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What Excursion in Florence on Oceania Cruise Line

What Excursion in Florence on Oceania Cruise Line

Old Jun 23rd, 2014, 09:28 PM
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What Excursion in Florence on Oceania Cruise Line

Should my mother and I go to Florence only or Florence and Pisa on a full- day excursion offered by Oceania? I have never been to either city. The cruise offers two excursions that I am interested in, and I would like to go to both cities as long as I don't miss out on important sites in Florence. Thanks for any helpful advice!
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Old Jun 24th, 2014, 05:34 AM
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You typically have relatively little time on these excursions as it is, and I don't get a lot of satisfaction saying I drove past famous buildings or works of art without being able to get out and explore at my leisure. If you go to both Florence and Pisa, you'll probably get very short shrift on Florence, which is about 90 minutes from Livorno. I'd probably do one or the other.

But frankly, if it were me, I'd just take the train on my own and avoid the large tour groups. You can walk from the train station in Florence to the Duomo, passing the Medici Chapel along the way (it's well worth a stop). Then you could go to Santa Croce and the Ponte Vecchio and back to the train station and still have time for some shopping. You probably won't have time for the Uffizi and all of this, but if you really love Renaissance art, then you could do that if you buy tickets in advance. All you really need is a good guidebook.

Or you could spend a leisurely day in Pisa. If you could get a tour that stops in both Pisa and Lucca, that might be nice, but I'm not sure I could miss Florence.

I'd encourage you to re-post your question in the Europe forum, where you can get people with a lot more personal experience in both Pisa and Florence to answer your questions.
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Old Jun 24th, 2014, 06:03 AM
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Actually when we stopped in Livorno we got a private tour right off the dock and saw both places. I am not sure if you want to do this but many do and you can tailor your tour as you please. We got back in plenty of time too.
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Old Jun 24th, 2014, 07:12 AM
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A private tour is definitely the best choice because it can be tailored to your own individual needs and interests. But I am not really convinced about "seeing" Florence in a couple of hours.
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Old Jun 24th, 2014, 01:31 PM
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I wonder how much time there is in port. As I recall we had a lot of time and saw both Pisa and Florence though of course you are limited somewhat. If you want more time you need to do it on land.
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Old Jun 26th, 2014, 07:50 PM
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you will "see" Florence and Pisa but not "experience" them. Not enough time to do both and barely a dent in what you can see and do and experience in Florence in such a short time.
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Old Jul 5th, 2014, 10:25 PM
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Ships will dock at the ports of Livorno or La Spezia. Either way, the drive can be 1.5-2+ hrs. If your tour is 8 hours, thats half the time is in the car and the other half looking around. When I have short amount of time in a city, I skip the museums and just see the town.
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