Taxis at Livorno Centrale?

[CSIMelissa]

I will be stopping in Livorno on a cruise in October and am planning on taking a cab from the port to the train station.

 

When I get back from my train trip, will there be cabs at the train station to take us back to the port? Is there a certain area they will be?

 

That may be a silly question but I don't want to waste time trying to find a cab since we'll need to get back to the ship before it leaves.

[MAKEM]

I will be stopping in Livorno on a cruise in October and am planning on taking a cab from the port to the train station.

 

When I get back from my train trip, will there be cabs at the train station to take us back to the port? Is there a certain area they will be?

 

That may be a silly question but I don't want to waste time trying to find a cab since we'll need to get back to the ship before it leaves.

 

taxis are always coming & going to the station,

20 euros fare,

there will be others cruise passengers getting off the train, ask to share

[dfwguy62]

In theory, there are taxis available at the station to take you back to port. There is a clearly marked taxi area to the left side of the station as you exit the doors. However, on our trip in July, there were about 10 people waiting for a taxi and we waited for about 15 minutes and still did not see a single taxi. We had arrived back from Florence a little earlier than most cruise passengers probably usually do, so I think the taxis were not yet converging on the train station to accommodate the usual cruise passenger load.

 

After waiting for 15 minutes with no taxi in sight, we opted for Plan B, which was to take the bus from the station to Piazza Grande, and then tracked down the ship shuttle back to the port from there. The bus stop is right in front of the train station. You may want to prepare for this option as a backup. I think most ships have this shuttle going between port and Piazza Grande. But it's not really walkable from the train station to Piazza Grande.

[CSIMelissa]

Thanks to everyone for their responses.

 

Good idea about the bus back up plan. :D

 

Don't want to take pictures of the ship sailing away without us.

 

We're leaving the ship at about 9:00, about 2 hours after we come into port and will be getting back to the train station at about 4:00-ish which is about 3 hours before we leave port, so hopefully it will not be a problem.

[euro cruiser]

Even if there are not taxis at the stand when you exit the station, if you have a cell phone you can call one. Numbers are usually posted nearby.

[Hlitner]

I have previously posted some comments about the taxi situation at the station. If you are returning to Livorno late in the afternoon on a train that arrives within 90 minutes of your cruise departure, the demand for taxis will exceed the supply. There are normally a few taxis in queue at the stazione for every train, but they quickly disappear when folks get off the train. We generally try to be one of the first off the train and walk as quickly as possible to the station entrance to grab one of those few taxis. Once they are gone, you might have a 10 - 30 minute wait...which is a good reason not to cut things too close on when you need to be back on the ship.

 

Hank

[CSIMelissa]

I have previously posted some comments about the taxi situation at the station. If you are returning to Livorno late in the afternoon on a train that arrives within 90 minutes of your cruise departure, the demand for taxis will exceed the supply. There are normally a few taxis in queue at the stazione for every train, but they quickly disappear when folks get off the train. We generally try to be one of the first off the train and walk as quickly as possible to the station entrance to grab one of those few taxis. Once they are gone, you might have a 10 - 30 minute wait...which is a good reason not to cut things too close on when you need to be back on the ship.

 

Hank

 

 

Thanks.... I've allowed for approximately 3 hours between the time the train gets back and the time the ship leaves, so hopefully that will be enough time to get back to the ship! LOL

[Hlitner]

Thanks.... I've allowed for approximately 3 hours between the time the train gets back and the time the ship leaves, so hopefully that will be enough time to get back to the ship! LOL

 

3 hours! Well, that is certainly conservative. In fact, you could probably crawl from the train station to the port in 3 hours :) Most visitors will opt for the 3:27 train which maximizes their time in Florence. Assuming your ship is scheduled to depart at 7 (this is the norm) this means you need to be back by 6:30. That 3:27 gives passengers 1 1/2 hours to get from station to ship which is usually not a problem since its only about a 10 min drive. The 2:27 will be less crowded (and less of a problem getting a taxi in Livorno) but it sure reduces the time in Florence.

 

Hank

[CSIMelissa]

Not going to Florence, heading to a beautiful shore town close to Livorno; it's only about a 30 minute train ride.

 

Florence is on my long list of places I want to visit in Italy though..... Gives me an excuse to go back!

[grapejuice]

Melissa where is this lovely seaside place you talk about outside Livorno Thanks

[CSIMelissa]

Viareggio

[GSPLover]

Mel,

I do not think that you will have a problem with the taxis. If it appears that you think you will, wink at, and tip the ewstand guy - he could work

miracles.

[CSIMelissa]

Mel,

I do not think that you will have a problem with the taxis. If it appears that you think you will, wink at, and tip the ewstand guy - he could work

miracles.

:D but just in case I took a look at the info on taking the #1 bus from the station on your site.

 

Is it time to go yet?

