise' at the top and 360 degree views. Look it up but don't tell your family. Fun! You would need to take the ship's shuttle to the square in town to catch the tuscanybus.

 

From what I've read, the only sure place to pre-purchase the Pisa tower tickets online and have them accepted is the official website as you stated. The Pisa website warns that you must buy tickets from them or an 'authorized' seller but good luck trying to uncover that information. :o Based on our hours in port, 'tuscanybus' suggested a time for us to book our leaning tower tickets. We hope we get lucky as well and can buy our tickets on that magical 20-day out!

[Excited First Timers 2017]

Check out tuscanybus dot com. We're going to use them for transportation to Pisa and Luca with free time in each place. If you can't get the timed tickets for the Leaning Tower, you could climb the Guinigi tower in Luca with no advance booking required. There is a 'surprise' at the top and 360 degree views. Look it up but don't tell your family. Fun! You would need to take the ship's shuttle to the square in town to catch the tuscanybus.

 

From what I've read, the only sure place to pre-purchase the Pisa tower tickets online and have them accepted is the official website as you stated. The Pisa website warns that you must buy tickets from them or an 'authorized' seller but good luck trying to uncover that information. :o Based on our hours in port, 'tuscanybus' suggested a time for us to book our leaning tower tickets. We hope we get lucky as well and can buy our tickets on that magical 20-day out!

 

I came across Tuscanybus last night, Have you used them before, are they quite easy to find? Are there any other bus company's that pick you up at the port? I'm worried we'll lose our way, hehe.

[Adventures ahead]

I came across Tuscanybus last night, Have you used them before, are they quite easy to find? Are there any other bus company's that pick you up at the port? I'm worried we'll lose our way, hehe.

 

I found out about them on Cruise Critic and we'll use them for the first time this Sept.

 

I found no other bus or reasonably-priced transportation or tour for the four of us (travelling with friends) for Luca/Pisa. We've been to Florence before (which is also offered, as well as Pisa/Florence). The website indicates you can pay in advance but we haven't. Adriana replied to several emails within 24 hours and accepted our 'reservation' through my email to the 'contact us' link and said we can simply pay on the day.

 

We've taken the train from Livorno to Luca before, transferring at the Pisa station. This year it will be a Sunday when the trains don't run as often and we also wanted to re-visit Pisa this time (the tower was closed for construction when we were there many years ago) so I was so happy to learn that this is the first year they are offering the Pisa/Luca run.

 

You'll need to get to the main square in Livorno to catch their bus... very easy! You'll need to purchase shuttle tickets from the ship to the square (unless you're lucky and there is a taxi at the port - I've ready they're scarce), and catch the tuscanybus at the same square. Same in reverse going back to the ship. She said if there was an unlikely time issue coming back, they would take us back to the port instead of the square. We've done lots of port days like this and haven't had any problems. In comparison, the tuscanybus service will be much easier (relaxing) than taking the train on our own (getting to the station, timings...).

[pdmartyn65]

Below is the post I made last month in another thread. Hope this helps. If your day in Pisa is the 23rd, you should be able to book a time on the 3rd. (tomorrow).

 

Paul

 

Hi. We did Livorno on the Norwegian Epic last October (2016). We were in Livorno on a Thursday. As we had had a long day in Rome the previous day, we did not want to do anything too strenuous, and decided just to do Pisa. I bought tickets via http://www.opapisa.it/en/tickets/buy/. You can only book 20 days in advance, so I marked it on the calendar and made sure I visited the site first thing in the morning that our date was available. You pick the time for your visit (we chose 10:30AM) and print your ticket. After we docked we took a shuttle bus to the Livorno Centrale train station (sorry, I can't remember if we had to pay for the shuttle or not.) Once at the station we bought train tickets to Pisa Centrale (and our return tickets at the same time) from the newstand inside the station (it was quicker than waiting in line at the ticket counter). I cant rememeber the price, but it was not expensive, around 10 Euro each. Once in Pisa (about a 30min ride), across the street in front of the station you catch a bus (I am relying in Google for this info, not memory, but I believe the LAM Rossa, Linea 21 at stop Stazione Fs 6.) If memory serves, we bought tickets at a kiosk inside the station, about 1 or 2 Euro. The ride was only 10-15 min and lets you off very close to the entrance to the Plaza of Miracles, Stop Torre 1. Walk throught the small courtyard full of vendors and through the gate and you are there. We could have taken the bus back to the train station, but it was such a nice day and we had the time, so we walked back to the station. It only took about an hour. I hope this helps with with your planning.

 

Paul (& Bonnie!)

[Excited First Timers 2017]

Thanks so much everybody for your great advice & tips. I managed to book Pisa tickets for us all. Now for us to decide how we get there, it will probably be with Tuscany bus as we're not quite confident enough to use the train even though pdmartyn has made it sound easy enough. :)

[Adventures ahead]

Thanks so much everybody for your great advice & tips. I managed to book Pisa tickets for us all. Now for us to decide how we get there, it will probably be with Tuscany bus as we're not quite confident enough to use the train even though pdmartyn has made it sound easy enough. :)

 

If only going to Pisa, the train is a snap. I wouldn't hesitate to take the train and spending time in Pisa if we weren't also wanting to spend time in Luca.

 

I hope we have good luck booking the Pisa tickets as well! You will have a great time.