Our DIY Livorno Report - San Gimignano and Pisa

Here's another in my series of DIY reports on various ports-of-call on our recent cruise around Italy and Greece.

This was our first stop in Livorno which offers so many choices... Pisa, Florence, Tuscany and Cinque Terre are all within reach. Having just spent a couple of days in Rome prior to our stop in Livorno, we opted to take in some of the Tuscan country side with a short stop in Pisa.

Map

As with my other DIY reports, I've got a Google Map to share that marks the points of interest and sights we visited on this day.

Renting a Car in Livorno

From what I saw, there are essentially two convenient options for car rentals right at the pier. Hertz and Avis.

From research here before I left, I was only aware of Sifracar (a Hertz affiliate). I booked through the Hertz International call center because Sifracar rates direct were like 90€ for a small car. I was quoted 48€ + 15€ port delivery... Better.

When we got off the ship in Livorno, they and Avis had tables set up pier side. We got our paperwork done, paid the 15€ port delivery fee in cash, did a walk around of the car, and then got in and noticed the gas tank was 3/4s full. Had them note that on the form of course.

When we returned it, I had filled it (at least that's what the gauge said) since I was a poor judge of how much fuel it would take to get it back to 3/4s. Any way, as someone else said (in this related thread about renting in Livorno), you just leave it pier side without finalizing the paper work as the staff is either busy jockeying cars or absent completely.

When I got home I had a bill for 84€ on my Amex. I called Hertz and the front line agent rattled off the charges like 18€ "Collection Fee", 18€ "Delivery Fee", and 14€ for something else. I said that's nonsense so she escalated it within Hertz and I'm waiting to hear back. At least Sifracar didn't have the gall to charge me a line item for fuel.

Anyway, we shall see what Hertz can do about this. If that fails, I'll have try disputing it with Amex.

Sifracar are crooks. Next time I'm in Livorno, I'll be trying the Avis agency that was pier side.

BTW, I've rented from Hertz numerous times in Italy and Germany without incident until now.

Our Itinerary

I had planned out an itinerary that went roughly like this:

8:00AM Pick up car: Drive Livorno > Certaldo (90min)

9:30AM in Certaldo: Coffee (for 30min)

10:00AM Drive to Castello Oliveto (15 min)

10:15AM at Castello Oliveto: Wine tasting (1 hour)

11:30AM Drive to San Gimignano: (30 min)

Noon in San Gimignano: Shopping (2 hours)

2:00PM Drive to Pisa (90 min)

3:30PM in Pisa: Sight seeing

4:00PM Purchased Pisa tower tickets in advance

4:30PM Drive back to Pier (30min)

5:00PM at Ship

5:30PM Back on board

6:00PM Ship sails

I'd say this worked well except for a few things:

First, we ended up in Certaldo for more like 45min making us a bit late for our Wine Tasting appointment, but fortunately they were forgiving.

Second, it was slow going due to big trucks on the country road from San Gimignano in the afternoon so we ended up getting to Pisa around 3:45 making it a scramble to get our Pisa tickets and bags checked to go up the tower.

Lastly, there was a bit of traffic getting out of Pisa which created a bit of stress because you don't know just how bad it is while you're sitting in it. It turned out it was fine and we were back pier side by around 5:10PM with time to spare before our back-on-board, but that was cutting it closer than I'd normally like.

So, if you're interested in doing this itinerary and have the same time constraints for being back on board, to make it a bit more comfortable, I would either cut something short, or cut something like Certaldo from the itinerary completely. Personally, having now done it, I would have cut the climb up the Leaning Tower of Pisa since that was rather disappointing and consumed a good half hour that would have eased the schedule enough to make it less stressful at the end of the day. To do Pisa right, you probably need a few hours there to fully explore the site and enjoy it. Alternatively, just stop by for 30min, view the tower and take some quick photos and move on.

Certaldo

Certaldo is a small Tuscan town that has a medieval castle like old town up on a hill overlooking the Tuscan country side and the somewhat more modern town that sprawls below. You can visit the old town easily thanks to a Funicular that only costs a few Euro. You end up in a very charming little walled village made almost entirely of brick. I'd like to spend more time there, but as it was, we really couldn't afford to spend even half an hour there as we had a wine tasting tour.

Here are a couple of photos of this charming little village...

The view from the top of the Funicular...

A home in upper Certaldo...

