Liverno-Pisa-Florence: Guide Recommendation?

[Jade13]

I am having trouble finding a guide for Pisa and Florence. The one recommendation that I received was already booked.

 

Any recommendations and especially some onereasonable (some on-line agents are 750 plus euros)

[ZZROX]

We booked www.romeinlimo.com for 3 different ports.

[cutecr]

We've used below for a lot of tours. They're excellent. About 550-600 Euro for the day.

 

Tuscany Tours by Paola & Giuseppe

120 Via San Gallo - 50129 Firenze, Italy

http://www.florencetour.com - info@florencetour.com

Tel&Fax +39 Italy code 055 472448

Mobile +39 Italy code 347 6572611 Paola

Mobile +39 Italy code 347 3760897 Giuseppe

[Jade13]

guides for Liverno, Pisa and Florence are significantly more expensive than those noted for Naples, Pompeii and Amalfi (350-400 euros vs. 500-600 euros - 4 person Sedan not Van.)

 

Is there a reason (Demand) or is this reasonable because of all the driving to/from Florence and gas costs in Europe. Someone had recommended a driver/guide in Florence they pais 250 but of course he was booked over 6 months in advance. Prices aren't bad for a group of 6 but pricely for family 2-3 persons.

 

I'm just wondering if the driving costs from Liverno are what is "driving" the higher rates?

[virgenia]

We are using Claudio Caponera of limoinrome for a full day tour of Pisa and Florence. He quoted 520 Euros for 4, 640 for 6 people for the day. I used him in Rome in 2005 and he was excellent.

[taxatty]

I recommend Violetta Buti of Florence-- v.buti@beautyinitaly.com --she gave us very nice tours of Tuscany and Florence.

 

Les

[Jade13]

"Molly".

 

Another operater in Italy e-mailed me a phone number no e-mail or full name. I do not know if "Molly" is a women's name etc.

[NYC2FLA]

For the price of a Private Tour in Pisa/Florence, is it best to just use the Cruise appointed tours just for that port? ( Carnival Oct/07 )

 

PJ and Amy

[Host Karen]

For the price of a Private Tour in Pisa/Florence, is it best to just use the Cruise appointed tours just for that port? ( Carnival Oct/07 )

 

PJ and Amy

 

That's exactly what we did during our Brilliance of the Seas Med cruise in June 2005. Several people from our roll call were doing a private tour, but with private tours already set up for Rome, Naples, Athens, and Santorini, we didn't want to add another 250 euros to our budget. Instead, we took Royal Caribbean's "Florence on Your Own" excursion (our only ship sponsored excursion). I can't remember the exact price, but I believe it was around $65 pp. The bus took us to Florence, then we walked about 10 minutes to Santa Croce Square. We arrived around 10:30 and were free to explore on our own until 3:15 when we were all to meet back in the square. We climbed to the top of the duomo, had panini and wine ordered from literally a hole in the wall on one of the side streets, spent 90 minutes trying different wines at a wine bar across the river, made time for some gelato, and wandered the streets. Although we didn't make time for David or the Uffizi, we marked that day as one of the best of our vacation.

 

That tour did not stop in Pisa, but I believe some of the ship tours do. However, I also believe the tours that make that stop are the "follow the lollipop" type of tours, which we definitely did not want to do.

 

If you are confident enough to strike out on your own and can't hook up with a private group tour or don't want to spend the money, you may wish to consider a ship tour. I know others on these boards have used public transportation to get to Pisa and/or Florence, but that was a little too adventurous for me. :)

 

Have a great time, whatever you decide to do. So far, our Med cruise was our best vacation.

[taxatty]

Karen--you do have to be a little adventurous, and hope that there is no train strike when you're there, but the Livorno-Florence train drops you off near the major tourist sights, and costs only the equivalent of about $24 round trip, about an hour and a half travel time each way, with trains leaving hourly. That gives you more flexibility and a much cheaper rate IF you're willing to give it a try.

Les

[Jade13]

problem striking out on my own. In fact, Florence is easy by train and probably 100's from the ship will be doing that.

 

For Florence, the ships tours (at least with HAL) are all outside visits. I don't want to drive by the Leaning Tower, I want to try to book on line to go up it, and if not I recall the church was lovely. There are no insides in Pisa or florence on my ship.

 

The problem is Liverno - Pisa - Florence - Liverno by train. Perhaps the trains are real fequent? I have no idea.

 

If you go to Naples and just want to go to Capri you can take the hydrofoil..If you want to go to Pompeii the train is easy, I did it by myself over 20 years ago after college traveling alone. But, if you want Pompeii and the Amalfi Caoast, well you need a driver.

 

Btw, the drivers are soo much more out of Liverno, 25-50% more than Amalfi. So, its a lot to pay $700 for a family of three (more with museum tickets) but may be the only way to go everywhere you want.

[Host Karen]

Karen--you do have to be a little adventurous, and hope that there is no train strike when you're there, but the Livorno-Florence train drops you off near the major tourist sights, and costs only the equivalent of about $24 round trip, about an hour and a half travel time each way, with trains leaving hourly. That gives you more flexibility and a much cheaper rate IF you're willing to give it a try.

