Livorno/Florence/Pisa on Monday

[jebond]

Suggestions for what to do on our port stop in Livorno since we are stopping there on a Monday & I heard museums are closed? We had hoped to do Florence & see David. Is there enough to do in Florence if the museums are closed?

We were originally choosing form
Discovering Florence (LV04)
Florence & Michelangelo (LV05) - what would they even do for this one if the museums are closed?
Florence & Pisa (LV06)

Any suggestions? This is our first visit to this area. Thanks!

 

[PrincessShmoo]

Suggestions for what to do on our port stop in Livorno since we are stopping there on a Monday & I heard museums are closed? We had hoped to do Florence & see David. Is there enough to do in Florence if the museums are closed?

We were originally choosing form
Discovering Florence (LV04)
Florence & Michelangelo (LV05) - what would they even do for this one if the museums are closed?
Florence & Pisa (LV06)

Any suggestions? This is our first visit to this area. Thanks!

If a museum is in the description for an excursion, then you will visit it. Now, it's possible that that particular excursion could show "not available on this cruise".

I'll have to look and see what excursion we did on our cruise. But I know we went to Pisa. I also think we saw the David, but maybe not.

 

[auntlynne]

I did a search for Florence Museums Mondays. It states the Uffuzi and Accademia Museums are open Sundays and closed Mondays. (And then checked the gallery’s website). There are other museums / places of interest that are open on Mondays. I would not expect you will be visiting any galleries that are closed on Mondays.

We did the 11-night Med cruise in 2010. Lots of port stops. We had a long enough port stop to allow for a 12-hour excursion to Florence. It sounded like a very tiring plan, and we chose to visit Pisa instead.

We took the train and walked around the area with the Tower and the Baptistry, had lunch and returned to the port. It was not the most exciting day of the cruise, but it is a famous site (and have a shared memory with my dad’s visit during his Navy midshipman days in college. In Pompeii, it was fun knowing my grandad had been there after WWIl.)

I would also consider visiting Lucca or the Cinque Terra. There are just so many choices when in Tuscany. And our one long day for Rome was in no way long enough. We saw some beautiful churches with excellent statues, fountains, the Pantheon (really neat) - and didn’t have time for any aspect of the Vatican. We did it by foot and public transport on our own and had a great experience.

Lots of fellow cruisers in our Disboard group (those were the heyday of those groups) did private tours or DIY adventures in many of our stops.

Port stops in Italy are really just teasers. It is like visiting any great city for part of a day. You just pick some highlights and hope to return. (Sounds like you did that with wanting to see David. Sounds like a return to Italy is in order for you.)

Hoping you can find something to delight you. It’s hard to go wrong in Italy.

Just a little art for the readers’ enjoyment.

Michelangelo’s Moses at the Church of St Peter I’m Chains in Rome:



Bernini’s Four Rivers, Piazza Navano, Rome

 

[Flossbolna]

Suggestions for what to do on our port stop in Livorno since we are stopping there on a Monday & I heard museums are closed? We had hoped to do Florence & see David. Is there enough to do in Florence if the museums are closed?

We were originally choosing form
Discovering Florence (LV04)
Florence & Michelangelo (LV05) - what would they even do for this one if the museums are closed?
Florence & Pisa (LV06)

Any suggestions? This is our first visit to this area. Thanks!

I think Florence is beautiful on its own. The cathedral is amazing, the bridge with the shops. I was at a conference there once and just spent hours walking around town without ever going into a museum.

If you want to do a Disney excursion to Florence LV04 Discovering Florence sounds very good to me. It gives you a nice introduction to the town and then time to explore.

But it also depends on what is fun to you. If you like browsing neat little shops, having a nice lunch and some coffee and getting some gelato, you will love it. If you don’t like walking and can’t tolerate heat well (especially if you are there in July), you might find it horrible.

