La Spezia-Tuscan Farmhouse and Village of Lari excursion

[luv2camp04]

For anyone that has done this tour @GenerationX -I believe you did this???  We will be in La Spezia overnight and doing Florence on Day 1.  I'm trying to decide if we should do Cinque Terre or Tuscany.  Tuscany has always been my bucket list place to see.  I know this will only be a small taste.  My question is:  did you feel like you got a feel for Tuscany?  Was it a relaxing day?  Florence will be a very long day and I'm thinking something like this might be perfect.  Suggestions please.  This is for June.

 

Thanks!

[upwarduk]

We did the Farmhouse experience in the morning and then visited Pompeii in the afternoon ( horrendous heat without any shade).

i have attached photos of the farmhouse experience.

We passed the hills where they quarry the stone used in the statues in Florence.

Then we got out of the coach to be taken by horse & cart to the farmhouse.

Lunch was served.

We were given time to look round the inside of the farmhouse where there were shops.

Edited May 3 by upwarduk

[peanut head]

We had done the Farmhouse Experience and would not do it again.  The drive, each way, was more than an hour (maybe 90 minutes) from the port along highways and then the return was the same route.  You did get to see the countryside and Pisa from a distance (including the Leaning Tower).  The time spent at the Farmhouse was about 90 minutes.  It was just too much time in a bus for us.😊

 

Once at the Farmhouse entrance, you got on a 2 horse drawn open carriage for 7 minutes to the vineyard/farmhouse/gift shop/outdoor patio.  The meal was unlimited red and white wine, an antipasto and a medley of different pastas.  The food was okay and filling.  The tables accommodated about 8 people.

 

You had time to walk around the vineyard after eating or browse the gift shop.  There were restrooms available.

 

In our opinion, we just felt that it was mediocre.  Unfortunately, the port is pretty far from main tourist attractions so a long drive is necessary wherever you choose to go.

 

For our cruise, we came in 4 days early.  We flew into Rome and hired a private car and guide and drove to Florence.  On the way we stopped at Orvieto for a walking tour of the town, cistern and caverns and lunch.  We spent 3 days touring Florence (on our own) with a day trip to Pisa.  We then took the same car service to Civitavecchia the morning of the cruise.  We were very happy to have had the opportunity to have a "land based" intensive time before the cruise knowing that the shore excursions could not give us the experiences we wanted in Florence/Tuscany. 

[TMLAalum]

FWIW-

The 5 Cinque Terre Villages are so crowded that a day trip is not as enjoyable as if you stayed in one of the towns for several days and visited the others from there.

Portovenere, a world heritage site is an easy trip by public bus or boat from La Spezia. While there you can take an hour long 3 island boat tour (https://www.porto-venere.com/en/three-island-on-boat)

Perhaps there will be an excursion offered to here, but we used the bus r/t. The stop was maybe 5 blocks from the pier.

[CruiseloverfromGA]

3 hours ago, peanut head said:

We had done the Farmhouse Experience and would not do it again.  The drive, each way, was more than an hour (maybe 90 minutes) from the port along highways and then the return was the same route.  You did get to see the countryside and Pisa from a distance (including the Leaning Tower).  The time spent at the Farmhouse was about 90 minutes.  It was just too much time in a bus for us.😊

 

Once at the Farmhouse entrance, you got on a 2 horse drawn open carriage for 7 minutes to the vineyard/farmhouse/gift shop/outdoor patio.  The meal was unlimited red and white wine, an antipasto and a medley of different pastas.  The food was okay and filling.  The tables accommodated about 8 people.

 

You had time to walk around the vineyard after eating or browse the gift shop.  There were restrooms available.

 

In our opinion, we just felt that it was mediocre.  Unfortunately, the port is pretty far from main tourist attractions so a long drive is necessary wherever you choose to go.

 

For our cruise, we came in 4 days early.  We flew into Rome and hired a private car and guide and drove to Florence.  On the way we stopped at Orvieto for a walking tour of the town, cistern and caverns and lunch.  We spent 3 days touring Florence (on our own) with a day trip to Pisa.  We then took the same car service to Civitavecchia the morning of the cruise.  We were very happy to have had the opportunity to have a "land based" intensive time before the cruise knowing that the shore excursions could not give us the experiences we wanted in Florence/Tuscany. 

I agree.  The ride out to the Farmhouse was not worth the limited time we spent there.  I shared my dissatisfaction with the shore excursion desk.

[Cruise Gopher]

Cinque Terre is amazing and easily able to be done on your own. We have done Cinque Terre three times now on various Med cruises.