florence

[rannoch]

We visited Florence and Pisa a couple of years ago on one of the ship tours, but that tour didn't allow visits to any galleries, or museums, etc.

This time we are with Independence of the Seas.

 

There are two tours which seem to suit. The "Florence On Your Own" is 9 hours, and gives 5 hours of free time. The "A Taste of Florence" is 9.5 hours starts with a 2.5 hour walking tour, and then allows 4.25 hours on your own. This one hopefully will give us our bearings, and then allow visits to cathedral, Uffizi, and Ponte Vecchio.

 

Need some advice re tours, if we have sufficient time available, and if it's worth booking tickets in advance for the Uffizi.

[chipmaster]

We visited Florence and Pisa a couple of years ago on one of the ship tours, but that tour didn't allow visits to any galleries, or museums, etc.

This time we are with Independence of the Seas.

 

There are two tours which seem to suit. The "Florence On Your Own" is 9 hours, and gives 5 hours of free time. The "A Taste of Florence" is 9.5 hours starts with a 2.5 hour walking tour, and then allows 4.25 hours on your own. This one hopefully will give us our bearings, and then allow visits to cathedral, Uffizi, and Ponte Vecchio.

 

Need some advice re tours, if we have sufficient time available, and if it's worth booking tickets in advance for the Uffizi.

 

The Uffizi is huge and to do it justice would take close to a full day. I'd suggest for sure to see David at the Accademia. You should research online or at the library to see if what the Uffizi displays is your cup of tea. We enjoyed going to see David both times, Uffizi was overwhelming and I have almost no memories of it except of seeing too many Madonna's and other religious art. :D

 

Enjoy Florence

[cruisemom42]

It is well worth booking tickets in advance for the Uffizi, you can do it via calling their ticket office and pre-reserving; there is no charge until you actually arrive to claim your tickets so there's no risk. You can book tickets for the Accademia on the same call. Both of these museums are invariably crowded, and you don't want to waste any precious minutes waiting in lines.

 

I'm going to differ from the previous poster and say the Uffizi is well worthwhile, particularly if you have visited Florence before. Yes, there is a lot of religious art (most art WAS religious at that time, the church could afford to patronize artists!), but this is ground zero for Renaissance painters. I love the portraits, and also love looking at the backgrounds of many of the religious paintings-- pure Tuscany!

 

I visited the Uffizi for the first time at age 14 and remembered it so vividly that for years it was the place I most wanted to re-visit. :) (As with all museum tours, I felt I didn't have enough time to REALLY enjoy it....) Rick Steves has a self-guided tour in his Florence book, or you can just look online as there are numerous sites that list some of the "museum highlights."

 

By the way, if you are self-sufficient, you can take the train into Florence on your own rather than the ship's transport. If you search the posts here, you'll find detailed instructions on how to do this.

[ab0si]

Uffizi:

 

If you go, get a reservation. the lines can be l..o..n..g

 

This is one of the great museums of the world. It can be quite overwhelming as the pictures are hung very close together and almost floor to ceiling. The curators have an impossible task: hang as much as possible and overwhelm the eyes or keep even more masterpieces in storage. I strongly urge you NOT to try to see everything. Limit yourselves to two rooms or so and really "see" what you are looking at. there is a nice outside cafe, so take a break if beginning to be overwhelmed.

 

 

tours:

There is no need to take a tour. Florence is easily reachable from Livorno via train and easily walkable once there.

 

The city:

There is more great art per unit area here than any place else in the world. There are too many masterpieces to see in a full week let alone part of a day. Don't try to see everything. Relax, enjoy. travel is not a check off list

[rannoch]

Thanks for the information.

I found the on-line ticket booking for the Uffizi. It gives you a choice of time slots. Does that mean if we miss the slot we won't get in?

 

Going by the tour description, I think we will on our own from Santa Croce square for approx 4 hours.

In order to visit the Accademia, Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, and Duomo what would the best route be - with a stop for a (brief) refreshment break.

 

Rannoch

[mbwny]

Has anyone ever gone to the outlet mall in Florence? Was it worth the trip?

[cruisemom42]

Thanks for the information.

I found the on-line ticket booking for the Uffizi. It gives you a choice of time slots. Does that mean if we miss the slot we won't get in?

 

Going by the tour description, I think we will on our own from Santa Croce square for approx 4 hours.

In order to visit the Accademia, Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, and Duomo what would the best route be - with a stop for a (brief) refreshment break.

 

Rannoch

 

Four hours!! Not enough time -- initially I thought you had 5 hours and were only planning to visit the Uffizi and the Accademia. If you truly only have 4 hours, you will have to cut something out or you will just be dodging into and out of all the places you mention.

[GSPLover]

Thanks for the information.

I found the on-line ticket booking for the Uffizi. It gives you a choice of time slots. Does that mean if we miss the slot we won't get in?

 

Going by the tour description, I think we will on our own from Santa Croce square for approx 4 hours.

In order to visit the Accademia, Uffizi, Ponte Vecchio, and Duomo what would the best route be - with a stop for a (brief) refreshment break.

 

Rannoch

 

My suggested order is: Accademia, Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, and Uffizi

A lot to see in a short 4 hours.

 

Miss a time slot and you probably will not get in. Cannot be more definitive - after all, you will be in Italy.

