Princess - Livorno to Florence on your own MUST read this!

[GSPLover]

what do you suggest doing in Pisa/Florence, we originally booked an excursion through the ship that went to pisa and a day at a resort beach but now we are not so sure especially spending all that money in case it rains. We are a family of 5 with 3 teenagers, what would you suggest? thanks for your help!

 

Florence with three teenagers - send them to the top of the duomo (a LOT of stairs to climb) - Mom and Dad can relax at one of the outside bars nearby with a tall cool one (unless they like stairs too!)

[grandbanksguy]

What you have heard is somebody's variation of what they have heard from somebody else. They are not that frequent. I have taken well over 150 trains in Italy and have only been impacted three times (2 under 30 min and one about an hour). The strikes, most often, are against a particular segment and quite often only one particular train. Strikes are posted on the internet on a daily basis (which does not mean to imply that they happen daily - because they do not).

 

I don't care how you are traveling in Italy, always have a plan B. You probably may never use it, but always have an alternative plan.

 

No shuttle off the pier, no taxi to the train station in Livorno, no train from Livorno to Florence. We're taking the Princess "Florence on your oun" bus for $59 round trip. No hassle. :rolleyes:

[HMSDingy]

No shuttle off the pier, no taxi to the train station in Livorno, no train from Livorno to Florence. We're taking the Princess "Florence on your oun" bus for $59 round trip. No hassle. :rolleyes:

 

Good for you but what if you're not on a Princess ship:confused:

[grandbanksguy]

Good for you but what if you're not on a Princess ship:confused:

 

As I recall, the Title of this thread is "Princess - Livorno to Florence on your own MUST read this!". :cool: If your not on Princess, then you are on the wrong thread. :eek:

[HMSDingy]

I don't think this thread has ONLY to do with Princess as can bee seen by many of the other posters who are asking general questions of how to get around Livorno/Florence. My post was in the form of a question to which I would assume some kind of answer. Not "this it Prirncess and you're not so get out" answer!!:mad:

[peachquilter]

Florence with three teenagers - send them to the top of the duomo (a LOT of stairs to climb) - Mom and Dad can relax at one of the outside bars nearby with a tall cool one (unless they like stairs too!)

 

GSPLover -- thank you for your site regarding Italian trains - I appreciate all of the time you have put into it to help each of us. I seem to recall that you said there are 3 train stops in Florence. How do I know which stop to get off the train? At this time, I am not sure what we are going to do in Florence other than walk around and enjoy.

 

Marilyn

[GSPLover]

GSPLover -- thank you for your site regarding Italian trains - I appreciate all of the time you have put into it to help each of us. I seem to recall that you said there are 3 train stops in Florence. How do I know which stop to get off the train? At this time, I am not sure what we are going to do in Florence other than walk around and enjoy.

 

Marilyn

 

For tourists, and most of us, it is Firenze SMN. It is the second Firenze (Florence) that you will hear announced (even though you won't understand it).

[J2911]

[Check the Italy/Crotia review on my website as that is exactly whta we did.]

 

Thank you so much. Your site is very informative and helpful. Great pictures! Thanks again

[jchiefs13]

Well, for what it is worth ... when I called my RC cruise consultant (he's fantastic and has a wealth of tips and information for everything we've asked thus far) he knew nothing of this and noted that when he was recently there on RC he did not have to pay for a shuttle.

 

Now, do I 100% drink kool-aid, no, of course not, but I'll play wait and see and will calmly address the absurdity at the customer service desk worst case scenario.

 

Judy

[my2monsters]

For tourists, and most of us, it is Firenze SMN. It is the second Firenze (Florence) that you will hear announced (even though you won't understand it).

 

To clarify, the SMN stands for Santa Maria Novella. When I was looking for the schedule, I found that I had to type that in completely before I could access to schedule. Those Italian train websites are picky.

[StarTrkGeek]

Good for you but what if you're not on a Princess ship:confused:

Both Royal Caribbean and Celebrity offer the Florence on your Own excursion.

[HMSDingy]

True but at $114 CAD per person.:eek: That's a tad higher than the train fare.

[boiledham]

Yes, Princess shuttled us to town. It's not that far and it's free. Although I did see that we had passed a few scooter/ATV rentals on the way in town, close to boat. Had I saw them, we would have just walked over to scooters instead.

 

Take my advice, rent the scooters or ATV. They are BY FAR the best way to get around Mykonos and are only about E15. I said before in another post that everyone that we talked too that didn't rent a scooter regretted it. You don't need license, heck or ever a credit card, just your boat card to rent. ATV's are easy to ride if you can't handle scooter. BUT GET ONE and go explore. You can't get lost on that island.

 

 

Do they have an age requirement? I have a 15 yr. old...does he get to drive or ride on on the ATV? We leave Monday for the Venice to Barcelona..July 3rd Ruby.