Hello. Our cruise is docking in La Spezia and want to know the easiest way to get to Florence. We prefer to see Florence on our own, rather than do the cruise line’s excursion and be stuck with stopping at tourist trap shops along the way. I know it’s better to travel with the cruise excursion to avoid missing our ship, but we prefer to be on our own, and can get to and from Florence safely within the allotted time frame.
Posted by
Edmonds, WA 🌨 ☂
11877 posts
That will give you a menu of options
Posted by
Tresana, Highlands Ranch, CO, USA
23626 posts
Take the train. It would be the most dependable. You are looking at two to two and a half hours, sometimes with one change but mostly on Regionale trains. Lot of time on trains and in train stations.
Posted by
Montreal, Quebec, Canada
8293 posts
Why do you think the ship’s excursion will stop at shops? I have been on many such excursions and no such stops occurred. If you want to make sure, ask the cruise line’s excursion department.
Posted by
Ontario, Canada
5431 posts
Check to see if the ship offers a Florence on your own excursion. All that is is transportation to and from. At least with that, you don't have to worry about missing the sail away. Otherwise, the train will be your fastest bet. Check the Trenitalia website for times.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA
1131 posts
Check a website like www.cruisett.com to see how many ships are docking the same day as you. If there are a ton, you may be competing with a lot of others for train seats. When we docked in Civitavecchia last year, there were almost TWENTY THOUSAND CRUISERS docking the same day (!!) which was a big factor in us taking the cruise line excursion and not the train. I heard stories on other boards about people not being able to make the trains they wanted due to crowds. Also I second a PP in that your cruise line's description of the excursion should state if you will stop at shops, etc. Many of them don't.
Posted by
Seattle, WA, US
1005 posts
You won't have much time in Florence since each way will take about three hours. If you make it to Florence by noon, you'll have about three hours before you need to catch a train back so that you can be on board by 6 p.m. Consider seeing Pisa or Lucca instead. If you MUST see Florence, take a cab from the La Spezia cruise terminal to the station for about 15 euros. Trains leave about hourly to Pisa, where you'll have to change trains. It's smart to download the Trenitalia smartphone app before you leave the States (they have an English version) so that you can buy tickets from your phone if you're in a hurry (best if you have cellular service in Italy as well as Wi-Fi). Good luck.
Posted by
Atlanta, GA, USA
2790 posts
The cruise line I did offered a Florence on your own fr this port. Basically it was transport to Florence, and transport back to the ship. It skipped the tour company shopping stops and as long as you caught the bus you knew you would not miss the ship
We chose to do lucca and Pisa on our own instead but I did talk to people who did the Florence on their own and at least a few of them were bent out of shape to discover that the cruise line did not sell admission to the biggies in Florence. (Basically because they didn’t plan ahead they stood on line all day )