Florence on your own!

[davewg59]

Does anybody know if the meeting place is the same as the dropping off place for the say tour on your own?

 

 

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[barneyboy]

Is this the tour where you get the train to Florence? We did this in October. We were escorted to the Duomo and we had to meet back in front of the railway station. If we hadn't wanted to go to the Duomo we could have left the group on arrival at the station.

 

 

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[davewg59]

No it is the coach trip

 

 

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[gold1953]

No it is the coach trip

 

 

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We did that and it was very good .

The bus cannot get all the way into the town square area so drop off was near. The guide walked us in to the meeting point in the square. All went well except for the late people who claimed their issue was ability to walk .. but they should have allowed time for their 'handicap'

Well worth paying Celebrity . We had a great narrated ride on the bus trip as well. When we checked the price of a private trip this was a deal

[cruise kitty]

Hi, we did Florence on our own on our May 2016 cruise, we used a private driver who picked us & 4 other roll call members up at the port, we were on our way within 10 minutes of being allowed to disembark, & then dropped off in central Florence, picked up at end of the day & driven back to the ship, we probably had about 2.5 to 3 extra hours in Florence over the ship transport for a little less money. Let me know if you want the name of the company. :)

[DYKWIA]

We did that and it was very good .

The bus cannot get all the way into the town square area so drop off was near. The guide walked us in to the meeting point in the square. All went well except for the late people who claimed their issue was ability to walk .. but they should have allowed time for their 'handicap'

Well worth paying Celebrity . We had a great narrated ride on the bus trip as well. When we checked the price of a private trip this was a deal

 

This was our experience as well. We did the Pisa and Florence on your own. Very good trip - we'd previously done the guided tour of Florence so this "on your own" trip was ideal.

 

My wife and I quite like Celebrity's "on your own" tours - they usually provide a reasonably good tour guide who provides enough information (for us) and structure to the day but also give you enough time to do your own thing. I sometimes despair on the more in depth tours when they give those headphones out and you're wandering the busy streets looking for your tour guide trying to make out what they're saying over cackle from the poor quality earpieces.

[cangelmd]

We did this a zillion years ago, but I think the pattern is still the same.

Bus from port to Florence, which is by itself a long bus ride, tour guide leads your group to a prominent location in the centro storico, giving a little tour as you walk. Then you get a meet back time at the same location and you are on your own.

Buses cannot park in the centro storico, hence the little walking tour to the meet place.

It was a long time ago and we were a lot younger, but we saw a lot and had a great lunch in that time.

A good map, and a plan for what you want to see, OR an idea of where the good cafes are located is a must.

[bigbenboys]

Our was a Celebrity excursion. We took a coach to the train station. Then the train with the guide to Florence. The guide walked us down to the cathedral. We bought timed tickets ahead of time for Uffizi museum and Galleria dell'Accademia. We pick up the tickets for both museums across the street from Galleria dell'Accademia. Then we got in line. I'm told the lines are short for off season. We were to both museums early, got in line and they let us in. It did not matter what time our tickets said.

[dandylion]

Hi, we did Florence on our own on our May 2016 cruise, we used a private driver who picked us & 4 other roll call members up at the port, we were on our way within 10 minutes of being allowed to disembark, & then dropped off in central Florence, picked up at end of the day & driven back to the ship, we probably had about 2.5 to 3 extra hours in Florence over the ship transport for a little less money. Let me know if you want the name of the company. :)

Cruise kitty, could you email me the company name: pwilson2athotmaildotcom

thanks

[cruise kitty]

Cruise kitty, could you email me the company name: pwilson2athotmaildotcom

thanks

Of course, you've got mail, check your spam too. This is the name of the company, I was very happy with their service! Highly rated on TripAdvisor

 

 

 

 

Nicola Scovenna NCC - Private Tours & Transfers

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[upwarduk]

We did a Princess tour last summer, Florence and time on your own. The guide talked all the way in to Florence and then for about 2 hrs as we walked us through the sites. She dropped us in the Square where we were given 3 hrs free time and then met us in the same place.

 

Entrance to the Square.

 

Meeting point.

 

 

She then walked us to the bus, which was parked along side the river. That was a long walk.

 

 

We were then taken for an over view of Florence, most Tours seemed to stop there.

 

 

Edited January 8, 2018 by upwarduk

[ElmaLee]

We booked a shared tour with Cruising Excursions. Picked up in a minibus (vehicle size depends upon numbers) and driven almost to Duomo. Picked up at same place for return. Less expensive than tour ship excursion and had more time. Plenty to walk around in Florence.

[Beanb41]

We did Florence on our own last year. We caught a taxi to the train station, train to Florence and walked from station to Uffuzi Gallery followed by visit to Accademia to see David. Train back to Pisa , bus from station to field of Miracles to see leaning tower and return to station Train back to Livorno and taxi to ship. Left ship around 7.30 am back on board at 5.30 pm. All entry tickets and train tickets purchased on line prior to arrival. Only had to pay for taxi and buses. At Florence train station was a guy selling tourist maps of Florence for 1 Euro.I think the whole day cost us less than 100 Euros for two people

[cangelmd]

One thing to check out if you are considering a private tour is how you get from port to Florence and where you will be dropped off.

 

Taking a train would be interesting in and of itself, you can see different areas than a bus BUT, the minibus will get you closer to the historic center than a large bus, which might mean a little less walking.

 

We were also able to see the David and do the lightning tour of the Uffizi on this tour, but we were booking it, and I think we and we had a little longer than 3 hours. We were dropped off at Santa Croce.