My husband and I are taking a cruise which only has a one day stop in Pisa. We have the choice of either going to the tower of Pisa for a quick tour with a tour of Florence (4 hours), or going to Portofino, Rapallo and Santa Margherita for an 8 hour tour. Although we have always heard about the tower of Pisa, many have said that it was a disappointment. The pictures on the cruise website of the beautiful Portofino are gorgeous and I am an enthusiastic photographer. Hubby wants to go to tower of Pisa, I'm "leaning" to Porofino! Any suggestions from those who have been?
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
15269 posts
I presume the ship will dock in either Livorno or Spezia because Pisa is not exactly on the coast.
I'd go to Florence and Pisa. Although the time the give you is miserably short.
Posted by
San Antonio TX, United States
2393 posts
Have you considered not taking a ships tour and doing a private one instead? Personally I'd drop Pisa and spend the time in Florence.
Check the Ports of Call board on Cruise Critic for options.
If you did a private tour you could stop for photo op in Pisa!
Posted by
81 posts
If your are docking in La Spezia I highly recommend you take the local train to one or two of the Cinque Terre towns along the coast. La Spezia is also charming if you want to take a slower pace.
I agree with the previous replies, skip Pisa and take the fast train (look for "Freccia", second class is pretty nice) to Florence for several hours. http://www.trenitalia.com/tcom-en
Livorno Centrale is about 10 euro , duration 1hr each way
From La Spezia it is twice the cost and about two hours each way
Florence station name: Firenze S. M. Novella (there is another station but SMN will drop you about a 5min walk from the Duomo)
Service from either station is frequent. However, there is a huge difference between the local and the Freccia line both in terms of duration, luxury, and reliability....but the prices are about the same, go figure.
Depending on what time your ship arrives and departs you will want to plan your time carefully.
Also, check the ship's policy on missing departure times. In most cases, you can reboard at the next port...in Europe that could be really easy with the train system. If the next port is Genoa or Civitavecchia (near Rome) you can be there in little over an hour.
On a side note. You may like to read Mark Twain The Innocents Abroad. It follows the trip from the east coast to the holy land and includes a part about leaving the boat for a while and reboarding later on. Just smile at the old-timey racism and marvel at how things have changed.