[bokelt]

What is the best way to get from Livorno to Viareggio? I was there 2 yrs ago during a week stay in Pisa (for a class reunion). We used regular bus and train services everywhere from Pisa. However, I do not know if there is a service from Livorno. We also want to go back there.

[Hlitner]

You can easily take the train from Livorno to Viareggio....in fact it would be the same train line that you took from Pisa (the train takes about 15 min to get from Livorno to Pisa and another 15 min to get to Viareggio). Your biggest hassle will be getting a taxi to take you to the train station from the port.

 

Hank

[CSIMelissa]

You can easily take the train from Livorno to Viareggio....in fact it would be the same train line that you took from Pisa (the train takes about 15 min to get from Livorno to Pisa and another 15 min to get to Viareggio). Your biggest hassle will be getting a taxi to take you to the train station from the port.

 

Hank

Hank,

 

There are several trains that go there daily. Sometimes you can go straight to Viareggio with no connections, other times you have to catch a connecting train in Pisa. Just depends on when you want to go. Trenitalia's web site has the timetables.

 

I'm planning on taking the EuroStar City directly from Livorno but the return train is a regional train with a connection in Pisa.

 

There is bus service there too, but I haven't looked into that.

 

If there are no taxis at the Livorno port when I get off the ship I feel confident with taking the bus to the station, but I'll allow myself plenty of time to get there just in case there's some type of delay catching the bus.

[CSIMelissa]

What is the best way to get from Livorno to Viareggio? I was there 2 yrs ago during a week stay in Pisa (for a class reunion). We used regular bus and train services everywhere from Pisa. However, I do not know if there is a service from Livorno. We also want to go back there.

Ooops I answered you below, but I clicked on the wrong post to reply to! LOL

[bokelt]

Hank,

 

There are several trains that go there daily. Sometimes you can go straight to Viareggio with no connections, other times you have to catch a connecting train in Pisa. Just depends on when you want to go. Trenitalia's web site has the timetables.

 

I'm planning on taking the EuroStar City directly from Livorno but the return train is a regional train with a connection in Pisa.

 

There is bus service there too, but I haven't looked into that.

 

If there are no taxis at the Livorno port when I get off the ship I feel confident with taking the bus to the station, but I'll allow myself plenty of time to get there just in case there's some type of delay catching the bus.

 

I just looked again on this thread. Thanks for your replies. We took the bus from Pisa to Viareggio previously. We only took the train from Pisa to Florence at that time. I will look into the bus service, which was great and the scenery was nicer than by train. I prefer the bus if at all possible.

[Hlitner]

Hank,

 

There are several trains that go there daily. Sometimes you can go straight to Viareggio with no connections, other times you have to catch a connecting train in Pisa. Just depends on when you want to go. Trenitalia's web site has the timetables.

 

I'm planning on taking the EuroStar City directly from Livorno but the return train is a regional train with a connection in Pisa.

 

There is bus service there too, but I haven't looked into that.

 

If there are no taxis at the Livorno port when I get off the ship I feel confident with taking the bus to the station, but I'll allow myself plenty of time to get there just in case there's some type of delay catching the bus.

 

I guess my question would be "what bus to the station?" If you cannot get a taxi at the pier, chances are that you will not be permitted to walk out of the port (most of the cruise ships now dock in a secure section that is more than a mile from the port entrance)" Assuming that there is no internal port bus (we have never seen this elusive bus if it exists) your only option other than a taxi would be to take the shuttle bus provided by your cruise ship. These buses generally cost around $10 one-way and take you into town, but not anywhere near the train station. From the bus drop in town you would than need to take a local bus (or a taxi) to the station. The problem with all this planning is that the shuttle buses from the cruise ship often do not even start to run until around 8:30 which means a long delay in getting to the Livorno train station. We have seen more than a few cruise passengers very angry with this situation..especially those who think they can take the bus to catch the train to Florence that leaves around 8.

 

Hank

[euro cruiser]

If you cannot get a taxi at the pier, chances are that you will not be permitted to walk out of the port (most of the cruise ships now dock in a secure section that is more than a mile from the port entrance)" Assuming that there is no internal port bus (we have never seen this elusive bus if it exists) your only option other than a taxi would be to take the shuttle bus provided by your cruise ship. These buses generally cost around $10 one-way and take you into town, but not anywhere near the train station.

Apparently there is quite a bit of variation at Livorno - maybe driven by the cruise lines? In July when we were there on the NCL Gem there was a ship-sponsored shuttle bus that cost $5 (US) round trip. We were led to believe that this was our only option for getting into town. As Hank says, it left us more than a mile from the train station and we paid 1 Euro for the town bus to the station.

 

However, only after we paid the cruise line for the shuttle bus, we discovered a line of taxis right next to the ship, only a few steps beyond the shuttle bus. If we hadn't already dropped $40 on the shuttle we would have kept on walking to the taxi line ... and in retrospect, we should have done it anyway and just written off the $40 as an NCL learning experience.