Livorno to Florence On Your Own

[jessinat]

Husband and I are wanting to get from NCL Jewel berth to Livorno train station and then on to Florence. Any assistance would be greatly appreciated, this is our first time in Med. Also if anyone has trip notes from their individual day in Florence could you share. I don't believe that we want to do Florence and Pisa (only in Livorno from 7 am - 7 pm) but could be wrong, ideas???

 

TIA

 

Carlene

[Hlitner]

Well, I would imagine a car and driver would cost more than $300 for a day vs about $23 per person (roundtrip) for the train. Of course you would also need to spend a few dollars to get to and from the Livorno station. Keep in mind that after you buy your train tickets you need to validate them (before you get on the train) by having them stamped by the machine that sits on or near the platform (you will see others doing this).

 

Hank

[envy4u]

The cab ride from Livorno to the train staion is about 15 Euros . Too far to walk .

 

We did both Pisa and Florence but it was too rushed . I would suggest doing only Florence . It is very walkable .

 

We did all the ports on our own and saved a ton of money .

[jaxon41]

The cab ride from Livorno to the train staion is about 15 Euros . Too far to walk .

 

We did both Pisa and Florence but it was too rushed . I would suggest doing only Florence . It is very walkable .

 

We did all the ports on our own and saved a ton of money .

 

I have read that getting a cab to and from the station is a dicey affair. Did you find this? I have read that cabs don't want to take people to the station because they want full fares to Florence so you have to run up and down trying to beg one to take you and then coming back, good luck. Was this not your experience? I'd like to take the train and save some money, but I don't want to be stuck at a train station as the ship pulls out, either.

[Schplinky]

I have read this also. I'm wondering if the cabbie might be more amenable if you got two couples and offered to pay a separate fare for each couple. It's a bit less annoying then. Also, I would think if you left the ship early, they could get you to the station and then get back fast enough to get a full day fare.

[Hlitner]

It is true that many of the taxis at the port will not want to take anything less than a full-day hire. However, we have been to this port many times, and have always found a taxi willing to take us to the local station. Our normal procedure is to be one of the first off the ship, and than we head straight over to the taxi cue and assertively tell the drivers that we need a taxi to the stazione. Usually, the drivers will know which driver will do that short run. As previously stated, the cost is about 15 Euros and the taxis will hold 4. As an alternative, most of the cruise lines have a shuttle bus that will take you from the port into the center of town. From there, its a few block walk to the station (an up-slope walk). We always grab a taxi in order to save time..and have usually made the train that used to leave around 8 (I havent checked the current schedule) which would get us into Florence by around 9:30. Always check the return schedule before you go off on your daily routine, and allow an extra hour for the return. This way, in a worst case scenario if something happened to the train, you could always grab a taxi back to Livorno (the taxi ride is about the same time as the train).

 

Hank

[Cruiser Nonna]

Did Med cruise July 2005 - as I had been before and had done the train and it worked well (taxi to train station to Florence - on way back - went Florence - stopped in Pisa (taxi to Leaning Tower) taxi back to train and train back to Livorno) - was confident that we would do that.

 

Off the ship and READY - except that the trains were on strike! The tours were full and gone! We were lucky that there was still a taxi driver that we hired for the day - 350 Euros for the day for 2 of us although he had a mini van and the rate would have been lower - he spoke little English but we did stop in Pisa and then he dropped us in Florence and met back.

 

The ship did not know that the train was on strike prior to our getting off - thought maybe it was just a ploy by the taxi drivers but it was not.

 

Just a reminder that the best laid plans etc. etc

[Dinkey]

Did this a couple of years ago, got off ship early and took taxi to the station. Got train to Florence for a few hours then stopped off in Pisa on the return very small town and not too rushed, on return got bus outside Livorno station to Central Livorno where the NCL coach was picking up cruise pax several times a day.

 

Hope this helps, I will be on the Jewel transatlantic crossing on the 30/4/06

[autumn wind]

We are on the same cruise as you 4/30/06 and wanted to know if you got any info for Florence yet? We have not seen you on our "Roll Call" board, for awhile and we also wanted to know about you flight as we will also be flying out of PHL. Did you get your doc's yet? Please let me know what's going on..

 

Thank you..Hope to hear from you soon...We are trying to find something to do in Florence and can't figure it out yet..We wanted to do something like you. Could you please email me at golfs19th@yahoo.com, unless you have already made all your plans. If you wanted to go to any museum's or anything we would have to call ahead and get tickets.

 

Please let me know one way or the other....

 

Thanks again

[tlf]

Carlene,

Check out http://www.europeportreviews.com

They have the best information on getting to/from the train stations in all the major ports.

They even include step by step directions with pictures in most cases.

 

Teresa