Florence

You don't need a tour. Take the train to Pisa. It's a short taxi ride to the Tower. I spent half an hour looking for the bus stop that no one in the train station could give me directions to. It was easy, though, to take the bus back, but it was crowded, once it finally arrived. If you want to climb the tower, you need to reserve in advance.

Thank you for your reply. How much time did the whole trip take?
Again, thank you. Linda

Linda, You could probably do an independent Pisa trip in 4 hoursbe sure to check the train schedule, but generally there are 2-3 trains per hour from FLR. Train FLR-PSA takes about an hour, taxi to the Piazza dei Miracoli to see the leaning tower, baptistery, duomo, taxi back, train to FLR. Really super easy, as independent day trips go.

It makes understadning directions hard when airport identifiers are used to designate cities. Do these trains leave from the town/s or the airport/s?

I did a day trip by train from Florence to the Piazza dei Miracoli (tower, etc). It's easy. The train takes more or less 90 minutes between Florence's main train station, Santa Maria Novella, and Pisa's main train station, Pisa Centrale. I walked to the Piazza dei Miracoli. The walk is a about 1.0 miles, and looked safe to me. It was flat and completely non-memorable, except the Arno looks good. I entered the Pz d. Miracoli's west gate. I have no idea where a taxi would leave you off but if it leaves you at the east entrance to the Pz Miracoli, and if you have to get a cab there then I recommend maximum caution. I've been to Italy a lot, in all kinds of pickpocket areas in Rome, Naples etc. Maybe I have street crime radar from growing up in NYC, or maybe I'm just dumb lucky, but I've never even been approached. Except once. After a sandwich (not a good one) at the Trattoria Pizzeria Bar Manfredo, I walked on v. Carlo S. Carmeo back toward the east gate of the Pz d. Miracoli. Beginning with the sandwich place guys, and then all the chotsky vendors, they were looking at me funny. Radar up. Sure enough, a pickpocket approached. When she about to touch me I spritzed my diet coke in her face and shouted my best Italian swear word. End of problem and I had a good laugh. But I am not going back to the east entrance area without have an open diet coke in the ready position.