Castello Oliveto Wine Tasting / Tour

Castello Oliveto is a fantastic winery that's actually in a Medieval Castle on a hill-top in Tuscany. They offer wine tastings and tours most days in the morning or afternoon. The price is 13-Euro and includes a tour of the castle, wine making, and cellar, tasting of 6-8 different wines, as well as some bruchetta and other antipasto. It was the perfect winery experience in my opinion. And I was amazed that it was just the two of us. Very personal!

Their website: http://www.castellooliveto.it

Here are a couple of photos of the castle, cellar, and wine tasting spread...

The castle entrance...

The cellar...

The selection of wines for tasting...

Enjoying a glass and some antipasto in the courtyard...

San Gimignano

San Gimignano is another amazing little medieval Tuscan town with an interesting history. It's most distinguishing feature are all the towers in the town. I won't go into a lot of detail here, other than to say, it's charming, beautiful, full of wonderful shops, and climbing the Big Tower (Torre Gross) has some very rewarding views. Definitely worth looking into and visiting. One of the highlights of our trip to be sure!

Some photos...

San Gimignano from a distance...

One of the gate houses...

The view from the top of the Big Tower...

The main town square (Piazza della Cisterna)...

Pisa

While the field of miracles and the bapistry, cathedral and leaning tower are both beautiful and interesting, I felt it was somewhat of a tourist trap. As I said above, if this is your thing, do it right and spend a few hours there, if not, either give it a pass completely, or stop by for 30 min. and take the obligatory photos of your companion(s) holding up the tower. :) I would not recommend going up the tower itself. The views are not that great as there really isn't much to see outside the immediate Field of Miracles vicinity. It's a strenuous climb in the heat, and it costs far more than it should at 17-Euro IMHO. If you want to buy tickets to climb the tower you can do so in advance on the web here (you need to pick a date and time): http://boxoffice.opapisa.it/Torre/index.jsp

Here are a couple of photos...

The cathedral and leaning tower...

The tower...

The view from the top of the tower...

The bapistry and cathedral...

The obligatory shot of my GF holding up the tower...

So that concludes our day in Livorno. It was a fabulous day with San Gimignano and the Castle winery being among the highlights of our cruise.

As usual, my thanks to all the folks that contributed to my trip planning over the last several months.

If you have any questions, I'll be sure to try and answer them.

The crispness of your photos is amazing. My old Canon SLR isn't that good, or I'm not (probably some of both).

My sense of Pisa is that it's a "love it" or "leave it" kind of place. I was in the first camp the first time I was there, but really enjoyed it on my second visit when I had two of the kids with me. We spent several hours there and really focused on the museum, which was wonderful.

Are you a professional photographer?What did you like the best In S/G?

The crispness of your photos is amazing. My old Canon SLR isn't that good, or I'm not (probably some of both).

 

My sense of Pisa is that it's a "love it" or "leave it" kind of place. I was in the first camp the first time I was there, but really enjoyed it on my second visit when I had two of the kids with me. We spent several hours there and really focused on the museum, which was wonderful.

Thanks... I'm sure you're right about Pisa.

Are you a professional photographer?What did you like the best In S/G?

Thanks, I'm not a professional photographer, although I would love to be! When it comes to San Gimignano, I loved the medieval architecture and the views from the tower the most, and my GF loved all the amazing shops.

Amazing :)

Another fantastic review, I am booking yours for future use. We are making our second Livorno stop next summer but will be heading to FLorence again.

OP, you were indeed very lucky when you visited Castello Oliveto. We did a ship's excursion to San G and the Castello. There were about 3 busloads of folks at our wine tasting. And approximately 100 buses of folks at San G. Just too many people! Glad you were able to do it on your own and have such a wonderful time.

And thank you for the beautiful view from the tower in San G. I have a fear of heights so would not go to the top, but it's nice to see someone else's photos.

Hope your car rental works out in your favor.

OP, you were indeed very lucky when you visited Castello Oliveto. We did a ship's excursion to San G and the Castello. There were about 3 busloads of folks at our wine tasting. And approximately 100 buses of folks at San G. Just too many people! Glad you were able to do it on your own and have such a wonderful time.

 

And thank you for the beautiful view from the tower in San G. I have a fear of heights so would not go to the top, but it's nice to see someone else's photos.

 

Hope your car rental works out in your favor.

Wow, yeah... 3 bus loads of folks at Castello Oliveto could easily turn it from a trip highlight into a "get me out of here" kind of experience. :)