Livorno is Leghorn
FYI: For reasons still unclear, some cruise lines and other travel literature continue to refer to Livorno by its antiquated, Anglicized name left over from World War II: Leghorn.The closest cruise ship port to Florence is Livorno—not that Livorno is actually anywhere near Florence. Livorno is a 90-minute car ride, or 80–100-minute train ride, from Florence.
Livorno is a Renaissance-era port city on the Tuscan coast near Pisa. (In point of fact, the ruling Medici family of Florence built Livorno specifically to compete against the rival city of Pisa.)
You have three options for getting from Livorno to Florence (beyond the ship's own offered connections/excursions). In brief:
In detail:
First of all, do not take a taxi. It'll cost around €170 ($225) per person each way. Insane.
A private car from the cuise port in Livorno to Florence will take about 90 minutes.
You can get a private transfer with our partners at Viator.com for a discounted rate starting around $55 per person one-way or $94 round-trip—though that rate depends on how many are in your party. (The more of your fellow passengers you can get into the car or minivan, the less each person will pay. For just two people, the per-person one-way rate is more like $177, round-trip around $300.)
There are actaully two services: One is cheaper for one-way transfers (arriving or departing), the other is cheaper for round-trip service (for when you just have a single day in port):
You can also take a guided tour of Florence from the cruise ship with our partners Context Travel or Select Italy:
Or Viator.com (more on the latter below):
A train is the cheapest option, though not the fastest (all told, if you hit the connections just right, it'll take a minimum 100 minutes, more like 120–140 minutes).
There are one to three trains per hour making the 68– to 100-minute train ride from Livorno to Florence. A one-way, second class ticket costs €9.10.
First, however, you have to get from the ship to the stazione treni (train station) Livorno Centrale, which is not really walkable from any of the cruise terminals at the port.
A taxi from the Livorno docks direct to the train station will cost you about €20–€30, so get a few people together and the ease and time you save will make it worth it. The ride will take all of 10 minutes.
Many cruise lines offer a cheap or free shuttle to Piazza Grande in the center of Livorno (takes about 10 minutes). Don't bother. This is not near the train station.
If you dock at Molo Mediceo, just walk out of the port, buy a biglietto autobus (public bus ticket) for €1.20 from any newsstand you pass, and head straight up Via Grande to the first bus stop on your right. Hop city bus #1 to the stazione treni in about 15 minutes.
If you dock at the Darsena Toscana, or anywhere else in the hinterlands of the port complex, public transport become more difficult. Just grab a taxi, or if it's offered that free/cheap shuttle to Piazza Grande.
(If you do take your shuttle to Piazza Grande, you can still grab public bus #1 from there; there are newsstands on the piazza where you can buy bus tickets. This adds another 5–10 minutes.)
Florence tourist information
Via Cavour 1R
tel. +39-055-290-832
www.firenzeturismo.it
Planning your day: Florence would well be worth a week, but you can still fit a lot into just a day or three.
To help you get the most out of your limited time in the Cradle of the Renaissance, here are some perfect itineraries, whether you have one, two, or three days to spend in Florence.
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Florence tourist information
Via Cavour 1R
tel. +39-055-290-832
www.firenzeturismo.it
This article was written by Reid Bramblett and was last updated in June 2014.
All information was accurate at the time.
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