We are leaving from Rome on 11/4/2017 on a 15 day transatlantic cruise. We would instead like to fly from Florida to Florence on Thursday 11/2/2016 and meet up with the ship on 11/5/2016. Any ideas of nice places to stay for a night or two that aren't outrageously expensive. Is Florence an easy airport to get a flight from the US?
Posted by
Huntsville, AL, USA
8158 posts
The Florence Airport (FLR) is relatively small, and there are no transatlantic flights. You'd have to go through an European gateway airport and take a connecting flight into Florence. Many Europeans will fly into the larger Pisa Airport--an hour by train from Florence.
You don't say where you're flying from in Florida, but check into the very inexpensive Norwegian Air Shuttle (Norwegian.com) flights into London Gatwick (GTW) from both Ft. Lauderdale and Orlando airports. EasyJet.com can get you down to Italy in 2 hours for a ridiculously cheap price.
Another option would be to fly from Miami directly into Rome FCO on Alitalia and spend your extra time in the very important Rome. You can catch a train from Rome out to the port to catch your ship.
Posted by
69 posts
We have done this. We flew into Rome from Toronto and rented an amazing apartment in Rome for five days before boarding the ship for sailing transatlantic to Ft. Lauderdale. It was awesome.
We went through the cruise ship message board online prior to our trip and arranged a shuttle with another couple from Rome to Civitaveccia which is the port for the ships. This worked like a charm and we could then split the cost.
We rented our apartment on the VRBO website.
Posted by
Washington DC
27169 posts
My preference is always to have my entire flight itinerary on a single ticket so I don't have to worry that a delay crossing the Atlantic will cause me to miss a connection and I'll have to pay last-minute prices for a replacement ticket. I'd look at what is available from your origin to any of the airports in north-central Italy. Not just Florence and Pisa but also Bologna and Milan. All are a short train ride from Florence. From my origin, Milan is often a bargain compared to the others, but that may not be true for you.
Posted by
616 posts
If you come from the US I would fly directly to Rome or else from US to England or Paris and take a cheap flight from there Easyjet, Ryanair, Volotea to Pisa.
By the way I think you wrote 2016 instead of 2017. Am I wrong?
From Rome there are also direct fast trains (Trenitalia) from Fiumiccino airport
(3 per day for Florence, do check if you do not want to stop in Rome). There are also direct train from Roma Termini (Rome largest station) to Florence, it takes roughly 2 hours.
Posted by
51 posts
The Hotel Casci was a great place to stay for a reasonable price and superb breakfast buffet. It is within easy walking distance to Uffizi, Academia, the Dourmo and the Arno, restaurants and the outdoor marketplace (please excuse any misspellings).
Posted by
76 posts
We stayed in an Air B&B when we were there in October. 10 minute walk form the Termini and convenient to everything