Florence and Pisa in a day?

How long is the layover?

Let's see. 30 min to the Livorno Centrale train station from the ship. 90 min on the train to Florence. 80 min on the train from Florence to Pisa. 20 min on the train from Pisa to Livorno
30 min to get back on the ship 45 min waiting for trains That's 5.0hrs involved with getting to/from and riding on the trains. The trains run frequently so that shouldn't be a problem. Fares are really cheap also as most of these trains are Regionales. Assuming that you come off the ship at 8:00 and need to be back on about 4:00pm, I suggest that you have roughly 3.0 hours for the tourism part. Walking to/from the Leaning Tower and looking at it will take a minimum of 90 minutes. Most likely 2.0hrs. You can shorten this time by taking a cab to and from the tower and the train station. For Florence, you can do a circular walk to il Duomo and the baptistery (4 blocks), the Ponte Vecchio (5 blocks) and then back to the train station in about an hour. Grab a bite and some gelato along the way. Not much time to do anything else. Betcha the ship does't offer any tour like this. Good luck.

Most ships do offer a Pisa and Florence on your own as well as more involved tours. The cruisecritic.com site has boards where many have discussed doing Pisa and Livorno on your own, with a ship tour or with private tours (find the roll call for your cruise and join up with others to reduce the cost). It can be done, just make sure you know your must sees for the day to prioritize them.

Just go to Florence. Pisa is good, but there is really no comparison. If you try both, you'll waste way too much time in transit & waiting, feel rushed, and be exhausted by the end of the day. There are so many wonderful things in Florence to see and do. If you have been to both cities already, then just take a tour to Cinque Terre! That's my 2 cents worth! Jan

In my opinion, I would only go to Florence. There is so much to do and see, depending on what your interests are. The shopping is Wonderful!!! The museums are great! There are so many restaurants also. Pisa has the tower. Go back to Italy one day, and add Pisa to your list of places to visit while in transit to or from Cinque Terre. When you have limited time, understand that you can only do so much without stressing yourself out, so choose one.
You will not go wrong with choosing Florence.

I wouldn't bother with Pisa. You take away from Florence, add transportation complications and risk missing the ship. Enjoy Florence, the heart of the Renaissance, as fully as you can in one special day.

Definitely Florence.. like others have said, you'll burn too much time commuting and you will most likely rush through the sights just so that you can get to your next destination on time. Might as well just spend whatever limited time you have taking in just one city.

Do Florence - even then you will be rushed. The reason a cruise can do it is that they are using a bus and a strict time schedule. When you travel by yourself you are not as efficient in use of time.

But Christine wants to see the leaning tower. She's known about it since childhood from pictures in her school books. You'll be close and it will be very tempting if you skip it.