Hello, I need help in booking tours from Florence to Cinque Terre & Pisa. Any suggestions of trips and when to book?
We in a group of 9 travelling early-Aug 2025 (kids, adults and seniors). I see a day trip example https://www.viator.com/en-CA/tours/Florence/Cinque-Terre-and-Portovenere-from-Florence-in-One-Day/d519-3731P123
Any thoughts on this one or other ones? Or should i plan myself?
I think trying to do both CT and Pisa in one day from Florence is ill-advised.
"Kids" 3-5 yr old or 16-17 yr olds?
"Seniors" 63? 85?
Depending on the composition of your group, the premium cost of going by tour bus may or may not be a good value vs. just buying your own train tickets.
My advice is don’t do it. Stay in Florence!! That said Pisa is a reasonable choice for a day trip by train if that’s a place your group really wants to spend a day. Skip Cinque Terre. It’s too far away from Florence and too crowded to be an enjoyable day trip. If you think you really want to get out of Florence for a second day trip then either Lucca or Siena is a better experience than Cinque Terre.
I looked at the tour in the link. It is 13 hours and leaves at 7:15. Can you get 9 people of varied age ready to leave by 7:15? The tour requires walking. How old are the kids and seniors? Are they up to walking?
It looks like almost half of the trip will be spent in the bus coming and going, leaving little time at each location. August will be high season and you'll have to deal with the train. The train is super crowded at CT and I can't see how they can keep the group together.
You will be in CT at midday. Forget those lovely evening photos you've seen, the lighting won't be near as pretty, especially if it's cloudy/rainy. You'll also have to contend with thousands of cruise ship day trippers. Overtourism in CT is a huge problem.
You don't say how long your trip will be. Time is precious and taking a stress filled hectic day trip is not what I consider a good use of what I imagine is limited time. Have you traveled in Europe before? Have you traveled anywhere with a group of 9?
In August, do not plan anything too strenuous. Temperatures in Tuscany can easily be over 30 °C and approaching 40 °C around 2pm. It could be a little better being near the sea, not because it is colder but because it is windier, but I still remember some days in Viareggio so hot and humid to leave people breathless. In such a case, activities in early morning and late afternoon are to be preferred.
I agree with others that this is way too much to try to do in one day. Cinque Terra itself deserves more than a couple of hours. As others have also said, it will be extremely crowded, and extremely hot during the day.
I was in Italy in August of 2023, and late morning until late afternoon it was so stifling hot. I was in my early 40s and I love the heat, and this was on a whole other level. Any hiking that I did on the Cinque Terra trails was finished before 930am. One day I started off at 745am, and the other day I started off before 7am for a slightly longer hike. The sun was rising but hidden behind the mountains, keeping the temps manageable. But once that sun came over the peaks and you walked into it, it was already like walking into an oven.
As a family we explored a couple of towns early in the mornings, and stopped to swim off the pier in Vernazza for a while to stay cool before heading back to hang out in the AC and relax before heading out for dinner and a stroll. I could NOT imagine trying to do any sightseeing or hiking in the middle of the day in August. Aside from the heat, the CROWDS were absolutely insane. No room to swing a cat.
If you have time in your itinerary, make CT a separate trip for at least 2 nights to give yourself time outside of the midday heat and crowds. The towns are so much more charming early in the morning and later in the evenings. If you don't have the time, then I recommend that you come back to Italy and make more time for it in the future instead. My family loved it, we had some very memorable dinners, walks and time in the beautiful water or at the beach, and we all hope to return before too long. None of that would have been possible to experience in a couple of hours.
We also did a day trip (from a house in Tuscany) to Pisa and Lucca in one day. This is a more realistic way to spend your time. You can get an early start on the road and get to Lucca nice and early for a wander around town, and then to rent a bike or some 4-seaters and pedal around the perimeter of the old city walls (we and our kids LOVED That, they still talk about it). Grab some lunch in Lucca and then head over to Pisa where you really don't need a lot of time to see the Tower and Duomo. It will be nice and hot by the time you get there, so you will be happy that you don't need to spend TOO much time.
