Pisa/ Florence FAQ

[tomko2]

Great information - thanks to all.

We are trying to decide between a private car for just the two of us or taking the ship's excursion "Florence on your Own". Would like to see Pisa but if we take the ship excursion that would only leave us 4 hours in Florence.

Has anyone hired a car for just two people? If so, what did it cost.

Thank you

Kathy:)

[fmax]

Here's a thread on another message board with regards to driving http://forum.virtualtourist.com/forum-149243-1-Travel-Livorno-1-forum.html I would think that you would be taking up quite a bit of time getting the car, driving to and parking at both Pisa and Florence and then getting the car back to the rental agency. Plus, unless you love driving, I would think it might be a bit stressful as well. Pisa and Florence can be done via rail or what about checking the roll-call for your cruise and seeing if you can get a few other people to join you and consider a private tour. There were 6 of us from the boards and we used driverinrome. We got to Pisa around 8:30ish and had prebooked for the first climb up the tower. Did that and were on our way to Florence by around 9:30. We had reserved tickets to Accademia but there was a strike on. Nevertheless our driver changed around our schedule and took us back in the afternoon and managed to get us in. Frances

[frichberg]

Be sure to consider how YOU want to spend the time that you have in the Florence/Pisa area. We chose to see the statue of David with reservations and no long line .

 

It sounds like a wonderful birthday which will be long remembered.

 

I'm a little confused. So if you have a reservation, you DON"T have to stand in line to see David, but if you don't make reservations you can still see it if you are willing to stand in line?

 

--Debbie (heading to Livorno in June 08 on the Freedom)

[natesfirewife]

Hi there, thanks for all the wonderful posts. I have a few questions that I was hoping someone could answer:

 

-Does anyone know approximately how far the Accademia is from the Uffizi?

-How much time should we allow for climbing the Duomo?

-A recommendation for Gelato?

-A recommendation for a low cost lunch?

-Does anyone know a good jeweler to stop and get charms for our bracelets at? Besides, the bridge?

 

We will be in Florence the begining of June and with 7 of us in our group we booked a driver. Half of us are going to the Uffizi and the other half to see David. We were going to meet in the middle at the Duomo so we could climb the tower, have lunch and then hit the Science Museum.

[DougYWG]

Climbing the Duomo is 436 steps, if I remember rightly. The young and fit could do it in 10 minutes if nobody is in the way but it's not like that. It's a very narrow, circular stone staircase. The folks ahead will govern your speed. I suggest a rest at every 30 steps or so. You will emerge on a narrow ledge which goes around the inside of the dome so you are close to the paintings. You can linger here as long as you like and the plexiglass stops you plunging way, way below. From there, it's not too far to the top along a sloping sort of ladder inside the double dome. Coming out at the top is thrilling and you can stay there as long as you like. Coming down is a different route and much quicker. The total time will also depend on the length of lineup to get in. I should think you'll need two hours anyway. Memorable indeed.

 

Uffizi to Accademia would be about 15 min walk, I think.

[natesfirewife]

Thanks DougYWG. The time table is very helpful. We're in our mid 30's and the kids are 11 & 13, so climbing shouldn't be a problem. Maybe we'll get lucky and have a bunch of lively people in front of us. Do they limit how many people per hour (or some other time frame) are permitted to climb or is it just a free for all? I'm hoping they limit it. I would think that if they did not, it could get really crazy at the top.

 

Has anyone been to the science museum?