Florence on your own by Princess question

[wwinfl91]

This question is for those of you who have done the Florence on your own by Princess tour. I understand this will be a big bus tour that will drop us off on the outskirts of Florence and that we will need to find and pay for everything ourselves after we are dropped off.

 

What I am wondering is how long do you actually get in Florence?

 

We were there with a private guide on our last Med cruise and had a great time but since we did Florence and Pisa with the guide we are considering going back to Florence to spend a little more time in this interesting city on our own (we got a little over an hour and a half last time on our own). We saw The David last time and this time we want to do a few of the other things we didn't have time to do last time.

 

Thanks in advance for your assistance.

[Princess Patches]

A few years ago I did the Princess Florence on your own tour. As I recall we had about 5-6 hours in Florence. They left the ship early and got back late. The drive to Florence was about an hour to 1 1/2 hours. They did not drop us on the outskirts of town. We were dropped very close to the center of town, near the Santa Croce.

 

They also gave us a ticket to a small nearby museum, but you don't have to do the tour of the museum if you don't want to. Although the train would have been cheaper, it was easy and comfortable to take the Princess tour bus and we were assured we would get back to the ship on time.

 

I am going on the Golden transatlantic sailing this year and will opt for the tour of Lucca this time since we did the Florence on your own tour last time. However, I do recommend the tour.

[Pam in CA]

Florence is about an hour and a half each way from the pier. Buses (except for city transport buses) are not allowed into the city so that any bus you take, either "on your own" or a Princess tour will drop you off near the river but blocks away from Sante Croce. Regardless of which tour you book, you'll be walking through the city from place to place.

 

We were there just over a month ago on the Sea Princess and opted for a private van with a driver who met us on the pier and took us exactly where we wanted to go in the city. It was obviously more expensive than the "on your own" bus tour but we got to see a lot more of the city plus pick what we wanted to see. You could probably find others on your roll call who would share with you, bringing the cost down.

[Princess Patches]

It was about a three block walk to Santa Croce from where they parked the bus along the Arno and took us a few minutes to walk there. All of the downtown area of Florence is easily manageable by walking. You can get to all the main tourist attractions by walking from where they drop you off including, the Uffizi, the Ponte Vecchio, the Palazzio Vecchio, the Galleria Academia (the David) and il Duomo. By no means is it a long walk or on the outskirts of town.

[AliceS]

Florence on your own worked well for us. We had been there before though. If you have never been, it might be good to take a tour where they explain what you will see. A good tour guide is worth paying the price. Florence is fabulous. What do you want to do? We had a couple with us who just wanted to shop. They don't need a tour.

[chasetf]

It was about a three block walk to Santa Croce from where they parked the bus along the Arno and took us a few minutes to walk there. All of the downtown area of Florence is easily manageable by walking. You can get to all the main tourist attractions by walking from where they drop you off including, the Uffizi, the Ponte Vecchio, the Palazzio Vecchio, the Galleria Academia (the David) and il Duomo. By no means is it a long walk or on the outskirts of town.

Our experience was basically the same. Our guide walked us to Santa Croce, pointed out the place and time we were to all meet. He then met us there and walked us back to the bus. It was all well organized.

 

We had a good six hours which is plenty. Given you cannot do it all, but we saw quite a bit. If you take the time to go through the Uffizi for instance, then obviously you will miss something else.

 

But given you have been there before you will have a good idea of what you want to see. If (or I should say when) we go back we would definitely do the "On Your Own" tour and have guarrented transportation.

[Rusty]

If you go on any "on your own" bus, make sure that you get a map of where the bus will be for your return. If you get lost on your way back to the bus, just show a local the map, with the bus spot circled. We almost missed the bus back to the ship in Italy.

[bmgaritty]

We did this tour a few years back - I purchased tickets online for some of the museums I wanted to visit prior to leaving. It beat standing in line!

I loved the tour - drop me off and let me go! I did not have to wait for any stragglers just get back to the bus at the appointed time.

 

Have fun!

[ISABELLA]

We did it twice. Bus got us in Florence around 10 am, and we gathered together before getting on the bus at 3:45. About 10 min walk to the bus. At 5:30 we were back on the ship. We were lucky - there was no traffic. We planned our day carefuly and saw a lot both times we were there. Florence is wonderful no matter how many times you see it. I wish I was going back any time soon.

[Anemix]

We took the train to and from Florence. We made reservations for the Uffizi and the Academia and didn't have to wait in line. When we were there (May 06) the lines were extremely long, I'm sure over two hours wait in each museum. The number for reservations for both museums is in their websites. We also had enough time to go to the top of il Duomo (fabulous views), visit the Ponte Vecchio and walk from and to the Station. We also booked our train tickets on the Internet before leaving home.

[wwinfl91]

Thanks for all your input. It will help us make a decision on what we are going to do when the Golden docks in Livorno.

 

Have a great next cruise.