Hi We will be cruising in Sept 2008 and will dock in Livorno at 6:30a and depart at 6:00p.
We are wondering if it would be better to take a walking tour to the Uffizi and Accademia or make reservations ahead to time and do it ourselves.
Also interested in travel time to and from on the train.
Thanks so much
Aleeta

I have posted many times about this company and cannot rave enough about our experience with them. I think this company will make your short time in Florence more comfortable, informative and enjoyable. http://www.artviva.com/ Also, I am currently reading The Agony and the Ecstasy, The Historical Biography of Michelangelo. I wish I had read it before traveling to Florence. Enjoy your trip!

KimiG...can you tell me which tours you did with Artviva? We are a family of six and I'm looking for good tour options while in Florence. Thinking their Original Florence tour...David and Walking tour day 1 and the Ufizi day 2

Hi T and C,

Having watched the tour groups following the guide's umbrella, I prefer DIY.

Train schedules, prices and tickets are at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

Here is my suggested
A DAY IN FLORENCE:

Train to Florence SMN:
The Luggage Office is to your left as you leave the train.

From Piazza d' Stazione, walk up via Nazionale to via d'Ariento and the Mercato Centrale, wander through.

Take any street going NE to Via Degli Alfani and go right to the Accademia for The David.

Take via Ricasoli SE to the Duomo, the Baptistry and the Opera Museum (Originals of the bronzes on the doors)

From the Campanile, take via Calzaiuoli S (do some window shopping) to the Piazza d' Signoria. Look around, take a break.

Continue S to the Uffizi. Visit.

From the Uffizi, walk W along the Arno River to the Ponte Vecchio.

(You can walk up to the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens if there is time. Great views of Florence from the top of the Gardens)

If you have time, walk E along the S bank of the river to Ponte alle grazie and cross over to visit Santa Croce.

If not, go W along the Arno from Ponte Vecchio to Ponte S. Trinita and go right. Go left on Via d'Spada to via d'Fossi and go right to Santa Maria Novella. Look around.

SMN is across the square from the train station.

If you have time, take the no. 7 bus (you can find it at the SMN train station) up to Fiesole (0:20 hr 1E) to watch the sunset from the terrace of the Bar Bleu.

Be sure to have lots of gelato (in a cup, not a cone), take some wine breaks and a light lunch.

Train schedules, prices and tickets are at www.trenitalia.com

Bus routes are at http://www.ataf.net/
Buy your ticket before you get on the bus. Stamp it in the yellow box on the bus.

Uffizi and Academia Museum Reservations
The easiest and cheapest way is to call Florence 1016868 (dial around number), 011 (U.S. international access code) 39 (Italy's country code) then 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time. There is a long listing of press 1 for this and 2 for that--press 4 for bookings. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes YOU CAN RESERVE FOR BOTH. This is through the reservation service at the Uffizi and costs beyond the normal entry fee only about 3 euro for the service. This is MUCH cheaper than the commercial booking services.

You will not be charged for the reservations unless you use them.

Have a nice visit.

The earliest train you can catch from Livorno to Florence SMN departs at 7:30 am and arrives 9:03 am. From a quick check of the Artviva website, it looks like the two walking tours begin at 8:30 and 9:15 am. Unless Artviva is willing to wait, you probably couldn't be at their office by 9:15 am. (There is always a queue for cabs, and you might even need two cabs for 6 people.)

Perhaps you could/should arrange for a private tour to include exactly what your family is interested in seeing.

The last train you can catch to arrive at Livorno in time departs at 3:27 pm and arrives 4:49 pm.

Ira...Thank you for all the wonderfull information on discovering Florence. The 6 of us will be driving from Rome...stopping for a portion of the day in Assisi. We are staying in an apt in the Santa Croce area and would love a recommendation for a good/great family restaurant in the neighborhood. Our children are not young (15 - 22) so we don't need to worry about it being small child friendly.

Sorry to change the subject...Ira just seems to know a lot about the area.

Hi CB,

Sorry, can't help.

The restos that I would recommend from my visit to Florence are either no longer in business or have changed owners.

Thanks so much for the info. It sounds like on our own or else tour from pier. Checked with tour companies and they only have am or pm and not both at once.
Aleeta

Ira, would you explain what you mean by
<The easiest and cheapest way is to call Florence 1016868 (dial around number)>, please?
I'm not getting the 'dial around number'. Thanks. I'm hoping to call tomorrow for ticket reservations. Pardon my denseness in advance.

bookmarking

Hi pdx,

Dial around numbers allow you to make long-distance calls without having a LD service plan.

You are billed for each call.

Google <dial around> for more info.

I no longer recommend 1016868 because they have added a 39 cent connection charge.

1010987 has a 59 ct connection, but much lower per minute rates.

Thanks, ira. This is good info.

CB: Sorry for my delayed response. We did the walking tour and the David tour. We were traveling with our two sons, ages 8 and 12 and I knew it would be a challenge to do all three. We made our reservations by internet. My trip report was entitled: Amazing Family Trip to Italy.

I use an International Calling Card (can also be used in the US). I make all my calls with this to Italy where my daughter lives. The call for your reservations will not cost you that much and it is well worth getting the reservations ahead of time. My aunt just returned from a 16 day cruise with the stop in Florence. Our daughter advised her to take the cab from the ship to the train station and go into Florence. Auntie said it worked out great and they saved so much instead of doing something through the cruise ship. They also did the advance booking by making their own reservations. Don't forget that the cruise ships are outside of Florence so allow a couple of hours each way to be on the safe side. We are going back in November to stay for FREE (gotta love it) with our daughter and we can't wait. Uffizi is again on our list to take our time to go through. Hope you love Florence. BTW Ira your information is great and have used your recommendations for Paris as well. Does anyone know the name of the "jail" in Florence?

Hi

I guess the problem is tickets to the Uffizi and Accademia. If you go for a tour you might be able to bypass the lines and save some time. My wife and I went to Florence this year and we did take a tour of the Uffizi. Here is my trip report with pictures and links: http://gardkarlsen.com/florence_italy_travelogue.htm

Regards
Gard
http://gardkarlsen.com - trip reports and pictures

ttt

I just came back from a Mediterranean cruise and the best decision we made was to book Italy Car Service (italycarservice.it). Josephine at Italy Car Service was knowledgeable, professional and prompt to respond to all of our questions. We were a group of 12, and used them for the stops at Livorno, Rome and Naples/Capri. The drivers were friendly and knowledgeable and the cars were great, new models, a/c, etc. If you are lucky enough to stop at Naples, DON'T MISS THE AMALFI COAST DRIVE!!!! Our driver was very knowledgeable and took us to Positano for lunch. I have never seen anything as beautiful as the Amalfi Coast drive. It was a great experience and the cost was not bad (1000.00 euros for each stop) shared among all in our party, it was a bargain, compared to what the cruise line charged. Some in our table that booked through the cruise line were not at all happy with how expensive it was and how many people were in their party. Italy Car Service was truly private (just us) and made our trip that much better. I highly recommend them!

From the Duomo to the train station, the walk is around 15 minutes-remember, just as it did almost 1,000 years ago, during Dante's time in the 1200's-it takes 20 minutes to walk anywhere in central Florence. As for a tour, I think if you have one day, a guided tour makes a lot of sense, you'll get far more out of the city than you would just wandering around on your own-you'll gain more understanding about the sights you will see, and the art-in other words, you will get a lesson, both in art and history, which will enrich your brief experience in the city far far more than what you'd have going on your own. And what you learn and see will only whet your appetite to come back to Firenze and spend more time.