travel4now

We'll be on a cruise in Europe next spring with just one day in a port with bus access to Florence. Any ideas for an excursion that would give us ample time to tour the city mostly on our own?

kybourbon

The historical center is very compact and you can easily walk from side-to-side in about 30 minutes. The Florence Tourist Board has maps online.
http://www.firenzeturismo.it/

If you want to see David at the Accademia or tour the Uffizi, you can book reservation times on line.
http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/benvenuto.asp

Markh

The three things we most enjoyed in Florence were David, the Duomo and the view from Michaelangelio plaza. Its a fairly long walk to the plaza but you get to cross one of the bridges and get a flavor of the city. You can taxi back.

Markh

brando

If you want to see mueseums in one day you have a choice, Academia or Uffizi. By biggest regret in travel is not seeing David, but I was amazed and loved the Uffizi- for sheer quantity of masterpieces. You can't go wrong either way, and either way you will miss a lot.

Walk around the center, see the duomo, walk across the river, and see michaelangelio plaza-amazing. Florence is awesome.

OHandrew

Hi there,

I agree with the markh. Some of my favourite things to do in Florence were exactly that: The statue of David, The Duomo which I think is so unique and yeh crossing one of the bridges is nice to get a fell. However i strongly recommend doing this at sunset. This is nothing like the Florence sunset in my opinion...something you dont want to miss.

Furthermore, if you want to really put the cherry on the cake, then I would buy a tub of gelati which will undoubtedly make the experience complete.

Anyway, have an amazing time.

OHandrew

(OH-holidays)

ira

Hi T4,

If the cruise is taking you to Florence, VG. You can also take the train from Livorno.
This might help you.

A DAY IN FLORENCE:

Train to Florence SMN:
The Luggage Office is to your left as you leave the train.

From Piazza d' Stazione, walk up via Nazionale to via d'Ariento and the Mercato Centrale, wander through.

Take any street going NE to Via Degli Alfani and go right to the Accademia for The David.

Take via Ricasoli SE to the Duomo, the Baptistry and the Opera Museum (Originals of the bronzes on the doors)

From the Campanile, take via Calzaiuoli S (do some window shopping) to the Piazza d' Signoria. Look around, take a break.

Continue S to the Uffizi. Visit.

From the Uffizi, walk W along the Arno River to the Ponte Vecchio.

(You can walk up to the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens if there is time. Great views of Florence from the top of the Gardens)

If you have time, walk E along the S bank of the river to Ponte alle grazie and cross over to visit Santa Croce.

If not, go W along the Arno from Ponte Vecchio to Ponte S. Trinita and go right. Go left on Via d'Spada to via d'Fossi and go right to Santa Maria Novella. Look around.

SMN is across the square from the train station.

If you have time, take the no. 7 bus (you can find it at the SMN train station) up to Fiesole (0:20 hr 1E) to watch the sunset from the terrace of the Bar Bleu.

Be sure to have lots of gelato (in a cup, not a cone), take some wine breaks and a light lunch.

Train schedules, prices and tickets are at http://www.trenitalia.com/en/index.html
Call center from outside Italy is 39-06-68475475

Bus routes are at http://www.ataf.net/
Buy your ticket before you get on the bus. Stamp it in the yellow box on the bus.

Uffizi and Academia Museum Reservations
You can purchase tickets online at http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/english/musei/uffizi/
Or call the museum booking line on +39 055 294883, open during Italian hours from 8.15 am to 5.50 pm Tuesday to Sunday for the English-speaking operator.

Have a nice visit.

RachaelWest33

Visit the Duamo, it was beautiful. The city center is easy to navigate, be sure to eat Gelato.. maybe even twice!

Markh

Yes I agree with OHandrew. We walked to Michaelango Plaza at sunset. Had pizza on the plaza watching the sunset over Florence. Fantastic.

The other great place to watch the sunset is at Sorrento looking acrosss the bay of Naples at Mt Vesuvius.

bobthenavigator

I assume you do know you will spend about 4 hours on the bus that day. Livorno is not close to Florence.

travel4now

Wow! Am I ever happy. You all made my day. David, the Duomo, gelato, Bobili gardens, Michaelangelo at sunset, Uffizzi, etc., WE'll do them all. So Livorno is our port of call. Yes, the excursion description said it would be about 4 hours on a bus. I'm printing your schedule, Ira. Many thanks to all of you.

nytraveler

Well, if you're spending all that time on the bus - how much time will you really have in florence. No idea what times the bus comes and goes - but it seems like you will have a very short day there.

travel4now

Right. We'll check that out when our excursions list arrives from the cruise line. We may have to be satisfied with a walk through the historical center and the Uffizi.
At any rate, we'll likely find out that we'll want to return for a land tour.

sarge56

travel4now- just an fyi. I thought (and so have a few other folks I know) the Uffizi was overrated. But the Accademia- wow! Not only do you get to see David, but you get to see a dozen other Michelangelo pieces that remained unfinished- and they are beautiful in that form. I just found much more joy (and a shorter visit) at the Accademia. The Uffizi is so huge, you will hardly know where to start and may not be able to get the most of it with your short stay. Just my humble opinion.

You may want to gather information on both before your trip, and then decide which one you want to see, if you can only manage one.

Buon viaggio!