Train to Florence

[dlentz]

I have a question whether it makes sense to go to Florence from FCO upon arrival at 3 PM on friday and return to the Rome port by sunday afternoon to get on our Carnival Cruise? After the cruise we will have 3 nights in Italy before we fly home from FCO. I am just trying to pack in as many sights as we can while we are there. Of course, our ship does dock in LIvorno for 1 day in order to see Florence, but I would also like to see some the small "hill" towns around Florence which I thought we could do on that saturday pre-cruise.

 

Anybody have an opinion? If so, any hints on train reservations, where we go to get the train and if it makes any sense? After the cruise, I think we will spend our time in Rome.

[crazy4cruzin]

If you take the Eurostar train from Rome to Florence you can be there in an hour and a half. It's a quick trip. From FCO you can take the Leonardo Express to Roma Termini rail station and then hope on the Eurostar. You will probably be in Florence in time for dinner. If you arrive at 3:00 by plane and then have to clear customs, take the Leonardo Express, and then the train to Florence I would imagine it all would take about 3 to 4 hours at best. You would then have all day Saturday and part of Sunday in Florence, which will give you more time to see this beautiful city. We are doing something similar to this also. From Livorno instead of going to Florence we will rent a car and see Pisa, San Gimignano and Siena, which seems do-able and an easy drive. We will do a pre-cruise stay in Florence. Hope this helps. Go to Trenitalia.com for train schedules.

[Hlitner]

The trip to Florence is doable, but I am not sure taking the train would suit your purpose of seeing the "hill towns." The region around Florence is full of interesting towns and villages (not to mention vineyards) but you will need a car if you want to really explore outside of Florence. If you have a real spirit of adventure, you could rent a car at FCO and drive up to Tuscany. The only problem is that the rental car companies in Civitavecchia used to all be closed on Sundays. However, we have previously been able to convince the local Europcar office to deliver a car to us on a Sunday,, so they might be willing to allow returns. In that case you would be able to drive directly to the port (Europcar's office is about 300 yards from the port entrance).

 

Hank

[dlentz]

We are thinking of getting off the ship 1 day early At Livorno and stay thursday & friday night in Florence, then take the train to Rome on saturday morning and spend one more night in Rome, then sunday night near the airport for an early morning flight. This would give us a total of 3 nights in Rome (friday & saturday pre-cruise and the santurday post curise). I hope we are not trying to pack too much in to our trip by doing this. What do you think?

 

 

If you take the Eurostar train from Rome to Florence you can be there in an hour and a half. It's a quick trip. From FCO you can take the Leonardo Express to Roma Termini rail station and then hope on the Eurostar. You will probably be in Florence in time for dinner. If you arrive at 3:00 by plane and then have to clear customs, take the Leonardo Express, and then the train to Florence I would imagine it all would take about 3 to 4 hours at best. You would then have all day Saturday and part of Sunday in Florence, which will give you more time to see this beautiful city. We are doing something similar to this also. From Livorno instead of going to Florence we will rent a car and see Pisa, San Gimignano and Siena, which seems do-able and an easy drive. We will do a pre-cruise stay in Florence. Hope this helps. Go to Trenitalia.com for train schedules.

[JLC@SD]

I have a question whether it makes sense to go to Florence from FCO upon arrival at 3 PM on friday and return to the Rome port by sunday afternoon to get on our Carnival Cruise? After the cruise we will have 3 nights in Italy before we fly home from FCO. I am just trying to pack in as many sights as we can while we are there. Of course, our ship does dock in LIvorno for 1 day in order to see Florence, but I would also like to see some the small "hill" towns around Florence which I thought we could do on that saturday pre-cruise.

 

Anybody have an opinion? If so, any hints on train reservations, where we go to get the train and if it makes any sense? After the cruise, I think we will spend our time in Rome.

 

Arriving 3 PM Friday leaves no time other than recovering from jet lag for that day. Saturday is an available full day. You need to schedule another day to get as far as Florence to see anything.

 

Sunday....I would not want to try to catch a ship from Florence that day, too much can go wrong. And I would not advise sightseeing that day before getting to the ship.

 

As far as leaving the ship a day early.....have you checked with Carnival...will they allow that. I think they may not.