Florence On Your Own from Livorno

Will be in Livorno early May. Does anyone have experience of getting to and from Florence?

We are scheduled to arrive at 8.00 am and Depart 7.00 pm.

Any help would be greatly appreciated.

I perhaps should mention, it is on a Sunday.

Easy by train. :)

You'll have to get to Livorno centrale station - either by taxi (25 euros one-way for a taxi, but they hold up to eight and there'll be others on the pier wanting to do the same as you) or by ship's shuttle to the town centre and a short local bus ride.

Train takes about 80 minutes, costs about 18 euros return. Your end station is Firenze S. M. Novella, its the main terminus in the heart of Florence, quite close to the Duomo. The only significant place that's a long (& uphill) walk is the statue of David. The ho-ho bus is pretty pointless, they're too big for the city centre streets.

Depending how deeply you want to delve into the museums etc, you can make a brief visit to Pisa on the way there or back. Your train ticket permits you to break your journey - get off at Pisa centrale, its a 25 minute walk to the Field of Miracles - leaning tower, etc.

Haven't done it on a sunday. Guessing there'll be a less-frequent train service. Check out the sunday schedule on the Trenitalia website - it only goes out a few weeks, so just choose an up-coming sunday and double-check close to the day. Do re-check and note times of return trains on the day & allow a margin for delays & the taxi ride back to the ship.

http://www.trenitalia.com/

JB :)

Firenze is very compact and a great walking city . Easily done by train from Livorno 2 hour trip each way . Firenze SMN station is close to tourist area .

Book your pre admissions via tickitaly website (date and time specific) to avoid very long queues for Uffizzi gallery, Academia, Pitti Palace, Boboli Gardens etc . Don't miss the stunning brass doors by Bernini on the Baptistry an octagonal building in front of the Duomo , and the street leather market between SMN station and the Duomo .

Thank you both. Sounds like a plan.