[rannoch]

My suggested order is: Accademia, Duomo, Ponte Vecchio, and Uffizi

A lot to see in a short 4 hours.

 

Miss a time slot and you probably will not get in. Cannot be more definitive - after all, you will be in Italy.

 

I realise that 4 hours is very little time. Given the timescale, of the four places which would you consider as "must do".

[ab0si]

I realise that 4 hours is very little time. Given the timescale, of the four places which would you consider as "must do".

 

1st choice: Accademia,

2nd Choice: Accademia

3rd Choice: Duomo (and adjoining buildings)

 

Other than to say you have been there, gong to the Uffizi in the (lack of) time you have strikes me as a waste of effort.

[GSPLover]

I realise that 4 hours is very little time. Given the timescale, of the four places which would you consider as "must do".

 

I'd skip the Uffizi

[tada]

We did Florence on our own and took the train from Livorno. We did squeeze in the Uffizi, the Accademia, went to the top of the Duomo, and had time for a calzone, gelato, and cannolis. You can spend a ton of time at the Uffizi, follow Rick Steves guide, etc. His guide is great, and you can move through it pretty quick, but to be honest, most people are going to see the Birth of Venus. We went through the rooms, saw the progression of medieval art into the renaissance, and then moved on. We walked up to the Accademia (we called for reservations to both places and avoided the lines) and spent about an hour seeing all of the works including David. On the way there, we grabbed a quick bite and a cold drink. Then we walked back to the Duomo and climbed the stairs to the top and took some wonderful pictures of Florence. Then we climbed back down, got some desert across the street, and went back to the train station. Along the way back, we just window shopped on the walk. We did it all in one day (a 7am - 7pm cruise docking) and made it back in plenty of time. I love art history, and could have spent extra hours in Florence, but we kept track of the time, and saw all we could. It was actually one of the more relaxed days we had on our cruise. Florence is setup for tourists.

[lalawgirl]

Has anyone ever gone to the outlet mall in Florence? Was it worth the trip?

 

 

Just saw this posting -- yes -- if you are Florence for more than a day. The outlets are quite a bit outside of town -- there are two actually -- Prada on its own and then the Mall.

 

I would not try to do the outlets if you are only in port for one day -- at that point you are getting really far away from the ship!

[Tesla]

We visited Florence and Pisa a couple of years ago on one of the ship tours, but that tour didn't allow visits to any galleries, or museums, etc.

This time we are with Independence of the Seas.

 

There are two tours which seem to suit. The "Florence On Your Own" is 9 hours, and gives 5 hours of free time. The "A Taste of Florence" is 9.5 hours starts with a 2.5 hour walking tour, and then allows 4.25 hours on your own. This one hopefully will give us our bearings, and then allow visits to cathedral, Uffizi, and Ponte Vecchio.

 

Need some advice re tours, if we have sufficient time available, and if it's worth booking tickets in advance for the Uffizi.

 

Have you considered a private guide? We hired Easitalytours and they picked us up from the Port drove us through various sites and also arranged for our guided tours in museums.

[Hoots40]

How far is it to the train station from the port at Livorno? Thinking of taking the train into Florence..saw that people said it was easy

[euro cruiser]

It's about two miles from the port to Livorno Centrale, the main train station. You can take a cab from the ship, or use the (mandatory) port bus into town, switch there to a public bus or walk from there (about a mile). The mandatory comment refers to the fact that you are not allowed to walk out of the port on foot, so either a cab, a rental car or a bus is required.

[VonChap]

I downloaded Rick Steves Pod Cast for my Ipod Touch for free. It also comes with a PDF map to print out of the museums.

 

Being an Art History major, I have spent days in the Florence museums but found that Rick's Pod Cast is perfect for a quick stop. If you have an Ipod Touch or IPhone, you can see the art being described on the screen as you listen.

 

There are several free Steves pod casts for Florence on his web site and on ITunes.

 

Kim

[RoadTripFanatic]

Here is what I would go back and see if I had to do it over. We just went there 3 weeks ago.

1. Duomo

2. Palazzo Pitti. I loved it much more than I loved the Uffizi. We toured the Uffizi and while it is overwhelming with the amount of art it did nothing for us. We visited this palace our second day and absolutely LOVED it. Both of us said we should have skipped the Uffuzi and Academia and just did this one. (We had been to both before.)

3. The only thing I liked about Academia was David and Michaelangelo's Prisoners. There wasn't anything else there that amazed me.

4. I also loved Santa Croce! This is where Gallileo and Michaelangelo are both buried. It was worth the visit.

[KCcruisin07]

If you like art, you will love the Uffizi. It has some magnificent paintings and sculptures. I especially enjoyed the Botticelli works, The Birth of Venus and Primavera. The Uffizi is huge, so a guide (even an IPOD guide) will help you to make the most of your time.

We left as early as possible with a CC group and took the shuttle to the bus to the train and then went on our own. (You can get there faster by taking a taxi to the train.) We toured to a cathedral, then climbed the steps of the Duomo, then I went to the Uffizi and my husband went to Ponte Vecchio and some gardens.

Because of rain we left early on the train. One caution if you take the train; be sure you watch the track number. In our case they changed the track after we had waited awhile, so we had to wait for the next train. We could have gone to Ponte Vecchio too if it had not rained so hard.