 

Les

 

Train strikes were one of the things that worried me, I'll admit. Since we absolutely did not want to miss Florence and wanted to ensure we had made arrangements to get there in advance, we went with the ship excursion. Perhaps with some experience under our belts, we'll be more adventurous on our next visit. :)

 

Karen

[Jade13]

Paola,one ClaudioLimoinRome

RomeinLimo

 

I'm not planning on using Rome-in Limo as Claudio is the same price for a Van (3 to 4 people vs. sedan). However, both RomeinLimo and LimoinRome are sending a driver/guide. Paola is a bit more pricy but I believe we actually get her plus the driver (I assume she is a licensed guide)? Is it worth paying about 80 euros more for Paola? One thing I like is that she has an 8 passenger van, so there is still the possibilty to find another couple or party of three (or five) to join us and split the cost.

 

Is it worth taking the chance that it will just be our family of three? (I think 660 for 12 hours, 580 for 9 hours - but I think thats too short to leave at 3:30pm to get back to the ship by 5:00pm)

 

Some of these drivers are 500 for a Sedan for 12 hours (max 4) but we would still have to tip the driver as he is being sent by a larger limo service.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Oh, and for thoe who used Paola, did you pay the 10 euros for her to go ino the Uffiz and Accadamia with you as a guide?

[DebNJoe]

Paola,one ClaudioLimoinRome

RomeinLimo

 

I'm not planning on using Rome-in Limo as Claudio is the same price for a Van (3 to 4 people vs. sedan). However, both RomeinLimo and LimoinRome are sending a driver/guide. Paola is a bit more pricy but I believe we actually get her plus the driver (I assume she is a licensed guide)? Is it worth paying about 80 euros more for Paola? One thing I like is that she has an 8 passenger van, so there is still the possibilty to find another couple or party of three (or five) to join us and split the cost.

 

Is it worth taking the chance that it will just be our family of three? (I think 660 for 12 hours, 580 for 9 hours - but I think thats too short to leave at 3:30pm to get back to the ship by 5:00pm)

 

Some of these drivers are 500 for a Sedan for 12 hours (max 4) but we would still have to tip the driver as he is being sent by a larger limo service.

 

Any suggestions?

 

Oh, and for thoe who used Paola, did you pay the 10 euros for her to go ino the Uffiz and Accadamia with you as a guide?

 

We toured Florence with a short stop in Pisa in Oct 2005 with Paola. I believe the cost, including admission to Galleria dell A'ccademia and Basilica Santa Croce, which she purchased ahead of time, came out to approx $125/person. Paola is a licensed guide and was able to bypass the long lines at the A'ccademia. She is very knowledgeable about all the art and architecture.

 

Try to hook up with others on your roll call, she has vans that will accommodate 8 passengers each, which will make the cost more affordable. We joined others from our roll call - I think there were 3 or 4 vans full in our group - we all had a great time.

 

Good luck:D

[Jade13]

than one van? We are planning a specifc itinerary and as long as others follow our plan, I'd love to find other to split the cost.

 

I assume you had 3-4 vans but that was all pre-arranged?

[scampi]

We hired Alessandro Cammilli for our driver guide in Tuscany last Nov. 30th when the Golden Princess docked in Livorno. He was highly recommended by several cruise critic members and we were very pleased with our day & his services. Here is his e-mail address: alecamma@hotmail.com Alessandro only charged us 300 euros for the 4 of us (for 10 1/2 hours). He met us punctually as we disembarked the ship & took us to all the places we wanted to visit (Florence & Pisa) & also he took us to the Tuscany countryside (Panzo in Chianti), to an olive processing & winery farmhouse where we had an excellent lunch. He prepurchased our admission tickets to the Accademia so that we could see the original David. He is in law enforcement & is from Florence & as such knows his way around that area quite well. His car is a new European minivan that holds up to 4 extra passengers. We had a marvelous day. We were delivered right to the ship's gangway in plenty of time to board.

[Jade13]

have been yours) and e-mailed him right away. 300 euros is half of what everyone else is offering.

 

Unfortunately he is already booked for out day, yes, over 6 months in advance :(

 

He also couldn't recommend anyone else which I thought was surprising. At this point I am looking into Paola. She is 660 for 12 hours up to 4 people and about 760 for more people. I'll just have to hope that I find another family of three to join us, 350-380 for our family would be more reasonable and she is a licensed guide. I'm also considering Claudio for 520, but he is sending a driver in a 4 seater van, no guide and olnly opportunity would be for a single passenger to join us.

[DebNJoe]

than one van? We are planning a specifc itinerary and as long as others follow our plan, I'd love to find other to split the cost.

 

I assume you had 3-4 vans but that was all pre-arranged?

