Florence and Pisa

Has anyone successfully executed a Florence/Pisa shore excursion on there own from Livorno? We are debating between taking a tour or hopping on the train and doing it ourselves. Any advice?

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Very easy.

From port to rail station means either ship's shuttle to town centre then short hop on a local bus, or a taxi from the port to the station - taxi costs 25 euros (last year) but they hold eight passengers & there'll be folk to share.

Train to Florence takes about 80 minutes, the station (S M Novella) in Florence is right in the centre. The only notable sight that's not in easy walking distance is the Statue of David, on a hill overlooking the city- a long hike (we did it) or hop in a taxi.

Depending whether you want to go inside museums etc you may or may not have time to call at Pisa on the way back. Your ticket Livorno/Florence allows you to break your journey at Pisa. From Pisa centrale its a 20/25 minute walk to the Field of Miracles (Leaning tower etc). The minimum time in Pisa (station back to station) is a little over an hour, to tick the box & take photos - 2 hours & more if you want to go up the tower & to look round in any depth.

Return fare to Florence was 18 euros.

We called into Pisa on the way back - if we'd needed more time in Florence we could've abandoned Pisa, it was easier to judge timings, closer to the ship late in the day, more frequent trains from Pisa to ship.

Others do it the other way round, citing crowds in Pisa later in the day though it was un-crowded when we got there about 3.30pm.

Do make a note of train times, esp return trains. Use the trenitalia website (good luck with it :rolleyes:) but double-check times on the day.

JB :)

Glad to hear these things! Makes it sound promising to do on our own--and I found out we can't climb Pisa (or at least my 6 yr old can't) despite the fact that she has climbed various 200+ step church towers in Europe!! So I will focus on Florence and consider a photo op on the way back if we have time.

The tour groups x4 make them unaffordable and haven't noticed a significant discount on the kids rates so looking at DIY!