Is it possible to do florence & tuscany in one day?

[sallylynne]

We will be off the ship in Livorno for just one day. We really don't want to miss seeing David in Florence....but I don't want to miss Tuscany with small towns & all the picturesque scenes I've heard about. Is is possible to find a tour that does both, or is there even time. I think we're docked from 7AM-7PM in late November.

[euro cruiser]

If money is no object, the best way to accomplish your objective is a private car and driver.

 

You should pre-purchase tickets for the Accademia (the David) to save time (or have your driver do it for you).

 

Best case, driving to Florence will require 90 minutes. Traffic around Florence is awful, so it may well take longer than that.

 

If all you do in Florence is go to the Accademia, you would have time on the way back to cruise through a couple of hill towns, if that's what you want. You won't really have seen Florence at all, but it's your trip.

[cruisemom42]

The real answer is no, which probably isn't what you were hoping to hear. You could probably spend a couple of hours in Florence and then maybe you could quickly visit a hill town and see a little countryside -- but I just think you would be sacrificing quality for quantity with such a short period of time. Given the distance from port and the fact that most ships want you back on board an hour before sailing, I suggest you choose either Florence OR the Tuscan countryside.

 

Then plan to come back and spend a week in the area on your next trip. I think a week is really the minimum amount of time to get a feeling for Tuscany.

[cberge]

The real answer is no, which probably isn't what you were hoping to hear. You could probably spend a couple of hours in Florence and then maybe you could quickly visit a hill town and see a little countryside -- but I just think you would be sacrificing quality for quantity with such a short period of time. Given the distance from port and the fact that most ships want you back on board an hour before sailing, I suggest you choose either Florence OR the Tuscan countryside.

 

Then plan to come back and spend a week in the area on your next trip. I think a week is really the minimum amount of time to get a feeling for Tuscany.

I agree and I will say up front that the answer is NO way can you do both plain and simple.In reality you could go from Florence to Tuscany or reverse,but you would not be able to "see" anything,but the fleeting city and countryside out the car window.You have to allow for traffic and county roads in some area's as well.Do one or the other and then do a loand trip to the one you miss or another cruise:D

[Tesla]

We will be off the ship in Livorno for just one day. We really don't want to miss seeing David in Florence....but I don't want to miss Tuscany with small towns & all the picturesque scenes I've heard about. Is is possible to find a tour that does both, or is there even time. I think we're docked from 7AM-7PM in late November.

 

To answer you question from my personal experience in Florence I could not imagine seeing it in just one day. Of course you could choose one or two key sites and try to see them in a day but for the full experience of Florence no you can't do it in a day.

[4friends]

I have to disagree. We were there in May and docked from 7AM to 8 PM. We booked a private driver, went to Florence, stopped for photos on a hill overlooking the city, went into Florence and saw the original David at Accademia, took time to see the outside of the Duomo and take pics, went to the main square where there are many beautiful statues, including the David replica, walked on the Pont Vecchio, did a bit of shopping and drove by more sights. That took all morning. We then drove to the Chianti wine region in Tuscany where our driver had arranged a wine tour, tasting and wonderful light lunch. We then carried on through the Tuscan countryside and had a short stop at San Gimingano, a walled medievil hill town. We continued to Pisa and even had time for one of our group to climb the tower. Last onboard is 30 minutes and we had about 45 to spare.

 

There is no accounting for traffic problems causing delays so it depends on your comfort level. Any of the time frames can be adjusted and it should not be very busy in November. There is a lot to see in Florence. It is a beautiful city, and one could spend a week there, but we had a wonderful day doing exactly what we wanted to do. :D

[Hlitner]

I think the OP has no idea about the size of Tuscany. We have literally spent months in Tuscany and have yet to dent the region. It is huge! There are hundreds of towns within Tuscany and of course there is also the wonderful region of Umbria. We love to cruise (and do it often) but cruise passengers who think they are really seeing Europe on a cruise are simply wrong. If you truly want to see Tuscany, Umbria, or other parts of Italy or Europe you need to spend time on land, not on a ship. With a cruise you only get a very small sampling of Europe. Think of visiting New England on a ship and only having a day to see all of New England. It is the same in Europe.

 

Hank

[Wendy The Wanderer]

No.

[chipmaster]

We will be off the ship in Livorno for just one day. We really don't want to miss seeing David in Florence....but I don't want to miss Tuscany with small towns & all the picturesque scenes I've heard about. Is is possible to find a tour that does both, or is there even time. I think we're docked from 7AM-7PM in late November.

