train from la spezia port to Florence

Has anyone taken the train from La Spezia to Florence? How far is the train station from the port?

I have not but in reading Rick Steve's book, he states it takes "30-45 minutes just to get from the port to the train station across town. He also suggests allowing 2 hours each way for travel time from port to Florence. Ouch.

If you are in the new port (rather than tendered in) there is a shuttle bus from the pier to town that drops off at the same place that tenders arrive to. From this drop off point to La Spezia Centrale is a mile and a quarter walk. So, between the shuttle bus ride itself (5-10 minutes) plus time to load the bus, you've got to allow between 45-60 minutes.

If you can make the 8:16 AM departure from La Spezia Centrale the train portion of the trip takes an hour and three quarters (arrives 10 AM). The next train (at 9:23) takes two hours and arrives to Florence at 11:32 AM. Both of these options require a change at Pisa Centrale, there are no direct trains in the morning.

For the return most cruisers would need to be on the 3 PM train from Florence, arriving back to La Spezia Centrale at 5:07 PM. The only fall back option would be the 3:28 train arriving at 5:39.

So you're looking at four hours of train travel for a five hour visit.

Unfortunately, Italotreno does not have service to La Spezia so Trenitalia is your only choice.

La Spezia is simply not a good port for Florence and it's disingenuous, at best, to market it as a Florence port stop. It's nearly twice as far (100 miles) from Florence as Livorno is (60 miles).

It is a good port stop for visiting Cinque Terre or Portofino, and an okay jumping off point for Pisa and Lucca. Florence is just a bit of a stretch.