We will be in Livorno May of 2015 and would like to take a tour of Lucca from our ship on our own. What is the best way to get from the port Livorno to Lucca and are there day tours available?
Thanks Michele
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Rick Steves' Europe
16899 posts
Trains from Livorno Centrale station to Lucca take one hour each way with a connection at Pisa Centrale. You can buy tickets in the station. Most departures are unreserved Regional trains; activate those tickets by date/time-stamping each leg before you board the train in that direction. Don't hop onto a faster InterCity or Frecce train unless you have bought a reserved ticket for that departure. Lucca is easy to explore on your own, especially with the info in Rick's Mediterranean Cruise Ports guidebook.
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Major car rental companies generally have a few cars waiting at the dock for a daily rental fee or you can make a reservation for them to have one waiting for you as well. We've done this with Avis. The port of Livorno is located on the Fi-Li-Pi (major highway system that connects Firenze (Florence)-Livorno-Pisa) so it's very easy to get to Lucca, which is just a short distance from Pisa. And there's adequate parking on the streets outside the walled city of Lucca. It's an easy place to tour on your own as long as you do some research ahead of time. A walk along the top of the city wall is lovely!!