 

It is possible but only likely if you go private and also if you do a minimum amount of time in Florence. As the other poster noted the drive to Florence is long, but if you go there first and get reserved tickets to David you can be in and out of it. The double edge sword is traffic. We did Pisa first and didn't head to Florence till around 10:30 and even then the two lane highway in was backed up a bit. I have no clue if you were angling to get in at 8-9am what the traffic would be like. Once in Florence traffic wasn't an issue but we were there during their vacation season. But the one nice thing doing Florence first is that you'll be going back so logistics is easier for end of day.

 

You'd also likely have to give up visiting many of Florence's other treasures for Tuscany. Like all one day visits even your tour of Tuscany will be a brief sampler.

[awatt]

Try contacting allarounditaly.net. Fabrizio may be able to customize a tour for you to accomplish what you want, perhaps an abridged morning in Florence then off to Tuscany for lunch and a winery. While you can't do an exhaustive tour of either place, Fabrizio knows the area well and may be able to help you.

[euro cruiser]

The OP specifically mentioned the "David" as the reason to go to Florence. Clearly, from the responses, it is possible to make the trip, but I would ask myself again, seriously, is it worth it if only to see one statue (admitedly a wonderful one, but still)?

[Hawks11]

We will be off the ship in Livorno for just one day. We really don't want to miss seeing David in Florence....but I don't want to miss Tuscany with small towns & all the picturesque scenes I've heard about. Is is possible to find a tour that does both, or is there even time. I think we're docked from 7AM-7PM in late November.

 

We caught the shuttle to the town and then a train to Florence and was able to spend several hours there last year. I discussed the option with a fellow traveller of getting out at Pisa and transferring to Lucca which is a walled city and very attractive. He did this and said he had time to look around the features at Pisa. The small hilltop towns would not be possible without a private guide or organised trip.

We have always found the trains are on time in Italy.

This thread may help: http://boards.cruisecritic.com/showthread.php?t=865473

[nparmelee]

Tuscany is a pretty large area, are there certain hill towns you are thinking of trying to see? This last May we spent 4 nights in Tuscany pre-cruise and saw Cortona, Montalcino, Pienza, Montepulciano, Siena and San Gimigiano and from the Livorno cruise stop we went to Pisa and Lucca. Northern and Southern Tuscany are also quite different in scenery. Each of the hill towns is different and they each have their own personalities, from Livorno the most realistic towns are Pisa and Lucca or Siena and San Gimigiano or Pisa and Florence. Florence can take a few days on its own if you really want to enjoy it, there is a lot more to see there than just David. I would suggest concentrating either on a hill town or two or on Florence, otherwise you will just be running around and not really seeing much besides the roads between them all.

[sallylynne]

Thanks to you all....and you're right, I guess I have no idea of size or how much there is to see. I think we'll probably just do the whole day in Florence, then try to come back to Tuscany for a separate vacation,

[hat776]

Someone mentioned that on a cruise you only get a taste of the town in the various Ports of Call.

Another thing to bear in mind, is that you don't get to see them in the evening which is a pity. Many of these towns come to life in the evenings and the floodlit monuments are spectacular.

To the OP - you say you'll be travelling in November. Remember that by 4.30 it's quite dark already so your day is very short. When we cruised in November that was the only disadvantage. We'd leave the ship early and we'd return to the ship in the dark so couldn't get the fun we usually had by having a drink or snack on deck.

[omc329]

I've been trying to work out our own itinerary at this port. We have emailed ril to see if we could adjust our tour to include one medieval style village to the Pisa/Florence trip they have while dropping the museums. We were advised we should consider dropping Pisa as well. We would skip Pisa, then spend the morning in Florence without museums, and do Lucca in the afternoon, hopefully including a bit of shopping in Lucca.

 

I'm still working this out with my group and ril, but I'm hoping this will work out for us. No, we can't do everything in one day. There are so many choices to be made! And when working with 6 different people and desires and tastes, it makes it hard to agree on which things to skip. I do hope the one poster who managed both Florence and a small taste of smaller towns was correct. I want my cake and to eat it too! ;)

[chipmaster]

The OP specifically mentioned the "David" as the reason to go to Florence. Clearly, from the responses, it is possible to make the trip, but I would ask myself again, seriously, is it worth it if only to see one statue (admitedly a wonderful one, but still)?

 

You pose an interesting question. For many there is so much more for others you would ask why bother just for naked man. But it's hard to fathom the minds and values of others. My mom for example, as much as she enjoyed Pisa, the other many sites of in Florence and other exciting ports, only two things mattered; David and a Gondola ride in Venice.

