hi,
i have just bought a ticket to fly into pisa at 11:30 p.m. I have a hostel booking for that evening in florence. i'm wondering if it will be possible to get to florence from pisa since i'm arriving so late into pisa.

i have tried searching the internet and have even tried e-mailing various italian bus companies but have gotten no answers nor any replies.

i'm wondering if anyone knows for sure - if i fly into the pisa airport at 11:30 p.m. will i be able to get either a train or bus to florence that evening? or will it be too late?

i'd like to know so i will know whether or not to book a room in florence or pisa that night. i currently have a booking in florence and would prefer to just go straight to florence upon arrival.

thanks very much!

This website should help:

http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html

I don't know your date of travel, but it looks like there is a train that departs for Florence @ 1:03 a.m.

And here's my 2 cents worth: I have used the Florence train station and I'm not certain I would want to arrive there in the middle of the night unless I had someone meeting me on that end. Just my own opinion.

Good luck!

also, you need to check on whether the hostel allows check-in after midnight. Some have no staff on the desk in the wee small hours . . . .

thanks for the quick feedback. with an hour and a half between the time i arrive and the departure time of the train, i can try crossing my fingers and hoping i'll catch that train.

terri68blue - your comments kind of concern me - i'm quite used to travelling alone, and have travelled in some pretty sketchy areas, including travel advisory zones... but i still like to take common sense precautions. is it pretty difficult to find one's way around the florence station? i will need to find my way to a hostel that is supposedly very close to the station - will there be taxis available at that time of day (2 a.m.?)

Jasmine-that was my concern of how you would get where you were going once you get to Florence. I'm not certain about the taxis and if they operate that early in the a.m. I did not find the inside of the train station hard to get around, it's just that the area right around the outside of the train station seems a bit shady even in the daylight. We did walk around Florence past midnight when we were there and felt quite safe, but we were not in the vacinity of the train station. Maybe someone else can answer your question about taxis in the wee hours. Maybe it would help to post the day of the week you will be traveling also. Best wishes!

Hi Jasmine, If I were you , I would check with the Pisa Airport. www.pisa-airport.com, you might be able to write to them and then can suggest a solution.
I believe that getting so late to Firenze might be a problem. So may be there is a place where you can wait in Pisa Airport, till it gets to a decent morning time to travel to Firenze.

Hello jasminedew, there is taxi service 24 hours a day at the Florence train station. But as janisj said you do need to make sure that you can have access to the hostel in Florence in the middle of the night. You do not want to be "locked out" when you arrive. Best regards.

I assume that once you arrive in Pisa you'll still have to collect your luggage and go through customs. I would stay in Pisa.

Thanks to all for your very helpful tips. I'm going to arrive on a Saturday evening - I see there are trains that leave at 1:03 a.m. and then at 4:12 and 5:30 a.m. I guess worst case scenario is I can choose to try to catch the 1 a.m. and if I miss it, wait to get the 4:12 or 5:30 which I will be able to catch for sure. So worst case, I will sleep late and sleep in. My hostel says it has 24 reception, so hopefully this will not be a problem. I'd much rather just get to my destination rather than spend a night in pisa with all the associated hassle.

Yikes Jasmin! Where is your hostel in Florence? I'd go with the recommendations given here that you should stay the night in Pisa. If anything, just so you can rest up from where ever you're flying from.

Jasmine- I would find a hotel next to Pisa airport and get a good night's sleep and then head to Florence in the AM. Many people have raised the valid point that hostels usually have a curfew and it may be closed when you get there. While Florence's SMN is a safe station inside, the immediate vicinity does have shady people (I saw many creepy looking folks sleeping in the bushes past the official taxi rank.)

Jasmin, getting out of Santa Maria Novella train station in the middle of the night seems to me, and other, a totally crazy move. Of course you are goint to do what you wish, in that case let me wish you good luck.

Any train station in a major city will have taxis as long as there are trains arriving. (We have arrived in both Prague and Paris after midnight and had no touble getting a cab.

The hostel is another matter. Many hostels and smaller hotels in europe do not have desks that are staffed 24 hours. (We've have to ask for our own door key at 3* Paris hotels when we knew we would be out ater 11pm, sine the doors were locked.) So - I would confirm that there will be someone there to let you into the hostel.

I don't see any reason why you should be nervous about traveling at that hour; I have arrived in Florence that late and the train station is creepily empty, but no threat to life and limb.

The question on my mind is why? What difference does it make to be asleep in Pisa instead of asleep in Florence. Plus, I agree that it is doubtful you are going to be able to get into your hostel at that hour, and you are going to be stressed and tired.

Get a good nights sleep in Pisa. You can strike out early in the morning and have your second caffe in Florence.