Oh yes the tour we did with Paola was pre-arranged by another person on our roll call. The tour operators will take reservations many months in advance, most without any deposit or even credit card info. We are going back to the Med in Sept and I have booked all of my private excursions months ago. I did contact Paola for a tour of the Chianti region for our port stop in Livorno, and although I decided to go with another company for their expertise of the wine area, Paola was very responsive. In fact I received an email from her just yesterday following up to see if we were still interested. As I mentioned, Paola is an excellent guide for Florence & Pisa. You can tell her exactly what you are interested in seeing and she will customize the day for you. ;)

[Jade13]

where you went for lunch. An ideal day would include dinner, but everything is getting very pricey at this stop.

 

"...4 of us (for 10 1/2 hours). He met us punctually as we disembarked the ship & took us to all the places we wanted to visit (Florence & Pisa) & also he took us to the Tuscany countryside (Panzo in Chianti), to an olive processing & winery farmhouse where we had an excellent lunch."

 

and, how on earth did you go through Pisa, Florence and Tuscan Farmhouse lunch in one day? did you stop there before Florence? You ddn't have time to climb the Tower did you? It sounds like a great day but I can't figure how you for it in?

[terumim]

we used tuscany by taxi... 350 divided by 6 .... great driver... on time... and we were by everything...

 

he suggested the best place for lunch...

 

we would use him again in a minute

[scampi]

jade13, We were among the first off the ship at 7:30 a.m. & Alessandro was waiting by the gangplank. First we went to Florence, to several of his favorite sights including a visit to a historic Leather School, La Scuola del Cuoio, (www.leatherschool.it) that is in the Monastery of Santa Croce

Church. His parents used to work here so parking was not a problem nor anywhere in Florence for him. Besides many of the historic buildings, the Accademia, plazas, etc. & shopping, a walk along the jewelry shops on Ponte Vecchio (You must do this!) we were off for the countryside to the Fattoria di Montagliari, in Panzano in Chianti (sorry not Panzo) www.montagliari.it. Alessandro was quite well known here,also. We had a great lunch. Then took a little tour of the winery, sampled the homemade wine, brandy,& some other products, met the owner, purchased some goodies to take with us & off we were to Pisa. We only had about 40 minutes here, no time to climb the leaning tower. But plenty of time to take pictures of us attempting to hold it up. LOL

 

It looks like you have lots of other leads. Is Paola busy? She sounds quite good, also.

[Jade13]

Paola. I hope to find others on our roll call to join us.

 

I did get quotes from 6 operators, only one other was a licensed guide.

 

I will post the list at some point in case others are looking for private drivers and/or guides.

[Louise P]

We are considering this cruise Westerdam 7/10, and would be interested in joining a group tour. Can you enumerate what you have planned with Paola, including prices? We are 4 seniors, and only take private tours.

Louise

[Jade13]

Westerdam and have booked Paolo (July 12). We are a family of three (mid 40's and 15 year old) and are looking for at least another group of 3 (or 5) to join us, since her van holds 8.

 

Senior is fine (My dad turned 70 last year and climbed the lemon squeeze at Mohonk Mountain House in NY), but we do need others with a lot of energy. We have booked her for 11 hours (8-7) back in time for the late dinner seeating. It will probably be our most hectic day the entire week. Fortunately there is a sea day the following day.

 

We can take this over to the roll call board. Do note that we have some things planned that may not interest others (or they may). Besides a stop in Pisa (we plan to book in advance to climb the tower), our other stops will include the Boboli gardens and Jewish Synagogue.

 

I will also post the other tour operators that I contacted. Some were less and def a good deal for a group of 4. Since we are a group of three, we decided to take a risk to get more people together as pricing usually starts with a Sedan for 4. We are also paying extra for 11 hours vs the more standard 9 hours.

[Jade13]

any of them)

Claudio Caponera

www.limoinrome.com

claudio@limoinrome.com

Rome in Limo Company

Mr.Kafelebasi Duman

Circonvallazione Ostiense 183 Scala B

Int.1 00154 Rome, Italy.

www.romeinlimo.com

info@romeinlimo.com

+39 328 652 6705 Duman

+39 340 844 6292 Carlo

+39 06 578 1399 Fax

(e-mail indicated 1 week cancellation policy)

Violetta Buti

violettabuti@yahoo.ca

www.beautyinitaly.com

(Licensed Guide)

The Original & Best Walking Tours of Florence

Via de' Sassetti, 1

50123 Firenze, Italia

Tel: +39 055 2645033

Fax: +39 055 2728680

Website: www.italy.artviva.com

staff@artviva.com

Molli Tours

Vincenzo Damato

vincedama@infinito.it

Autonoleggio Molli

Via Cristofori, 10/b

50144 - Firenze

tel: 055-355552

fax: 055-355562

info@molli.it

AUTONOLEGGIO MOLLI

Via B. Cristofori 10/B

50144 Florence - Italy

Phone +39 055 355552

Email info@molli.it

http://www.molli.it/etour.html

www.sunflower-tours.com

(Someone posted that they paid $480.00 for 6 people with SunFlower – which is cheaper than anyone that I contacted. They wrote $480.00 but perhaps they meant 480 euros)