Port of Livorno to Pisa & Vinci (or Lucca)- Can it be done?
 

We will be docking in Livorno for about 11 hours (7 am to 6pm). Although I've noticed most posters would skip Pisa in favor of Florence, when you are travelling with children compromise is necessary. They have already chosen Pisa over Florence. I'm trying to supplement with another destination. Older son (14yrs.) was fascinated by Leonardo da Vinci when he did a school project last year. Has anyone been to Vinci and is it a viable option timewise, either before or after Pisa (must be back on ship before 5:30pm)? If not, what about Lucca? Sounds interesting and do-able, but has anyone been there that can offer first hand knowledge? (My other son is 10 yrs. and into archeology and all things medieval). <BR><BR>Thanks much.<BR><BR>Kat

Lucca is closer to Livorno than Florence, and I think it's a great place to go with kids. the walls that surround the city are like a big park where people ride cikes, rollerblade, walk their dogs and push the baby carriages. inside the walls is a fascinating city with mny churches and lots of shops. Best of all, unlike most of the walled cities in Tuscany, Lucca is flat! You might also consider going up to Viarreggio. It's a beach town -- very Italian and quite colorful. Have a great time!

Hello Kat,<BR><BR>Pisa & Lucca combine well as a day -trip from Livorno. <BR>Livorno-Pisa is only 20 mins.<BR>Pisa-Lucca is 30 mins.<BR><BR>To get to Vinci you have to go via Empoli.<BR>Livorno-Empoli takes about 50 mins by train. <BR>Empoli-Vinci is about 25 mins. by bus.<BR>Buses leave regularly from Empoli Station to Vinci.<BR><BR>Let me know if I can be of more help ...<BR><BR>Steve

P.S. Empoli back to Pisa by train takes 30 mins.

Sandy and Steve<BR><BR>Thanks for the responses. It sounds like Pisa and Lucca may be safer from a time standpoint - can't miss the ship. But Vinci is still tempting. Steve, besides the museum, what else might be of interest in Vinci. How much time should be invested there?<BR><BR>Thanks again.

Last year we had about 10 hours in Livorno We had been to Florence before but wanted to go back and to Pisa The whole point is - you can probably do ia all by train but we hired a driver. It wasn't that expensive - he took us straight to the Leaning Tower in Pisa and then took us to Florence and picked us up several hours later and took us back to the port. It was more expensive that way but we have been on several cruises and have done trips by train and bus- the problem is finding the stations and then waiting on the trains or buses you can lose a lot of time. If you really want to see Pisa and Vinci and have time to enjoy them - I would hire a driver to take me.

Cherie<BR><BR>Did you hire a driver ahead of time, or a cab at the port? About how much did it cost? Since there are 4 of us and it would cost $345 (U.S.$) per person to do the shore excursion for Pisa and Florence, cost is a relative thing. If a driver could be hired for less than the cost of one person taking an excursion, and he takes you where you want to go (rather than the shops where they try to get you to buy things) it could definitely be worth it. Any thoughts would be appreciated.

Kat - I've never been to Vinci so I can't give a personal view, though it ranks of secondary interest compared to Lucca.<BR>The museum is the main 'sight', of course. You might find these of interest:-<BR><BR>www.leonet.it/comuni/vinci/index.html<BR>(- a 'virtual' tour of the museum)<BR><BR>www.areacom.it/turista/toscana/vinci/galleria.html<BR>(- a photographic tour of the village)<BR><BR>Pisa + Vinci is a viable trip, - though you would spend more time travelling compared to Lucca. (I can map you out a schedule if you like ...)<BR><BR>Hope this helps ...<BR><BR>Steve<BR><BR>

Kat,<BR>I can't help you much with timing, but I can say that we traveled with our two boys, ages 8 & 10 to Italy and their favorite stops were Pisa and Vinci. We didn't do much in Vinci other that tour the museum, but they found it very interesting. The town itself looked simple, but the views of the countryside were divine. Hope this helps.

Kat - We hired a taxi at the port with another couple - so there were 4 of us. I don't remember the exact amount but I think our share was about $150 . We thought it was very reasonable. The driver spoke excellent English. We told him where we wanted to go and he took us. He did not suggest any shops or restaurants but he was very knowledgable about Tuscany and gave us lots of information and answered all our questions. <BR> When I went to Pisa before from Florence I went by train and then had to take a bus from the station to the "Field of Miracles" where the tower is. The bus ride took about 30 minutes that day because of traffic. Then we had to wait and get a bus back.<BR>When the driver ( I think his name was Roberto) took us- we went straight to the tower and he let us look around for about an hour and then took us into Florence and dropped us off. We agreed to meet him at a certain spot at a designated time and he was there. He didn't stay with us because we knew what we wanted to do in Florence and we didn't need him. It might have been more if he'd had to stay right with us all day - I don't know. I think I have his card at home in my Italy scrapbook because he had an e-mail address on it and I plan to use him again this summer when I go to Florence. He said I could set it up ahead of time by e-mail and he would pick us up and take us again for the day. <BR>Also, I have found other people that you can prearrange with on this message board. One is named Christina and she is taking my friend and I shopping for a day to the outlets around Florence. I also have her e-mail address. By getting an early start to Pisa we avoided a lot of the crowds and traffic. Since you are docking early - you could do the same thing. I hope this helps .

Kat - I found the taxi driver's card that took us to Pisa and Florence. He is from Livorno . His e-mail address is [email protected] Maybe you can contact him and negotiate a price and where to go. He spoke excellent English and was very nice. Let me kno9w how it turns out. His name is Robert Iannone

A variation on this thread -- <BR>We're interested in going to Siena and San Gimignano (or another Tuscan hill town) during our day in port at Livorno. <BR><BR>Does anyone know if this is possible given the time/distance constraints, and does anyone have suggestions on how to do it (in a reasonably economic way) ? We are open to renting a car ourselves (but is this too much hassle), hiring a car and driver (but not for $1500 which is what Princess wants for it), or taking trains/buses if those are convenient... Thanks!!

Hello Wilson,<BR><BR>It's difficult to do both Siena + San G. by public transport as a day-trip. The only way you could do both would be by hiring a limo.<BR><BR>Siena is viable by train via Empoli, but your journey time each way would be 2-2.5 hours. The train times are:-<BR><BR>dep LIVORNO 06.30 ... arr SIENA 08.39<BR>dep LIVORNO 08.02 ... arr SIENA 10.05<BR><BR>If you have to be back on board by 17.30, your return journey would be:-<BR><BR>dep SIENA 14.34 ... arr LIVORNO 16.58<BR><BR>Both journeys require a change of train at EMPOLI.<BR><BR>Siena Station is out of town, so you'd need to take a bus or taxi into town.<BR><BR>Let me know if I can be of more help ...<BR><BR>Steve<BR><BR><BR><BR>

Several thoughts - you can do both Pisa and Florence with the time you have - we did it last year from Livorno. We had two hours in Pisa and five hours in Florence. As far as trains verses drivers verses ship tours - we took the train. We studied the time schedules and knew when to be where. The cost was about seven dollars apiece round trip - there were four of us, two adults and two teenagers. It was nice riding the trains with the people - a good chance for our daughters to see the different culture. Florence was a much smaller city than I had imagined - about everything we wanted to see was within a ten square block area from the train station. In talking with the others at our diner table, the train actually took less time than their tour buses because of the traffic.<BR><BR>Its up the individual, but we took the trains in Villefranche, Livorno, Civitaveechia and the hydrofoil in Naples to Capri. Its easy, cheap and entertaining/educational.