 

Different strokes for different folks :D

[HeinBloed]

Do not laugh:

 

we have the same idea...

 

as we have been in Rome we will rent a car and drive to San Gimignano and Firenze to do exactly what you described.

 

So we will stay overnight in Florence and then going next to Lucca and Pisa and rejoin our ship in Livorno.

 

One day is to less but this arrangement can make it possible.

 

Regards,

HeinBloed

[HeinBloed]

Is your ship calling Marseille, France???

 

If yes:

 

there is a copy of Michelangelo's David...

 

no tickets...

 

no queues...

 

 

Regards,

HeinBloed

[lisiamc]

Is your ship calling Marseille, France???

 

If yes:

 

there is a copy of Michelangelo's David...

 

no tickets...

 

no queues...

 

 

 

Regards,

HeinBloed

 

There are also two copies in Florence that you can see for free, but it really isn't the same at all! :) There's just something about the original...

 

Lisa

[colleentaylor]

I am trying to do the same thing. I want to see a bit of Florence (ie David) and then travel on to Lucca as I have heard wonderful things about it. I have contacted someone who said I could do this for $440 Euros/3 people. Have you had any other suggestions?

[HeinBloed]

I am trying to do the same thing. I want to see a bit of Florence (ie David) and then travel on to Lucca as I have heard wonderful things about it. I have contacted someone who said I could do this for $440 Euros/3 people. Have you had any other suggestions?

 

Rebook on NORWEGIAN GEM of November 15, 2009 from Barcelona...

 

and we share the car...

 

Regards,

HeinBloed

[colleentaylor]

I've been trying to work out our own itinerary at this port. We have emailed ril to see if we could adjust our tour to include one medieval style village to the Pisa/Florence trip they have while dropping the museums. We were advised we should consider dropping Pisa as well. We would skip Pisa, then spend the morning in Florence without museums, and do Lucca in the afternoon, hopefully including a bit of shopping in Lucca.

 

I'm still working this out with my group and ril, but I'm hoping this will work out for us. No, we can't do everything in one day. There are so many choices to be made! And when working with 6 different people and desires and tastes, it makes it hard to agree on which things to skip. I do hope the one poster who managed both Florence and a small taste of smaller towns was correct. I want my cake and to eat it too! ;)

Hi There: Did you manage to get a tour with both Florence and Lucca? I have been trying to do that as well for 3 of us but it is quite costly for a small group? If you have booked one can you tell me who you booked it with. Thanks, colleen_taylor@telus.net

[omc329]

We're booked with rome in limo. We have six of us going, have them booked for three ports so got a 50E discount on the Livorno port, but added it back in when we adjusted our tour from their stated tour, making it 550E for 6.

 

They will be taking us to Lucca in the morning. I am assuming this is because I mentioned wishing to do a bit of shopping while we are there, and Lucca sites read that shops close around 12 or 1PM. In the afternoon they will take us around to the main sites in Florence, but we will NOT be doing the Uffizi or Academia. We also had to cut the Pisa stop.

 

As I say, it is all about choices. We had to cut a few things to make it work. Since I've had to cut Eze off our list for France, due to the holiday, I REALLY wanted to take some time out for a small medieval style village in Italy and Lucca sounds pretty good. The cost was Pisa and the museums.

[snoopypookie]

This sounds just what we were looking for. What tour company did you use? You can e-mail me at pabrunda@syr.edu thanks

 

Patty

 

I have to disagree. We were there in May and docked from 7AM to 8 PM. We booked a private driver, went to Florence, stopped for photos on a hill overlooking the city, went into Florence and saw the original David at Accademia, took time to see the outside of the Duomo and take pics, went to the main square where there are many beautiful statues, including the David replica, walked on the Pont Vecchio, did a bit of shopping and drove by more sights. That took all morning. We then drove to the Chianti wine region in Tuscany where our driver had arranged a wine tour, tasting and wonderful light lunch. We then carried on through the Tuscan countryside and had a short stop at San Gimingano, a walled medievil hill town. We continued to Pisa and even had time for one of our group to climb the tower. Last onboard is 30 minutes and we had about 45 to spare.

 

There is no accounting for traffic problems causing delays so it depends on your comfort level. Any of the time frames can be adjusted and it should not be very busy in November. There is a lot to see in Florence. It is a beautiful city, and one could spend a week there, but we had a wonderful day doing exactly what we wanted to do. :D