My wife and I will be arriving at Pisa airport (from London) on Sunday Sept. 20th at 4:05 PM, and then traveling to Lucca for our first night in Italy. How much time should we allow for getting through customs, taking the train from the airport to Pisa Central and then on to Lucca? Would a bus be faster? Where do we get tickets?
Posted by
Gettysburg, PA
1589 posts
under 90 minutes total if things aren't backed up @ customs. Take the train- buy your tickets at the train station.
Posted by
Firenze
500 posts
You should allow about 30 seconds for going through customs, unless you have such a suspect face that you get stopped. But retrieving your baggage first is another matter; the baggage retrieval area is small, it can get crowded and in the years it has taken any time between 10 and 60 minutes to get my luggage from the Pisa handlers. If you can travel with hand baggage only, getting out of the airport will be fairly quick.
There is a bus service from the airport to Lucca (http://www.pisa-airport.com/downloads/orari_2013-2014_lucca.pdf) but it looks like it does not run on Sunday (this is what the small 123456 mean).
There is no more a train from the airport; the line is being rebuilt as a people mover but is closed at present, so you need a bus to Pisa Centrale where you transfer to a train. In most cases the train to Lucca is direct, at a few odd times there is the possibility of going through Viareggio changing trains there.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32350 posts
mal,
The biggest variable in timing will probably be the luggage retrieval, but hopefully it isn't too long.
You'll first take the Shuttle Bus to Pisa Centrale, and it's a short trip. When you arrive at the the rail station, buy your tickets on the next train to Lucca, either at a Kiosk or staffed ticket window. If you're lucky, you may be able to connect with a 16:50 departure, otherwise you'll have to wait for the 17:50 departure. The trip to Lucca will be ~27 minutes. DON'T FORGET to validate your tickets prior to boarding the train, or you'll risk hefty fines which will be collected on the spot!
If you have a "generous" travel budget, I suppose Taxi would also be an option as it's only about a 25 minute trip but the cost will likely be at least €60 (maybe more on a Sunday?).