We are planning for a family trip to Italy in May. We have the opportunity to visit friends in Budapest for a couple of days before arriving in Italy, and are trying to figure out travel options from Budapest to Lucca on a Saturday.
We want to get the most out of our short stay in Budapest so are looking at inexpensive flights (Ryan and Wizz Air) departing Budapest in the evening. There are several options departing Budapest around 6pm and arriving in Rome around 8pm. The tricky part is getting from Rome to Lucca. We will miss the last high speed train out of Rome. There are slow trains to Florence or Pisa but we would not arrive at either city until well after 1am. If we opt to spend a bit more we could catch Alitalia flights from Budapest to Rome to Pisa, also departing 6:15pm and arriving in Pisa around 10pm.
My main questions are:
- How late do train and bus service run for Florence-Lucca or Pisa-Lucca?
- How much would it cost 3 adults to take a taxi from the Florence OR Pisa train depot to Lucca? (I have tried to look this up but every forum is about how trains and buses are a better bet - but what about late night travel?)
- Are there other unforeseen issues we might have arriving late at night on a Saturday in either Florence or Pisa? I understand some transit services do not run on Sundays at all - is that correct? Would we need to reserve private transportation (shuttle) for late-night transit, and if so does anyone have suggestions?
Personally, I am leaning toward the Pisa flight option, though it costs over $100 more - I am feeling that spending several fewer hours in transit is well worth the money. But I wanted to get others' feedback so I can share it with my travelling companions (who are still trying to find an economical option using the train/bus system).
Thanks in advance for your help,
Susan