 

[beckicnm]

Suggestions for what to do on our port stop in Livorno since we are stopping there on a Monday & I heard museums are closed? We had hoped to do Florence & see David. Is there enough to do in Florence if the museums are closed?

We were originally choosing form
Discovering Florence (LV04)
Florence & Michelangelo (LV05) - what would they even do for this one if the museums are closed?
Florence & Pisa (LV06)

Any suggestions? This is our first visit to this area. Thanks!

There is a copy of the David in the Piazza della Signoria that you can see, since it is outside. Florence is beautiful to just walk around.

But consider going to Lucca. It is a gem. Rent bikes if you can and bike around the wall. That is where I am going to go in November (on Celebrity), because the last time I went, I didn't get near enough time there.

 

[kiford]

We spent four days in Florence a few years ago and we barely scratched the surface of what there was to see. Even if every single museum was closed on a single day (and there are tons of them in Florence, large and small) and if every single church was closed, just walking around Florence itself is a great day. It's very walkable. We stayed in the heart of the old part of Florence and walked absolutely everywhere; there was simply no need to take public transportation or a taxi anywhere. There are also plenty of amazing little restaurants and shops. I've been to Florence once for a day on a cruise and then the four days we were there in 2018 and I need about another 6 months to see it all properly. And then another to see it all over again.

 

[PrincessShmoo]

There is a copy of the David in the Piazza della Signoria that you can see, since it is outside.

That's probably what we saw. Although I'd seen the original earlier (on a trip with my mother) years ago. Probably got them mixed up in my memory.

 

[NEGeekymama]

Skip Pisa. When we did a Med cruise several years ago I really wanted to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but doing that left us very little time in Florence.

 

[kiford]

Skip Pisa. When we did a Med cruise several years ago I really wanted to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but doing that left us very little time in Florence.

If you have only one day and have to choose between Pisa and Florence, I'd definitely say skip Pisa. We did Pisa on a different cruise and spent about 1/2 day there. We climbed the tower and walked around and went into the basilica. Very much enjoyed it, but a half-day is really about all you need. But if you want to see both Florence and Pisa in a day, it's dicey. A friend of mine did both (on their own) and nearly missed the ship just because of travel time and wanting to see a bit more in Florence. There is sooo much to see in Florence that you will make the most of your time if you stick to it only unless you absolutely really have to see the Leaning Tower because it's on your bucket list and you'll never get another chance. But if you do, you have to reconcile yourself to seeing very little in Florence or not at all.

Also, if go to Florence and you want to see David, you absolutely must order your tickets in advance. On one of our cruises, another passenger got off the ship as soon as it docked, took the first train to Florence, went right to the Accademia to buy tickets and was told that 6 pm was the earliest she could get and the ship was leaving at 7 pm. We went through a tour and the tickets were included so we got in relatively early in the morning. When we stayed in Florence for a few days, we purchased the Firenze pass which gives you access to lots of museums for 72 hours and you get in a priority entrance line as well. We got there first thing in the morning and the non-Firenze pass line was around the block. We stood in line for maybe 15 minutes. It's very very very popular and is something you definitely have to plan and arrange in advance.

 

[holula]

Florence is gorgeous even with no museums. I would either go there or Lucca (which is super cute!)

 

[jebond]

Wonderful suggestions! thank you so much! We're chatting about priorities & I think we'll look at just doing Florence, doing the Lucca/Pisa tour, or doing the Cinque Terre tour.

 

[kiford]

Wonderful suggestions! thank you so much! We're chatting about priorities & I think we'll look at just doing Florence, doing the Lucca/Pisa tour, or doing the Cinque Terre tour.

Honestly can't go wrong with any of those options. We spent four days in Cinque Terre on the same trip as our time in Florence. Our friends wanted to spend the time in Cinque Terre because they had done a day tour on a cruise and wanted more time there. We'll definitely go back there again sometime in addition to more time in Florence. We haven't been to Lucca yet but it's on the list. I can't take any of these places off my bucket list because the more time I spend there, the more time I want to spend there.