How to arrange independent tours in Florence?

I'm sure there are posts on this subject but I'm fairly new to CC so sorry if this is duplication

I'd like to know how you go about organising independent tours (i.e. where you join a small group with a guide) in a city where you have a considerable transfer i.e. Livorno? I'm au fait with TripAdvisor but when I've been looking at several tours, meeting times are early i.e. 8.15! So where would I look for people who've done things on their own (but not at vaste expense!)

I've been to Florence before but got it very wrong arriving Sunday afternoon and leaving Tuesday morning so everything was shut (pre computer days!) Everything went wrong. So want to go again and enjoy a few highlights without overdoing it as I have trouble with my foot. It seems that TA isn't the place to ask this either as they direct "cruising" people to CC!

Any advice as to where I should ask please

Hi

A couple of years ago we "did" Florence on our own. We took the P and O transfer because of the distance and the sometimes difficulties with public transport in Italy.

Before we went, I bought Rick Steves' Florence and Tuscany book and also downloaded his audio walking tour from his website. Now he is not to everyone's taste, but I enjoyed listening to it before we went and actually took the google peg man for a walk along the streets as Rick was narrating so it was a bit of a recce ;)

When we arrived in Florence I was so familiar with the landmarks and what to look out for, I really enjoyed our day. I was familiar with the background information which only enhanced our walking tour.

The only cost was an ebay purchase of a book, the P and O transfer and a bit of research.

We are off to Venice on Oriana next year and have already done the same for the No.1 vaperetto transfer along the Grand Canal.

Have fun planning your day

Hi jasperado

I've seen mention of these books on several mainly American posts but am not familiar as I usually use Rouge Guides and Lonely Planet. So books and audios are sold separately? As for the google man - that's one to ask the kids about! Certainly food for thought

Starting to wonder if Florence is a good idea - if travel will take up 3 hours it will not leave a lot of time. I was planning to put right our dreadful trip 25 years ago but don't think that's going to be possible in such a short time. But I'm also not heading into Rome as I was there two years ago and am seriously disappointed that it looks like we have a short day in Barcelona - somewhere I was really looking forward to! We're on a two week cruise and I did not notice the long transfers or short stops in the main ports of call (it was mainly to take Mum away who's seen none of these places) Hmmm, there are other places en route where I just wanted to watch the world go by but this is not one of them.

At the mo I also have no firm idea about timings in various ports either - must try and find that info from P&O

I agree that the P&O "Florence on your own" is a good option due to the distance from Port and issues with transport. We did the same and it worked out well as we had plenty of time to explore. The P&O coach had problems for the return and a substitute was required, which meant that we were delayed and very late back to ship, but no problem because it was a P&O trip. I think it would be unwise to do Florence as a totally independent excursion.

I'm sure there are posts on this subject but I'm fairly new to CC so sorry if this is duplication

 

I'd like to know how you go about organising independent tours (i.e. where you join a small group with a guide) in a city where you have a considerable transfer i.e. Livorno? I'm au fait with TripAdvisor but when I've been looking at several tours, meeting times are early i.e. 8.15! So where would I look for people who've done things on their own (but not at vaste expense!)

 

I've been to Florence before but got it very wrong arriving Sunday afternoon and leaving Tuesday morning so everything was shut (pre computer days!) Everything went wrong. So want to go again and enjoy a few highlights without overdoing it as I have trouble with my foot. It seems that TA isn't the place to ask this either as they direct "cruising" people to CC!

 

Any advice as to where I should ask please

Hopefully this will give you an idea...

https://solentrichardscruiseblog.com/2013/10/29/one-way-to-do-florence-and-pisa/

Hi jasperado

I've seen mention of these books on several mainly American posts but am not familiar as I usually use Rouge Guides and Lonely Planet. So books and audios are sold separately? As for the google man - that's one to ask the kids about! Certainly food for thought

Starting to wonder if Florence is a good idea - if travel will take up 3 hours it will not leave a lot of time. I was planning to put right our dreadful trip 25 years ago but don't think that's going to be possible in such a short time. But I'm also not heading into Rome as I was there two years ago and am seriously disappointed that it looks like we have a short day in Barcelona - somewhere I was really looking forward to! We're on a two week cruise and I did not notice the long transfers or short stops in the main ports of call (it was mainly to take Mum away who's seen none of these places) Hmmm, there are other places en route where I just wanted to watch the world go by but this is not one of them.

At the mo I also have no firm idea about timings in various ports either - must try and find that info from P&O

Hi again.

The books have more information and are a useful reference, with a few flippant remarks on the way.

As for the audio tours go to ricksteves.com/europe/italy and on the left hand side there is a heading of "watch, read, listen"

Find "audio tours" under the "listen" subtitle and click on from there. He usually provided a pdf file containing simple maps and diagrams alongside the mp3 file.

Try it, its free ;)