Help with Livorno to Florence Transportation

In Rick Steeves' "Mediterranean Cruise Ports" he states that at the dock in Livorno, "enterprising drivers with eight-seat minibuses gather groups to split their 400 euro fee (50 euro per person)...you'll be driven one hour into Florence, dropped off near the center for four or five hours of free time, then taken back to the port."

Am I interpreting that right, are there 8 person minibuses that you can just hop in "on the spot" without advance reservations? If so, are they plentiful, and do we have a good chance of getting a ride this way on a Sunday morning?

Thanks in advance to anyone who has been to Livorno lately and can confirm the price and existence of these minibuses! Our roll call can't gather 8 people to share a reserved van, and train times aren't the best for our day. Cruise line transportation to Florence makes 50 euro per person sound like a bargain!

As much as we are fans of the Rick Steves books (which we often recommend here on CC) they do have some limitations :). Regarding your question, there will always be some taxis waiting on the pier at Livorno if you are among the first to get off the ship. Whether there are larger van taxis looking for passengers to share a ride to Livorno is just hit and miss. And if you are not among the early debarking passengers there is a chance that there will be no available taxis.

Many taxis will be happy for a full day hire to take a group to and from Livorno. As to the cost, like many things in Italy, it is negotiable and will be somewhat dictated by supply/demand and your negotiating power.

As to Sunday trains, a quick check of the Trenitalia web site shows there are trains at 7:30, 7:43, 8:12, 8:52 and 9:12. Return trains generally depart Florence at 28 min past the hour (plus a few other trains).

Hank

Many thanks for your very informative answer. I was afraid that sounded too good to be (really) true.

With the ship arriving in port at 8:00 AM, I'm worried we may not make the 9:12AM train, in which case we'll have to wait for the next one which doesn't depart until 11:12AM.

In Rick Steeves' "Mediterranean Cruise Ports" he states that at the dock in Livorno, "enterprising drivers with eight-seat minibuses gather groups to split their 400 euro fee (50 euro per person)...you'll be driven one hour into Florence, dropped off near the center for four or five hours of free time, then taken back to the port."

 

Am I interpreting that right, are there 8 person minibuses that you can just hop in "on the spot" without advance reservations? If so, are they plentiful, and do we have a good chance of getting a ride this way on a Sunday morning?

 

Thanks in advance to anyone who has been to Livorno lately and can confirm the price and existence of these minibuses! Our roll call can't gather 8 people to share a reserved van, and train times aren't the best for our day. Cruise line transportation to Florence makes 50 euro per person sound like a bargain!

There are loads of these taxis in Livorno, queued up, waiting for your business.

We took one to Pisa. The taxi driver dropped us off at the Leaning Tower and waited two hours for us (plenty of time) to take us back. It was perfect for us as we are a family of five so usually have to get two cars. The other great thing was that the taxi had the best wifi the whole week.

It was €120 for Pisa (about 3 hours of the driver's time), so €400 to Florence seems about right.

You might want to consider your ship's transfer (i.e., Florence on your own), if they have one. We found it a reasonable choice - easy, reliable and it gave us a full day on our own in Florence. I don't usually take ship tours but this seemed to be the best bet for me.

Sadly the Livorno cruise port have a nice scam going on with taxi drivers. You're not allowed to walk out of the port, and any taxi wants a €25/minimum even for a short trip like Livorno Centrale train station (under 5km/3mi)

That being said; it's all possible with shuttles/trains. We took the port shuttle (€5/return) to downtown, a city bus (€1) from there to the train station, and then grabbed the train from there.

However; I would visit your roll call and see if there are other people that want to split private transport and take it from there.

Sorry, but we have walked our of the port of Livorno into town twice in the last five years.

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Sorry, but we have walked our of the port of Livorno into town twice in the last five years.

I see on http://cruiseportwiki.com/Livorno larger ships must dock at the container port and walking is not allowed. See also http://www.whatsinport.com/Livorno.htm

so perhaps it depends on size of your ship. You might want to check with your roll call to see if anyone knows. Or ask your cruise line yourself and post the answer for others!

More info here: http://www.tomsportguides.com/Livorno-09-25-2013.pdf and http://www.telegraph.co.uk/travel/destination/italy/65132/Livorno-cruise-port-guide.html

Sadly the Livorno cruise port have a nice scam going on with taxi drivers. You're not allowed to walk out of the port, and any taxi wants a €25/minimum even for a short trip like Livorno Centrale train station (under 5km/3mi)

 

That being said; it's all possible with shuttles/trains. We took the port shuttle (€5/return) to downtown, a city bus (€1) from there to the train station, and then grabbed the train from there.

 

However; I would visit your roll call and see if there are other people that want to split private transport and take it from there.

I want to offer an alternative theory based on too much experience. The cruise line shuttle bus (to down town Livorno) does not usually start until after 9am. On most of our cruises we would be docked by 7 and at the train station by 7:40 and on our way to Florence before 8am. Meanwhile, those following your advice would be still waiting at the port. And once the bus does finally take them downtown they might have to wait another 10-15 min for the city bus which means the earliest train they could take would be the 10:12 which does not get to Florence until after 11 (we would have been in Florence by 9.)

And then there is the cost. Sharing a taxi (for 4 or more) will generally cost about 5 Euros per person one-way to the station. It can actually be cheaper on the return. So while your shuttle/city bus might only cost 7 Euros return (vs about 10 Euros return for taxis) you would have lost nearly 2 hours of your port time waiting for transportation. We would happily fork over 3 more Euros to gain 2 hours in Florence.

Hank

I have a question too about Livorno.

We arrive at 7am on Epic, there is a shuttle provided by NCL to Livorno station for €12 return pp.

We are party of 4 adults and 1 toddler (who won't have a car seat).

I think a combo of Lucca and Pisa may be preferable to Florence. I've been too Florence and found it too busy. I think it might be too much for us (one of our party is recovering from a hip operation).

Any advise on shuttles/ taxis and trains (our preferred means of travel) much appreciated

Thank you :)