Overnight in Livorno

[vav]

We have an overnight stop in Livorno on our upcoming cruise.  Arrive day one 8am leave day two 6pm.

 

We would like to visit both Cinque Terre and Florence/Pisa. Have previously visited both but felt rushed in each location.  Cruise is in April 2025 so swimming/beach is not really a consideration. 

 

Questions:

1). Which location should we do on our first day where we have no set time to return to the ship?

2) Should we consider staying overnight at a hotel or airbnb to maximize time in one location?

3) Are there any options of transportation to/from CT or Florence that would include a late return (8pm) so we can enjoy more of the day.  Looking for recommendations that are not a “tour” just a driver. 
4) Any other place we should consider instead of CT given the distance from Livorno port?

 

thanks in advance for your suggestions!

[CruiserBruce]

Cinque Terre is much further away, so I would do that the first day.

 

Pisa and Florence would be another long day...

 

In both cases, if you are not interested in a private tour and transport, which are most definitely the most efficient use of your time, you are pretty much limited to trains.

[edinburgher]

4 hours ago, vav said:

Florence/Pisa. Have previously visited both but felt rushed in each location.

You would be even more rushed this time around were you to include both in one day, also you would need to pre-book entry times for some of the top attractions in Florence should you want to visit and that would restrict your movements even more.

 

As an alternative, you could consider pretty Lucca, part way between Pisa and  Florence with much shorter travel times.( I think only a half hour or so on the train from Pisa to Lucca) Many cruise pssengers will combine Pisa and Lucca on a single day as they are also on the same train line and easily explored independently. Or you could consider Lucca alone as it would be new to you..  After such a long (and tiring?) day 1 at CT, you might welcome a slower paced day 2 with time for a sit down meal or gelato,and some people watching alongside sightseeing, instead of another even  faster paced and tiring day.

 

Lucca is a bit of a Tuscan gem.  Info and images to tempt you will be easily found online.

Edited April 21 by edinburgher

[bluedevil1]

We've decided to do the same thing on our upcoming trip.  We are taking the train to Manarola in the morning, then the ferry to Vernazza and finally hiking to Monterosso.  Once we wrap up there in the afternoon, we plan to take the train to Pisa to see the tower, and then back on the train to Florence where we've booked a hotel a short walk from the station.  That way we can get an earlier start seeing the sights in Florence before taking the train back to Livorno after lunch with plenty of time to get back to the ship before the all aboard time. Based on our calculations, it actually saves us money vs. doing the ship's excursions to Cinque Terre and Florence/Pisa (even when accounting for travel costs, hotel, and meals) and allows us to travel at our own pace and have more time at each location.

[vav]

7 hours ago, bluedevil1 said:

We've decided to do the same thing on our upcoming trip.  We are taking the train to Manarola in the morning, then the ferry to Vernazza and finally hiking to Monterosso.  Once we wrap up there in the afternoon, we plan to take the train to Pisa to see the tower, and then back on the train to Florence where we've booked a hotel a short walk from the station.  That way we can get an earlier start seeing the sights in Florence before taking the train back to Livorno after lunch with plenty of time to get back to the ship before the all aboard time. Based on our calculations, it actually saves us money vs. doing the ship's excursions to Cinque Terre and Florence/Pisa (even when accounting for travel costs, hotel, and meals) and allows us to travel at our own pace and have more time at each location.

This sounds like a great plan!

 

id love to hear more details when you sort them out. How to get to train station, what train goes to each location and also what hotel you selected in Florence