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Sunday 3 September - late transport back from Firenze to Livorno port

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We will be cruising to be in Livorno port on 3 September and 4 September. I know-it's the free Sunday. Big sigh.
Nevertheless, we are planning to visit Firenze on Sunday, 3 September. I will tough out the lines to see the David and Prisoners at the Academia. I can't bear not to see that. Then we hope to take a leisurely tour through/to other notable sites open on Sundays. I have a few questions:

We are hoping to have dinner in Firenze that evening, since we will be overnight at Livorno port. I see trains leaving Firenze at 20:53 and 21:28 heading back to Livorno. Is that the best transport option on a free Sunday and at that time? Is it safe? Or are there better transport options with that late return? I have read much about taxi services or shared minivans, but the information seems like they want to get us back to Livorno much earlier, so that we would miss out on a leisurely dinner. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated.

Also-any restaurant recommendations for Sunday evening? We have picked out a couple of options ourselves, but interested what those familiar would recommend.

Rick Steeves is clear he doesn't like the idea of cruise hordes descending upon Cinque Terre. He is pretty convincing. Alternate destinations on the Monday 4 September are Lucca and Porto Venere. (We visited Pisa on a previous trip.) How do they compare to Cinque Terre? We would need to return to the port around 17:00. What are the pros/cons of these three?

Thanks so much!

Posted by
1040 posts

Hello plmadsen,

I've never felt unsafe on an Italian train but I have no first hand experience with that particular train so maybe someone else can weigh in.

As for destinations you suggest Lucca is a pretty, ancient town with some churches to tour, walls to walk or bike and many twisty streets and small piazzas. It is filled with shops, cafe and restaurants and generally just Italians living the the Italian lifestyle. I really like Lucca but it is hard to compare to CT.

I stayed in Porto Venere last September and it is picturesque but also small and pretty touristy since it is on the ferry route from La Spezia to CT and there can be cruise ships in La Spezia harbor. If you want some of the Ligurian coast without the crowds of CT I would suggest doing the south side of La Spezia harbor. Train to La Spezia and the bus or taxi to San Terenzo then do the bay front walk way over to the larger and more resorty Lerici and if you want to see the closest town to CT that no one talks about take the bus and check out Tellaro.

Have a great trip,
=Tod

Posted by
2 posts

Hi My boyfriend and I will be cruising with NCL Epic and dock in Livorno port on Sep. 3 and 4th too. I wonder if you are taking the same cruise? We also plan to have dinner in Florence then heading back by the late train, and still try to decide where to go for the next day (Monday), we are hoping to get to know some people from the cruise who also want to go to Florence and same destinations on the second day, so we can hire a private driver share the cost, or take the train together to watch out for each other and be safer. I will keep doing the research and share what I can find later, thank you for creating this thread.

Snow

Posted by
2181 posts

It may be a little late to find a place, but instead of trying to get back and then head out to somewhere else, consider staying in Florence Sunday night. You could spend Monday morning seeing more of the city, then head back to Livorno. You might have better options to get back. I did a quick search and found rooms on that date for between $150-$200.

Posted by
6 posts

Thanks so much for all your suggestions and responses! Very helpfpul. Snow-what a nice idea! We will reach out if we do decide to stay late in Florence on Sunday.

Posted by
2 posts

plmadsen, what a coincidence, that we would be on the same boat for this 11 days trip, looking forward to meeting you :) I will let you know once I find out more info about the late return transportation.

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