One day trip from Livorno

[Jancruz]

We will be 8 persons in a van..I already have a driver from Livorno for 7 hours in August but not sure exactly where to go..Have been to Pisa, Florence, Cinque Terre and all large places..so looking for small quaint towns to wander around do some wine tasting shopping and have lunch..can anyone help me..

Thanks,

Jancruz1

[Hlitner]

We have spent months traveling within Tuscany and Umbria and never ran out of interesting places to see. Since you hired a professional driver, he/she will have their own recommendations. But, you might want to consider driving to San Gimignano and Volterra for starters. If your group is interested in wine making and tasting, you could also have your driver take you along the picturesque S222 road which runs between Florence and Siena. This road is also known as the "wine trail" and snakes through the heart of the Chianti wine district where there are many vineyards open to the public for tastings and tours (your driver should know the best places). And, or course, there is always Siena which is an interesting city.

 

Hank

[SOOKIENY]

I second San Gimignano. We were there in May and it is a great place to stroll around. Our driver with RomeinLimo also took us to a winery for a lunch tasting (torciano winery) in Tuscany. Beautiful country side.

[Jancruz]

Thank you both..I am going to take both of your advise, contact our driver and let him know what we have decided..

Jancruz1

[grandbanksguy]

We will be 8 persons in a van..I already have a driver from Livorno for 7 hours in August but not sure exactly where to go..Have been to Pisa, Florence, Cinque Terre and all large places..so looking for small quaint towns to wander around do some wine tasting shopping and have lunch..can anyone help me..

Thanks,

Jancruz1

 

 

If you haven’t been to Siena I’d put it first on the list. It’s perfectly preserved, like going back to the 13 hundreds. San Gimignano is worth seeing, although it is a little too touristy. The Tuscan hill town we enjoyed the most is Monteriggioni. It’s small, quaint and not overrun by tourists. Its walls and towers are still intact. You can see everything in 1 ½ hr. A great place for a photo stop and lunch break.

[Phaediek]

Hi,

My fiance and I are going on the Celebrity Summit on August 2, 2009. We are looking for two couples to join us on our private tour of Pisa, Lucca, and a locall winery. The tour consists of 8 total people. Cost is 68E per person which does not include lunch, or admission to Pisa or the winery.

Please email me at Phaediek@aol.com if you are interested. Thanks!!

Kelley

[Cardex]

We will be 8 persons in a van..I already have a driver from Livorno for 7 hours in August but not sure exactly where to go..Have been to Pisa, Florence, Cinque Terre and all large places..so looking for small quaint towns to wander around do some wine tasting shopping and have lunch..can anyone help me..

Thanks,

Jancruz1

 

My favorite excursion on our last cruise was our one in Tuscany.

We visited San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Siena (with lunch at the best place - Antica Osteria da Divo http://www.osteriadadivo.it/ ) and then a winery tour in Chianti. On the way back to the ship we stopped for photos in Pisa.

Wonderful!

 

 

 

 

[dbh62ark]

We will be 8 persons in a van..I already have a driver from Livorno for 7 hours in August but not sure exactly where to go..Have been to Pisa, Florence, Cinque Terre and all large places..so looking for small quaint towns to wander around do some wine tasting shopping and have lunch..can anyone help me..

Thanks,

Jancruz1

Hi Jan! (Love reading your posts on the Oceania boards.) We've also spent time in this area on ground trip and cruises and highly recommend San Gimignano (our favorite). Monteriggioni is another place that is off the beaten path that we love.

 

Have a great trip,

Donna

[joiedevivre]

I also highly recommend Lucca. A lot to see. Arrange to have lunch. Been there 2x.

[Steph27]

Perhaps you should consider Forte dei Marmi on the Tuscan coast? Great shopping and restaurants.

 

http://goitaly.about.com/od/versiliatuscanycoast/p/forte_dei_marmi.htm

[not in ks anymore]

My favorite excursion on our last cruise was our one in Tuscany.

We visited San Gimignano, Monteriggioni, Siena (with lunch at the best place - Antica Osteria da Divo http://www.osteriadadivo.it/ ) and then a winery tour in Chianti. On the way back to the ship we stopped for photos in Pisa.

Wonderful!

 

 

 

 

 

Sounds like a wonderful tour. Did you do it on your own or was it a private tour or ship's tour? If private, please give details of the tour company.

[Cardex]

Sounds like a wonderful tour. Did you do it on your own or was it a private tour or ship's tour? If private, please give details of the tour company.

 

It was a private tour. Our driver was Angelo with Limos in Florence - http://www.limoinflorence.it

We did the Siena, San Gimignano e Chianti region sightseeing tour. It cost 480 euros + tax and the winery tour was 5 euros pp extra (prices from 2008). We paid in cash at the end of the tour.

We were gone 11 1/2 hours.

I kept a blog of our trip and the details of the tour and more photos are on there - link is below.

 

Here is the review of our day from my blog

 

"Tuscany: We were meeting our group for our private tour (total of 7 people) of Tuscany at 8 am as soon as the ship docked. Our driver was Angelo with Limos in Florence – If you are ever looking for a driver that will show you the “real” Tuscany – this is the guy. We can not recommend him enough!!!!

Our first stop was San Gimignano – a beautiful Medieval town. We spent an hour walking around the wonderful little streets. We then headed to Monteriggioni which is a hill top Medieval town. We had about a half hour here. The town is quite small but lovely. We then went on to Siena for long Italian lunch at “Antica Osteria da Divo” We both thought this was the best Italian food we have ever eaten!!!

Angelo then recommended we see the town square in Siena before leaving – it was amazing!

Off we then headed to a little winery for wine tasting. The best wine tour we have ever been on!! The winery is called Tenuta Canale and it is in Castellina in Chianti. The owner did not speak English so Angelo translated for him. The tour started with a flip chart presentation – very quaint! Then we went down in the tiny wine cellar. Then we went into a small building (the wine shop)for the tasting. The owner brought out three different bottles of wine – 2 red and 1 rose. We all had a taste and then you could help yourself to the rest of the bottle. The owner also brought out different kinds of prosciutto with bread and melon. He then brought out the grappa. The whole thing was so wonderful!! The cost was 5 euros each – what a deal!!!!

Now we were off to Piza for a picture of the tower before heading back to the ship. We arrived in Piza at 7 (all aboard was 7:30 pm) On entering Piza , Angelo made a wrong turn so now we had to circle around again – he felt so bad so we all cheered when he made the right turn. When we arrived at the tower, we all ran to take pictures and then ran back to the mini-van. I think we were there a total of 5 minutes!! Now off to the ship. We arrived at 7:35 and security were tapping there watches at us. We were gone a total of 11 and a half hours!!!! This was the best shore excursion we have ever taken!!!!" :D