Pisa- take two

We are taking Classic Italy, Small Groups next May. As a follow-up to my previous post about Pisa, we decided, what the hey, why not plan to visit Pisa during one of the free afternoons in Florence. I know, I know, there is so much to see in Florence and Pisa is pretty touristy or touristic. But it is such an icon, how can we not go see it if it is possible.

The issue is how to do it. We are looking at two options- Hire a car and guide/driver (ndvb gave me a referral) or take a Viator tour. At first I thought the Viator tour was just the ticket- an air conditioned bus departs Florence not far from our hotel in early afternoon for the approx 1 hour bus ride to Pisa, Viator arranges for tickets to the tower (no waiting in line to buy tickets) and provides a brief guided walk through the town. The car and driver will be considerably more expensive but should provide a more thorough and personal experience. Another option which I think too complex is to go by train and tour Pisa on our own.

However, after reading MANY reviews, I learned a few more things about the Viator tour. As you know, Viator is basically a broker and a local company provides the services- guides can be hit or miss. The biggest issue is that even though they liked the tour, many (most) people felt it was too rushed. Also, you can't take food on the bus. The bus must park a fair distance away- a 10+ minute walk to the tower. They don't supply Voxes so, unless you are standing close, it is hard to hear the guide during the brief walk through town. The tour does not include tickets to the Duomo or the baptistery and there really isn't time to see them anyway. The tickets provided for the leaning tower are for a specific time slot late in the afternoon which doesn't leave much time before the bus is scheduled to depart, so if you climb the tower, you must go up and down fairly quickly, almost no time to linger at the top to take in the view or take many photos. There is no flexibility in the tour.

I can buy tickets for the tower, baptistery, and Duomo online before we go. At this point my thought is if I'm going to do this, spend the money and do it right by hiring a driver/guide.

Does anyone who has taken this Tauck tour and made a side trip to Pisa, either way, have any comments or suggestions?

Comments

  • You'll be travelling from Florence, is that right, Alan? Had you thought of travelling by train? Granted my personal experience of this is in the dim, dark past now ... but the basics would be the same. It was a fairly short trip there and back and once there, I walked everywhere. Have good guide book will travel? How adventurous do you feel? Should be fairly straightforward for someone with your research experience. ;)

    Cheers,

    Jan
  • edited July 2015
    I have never been to Pisa, but two of my times in Italy hav been on Tauck tours. I wanted to bring up your point about the coach parking ten minutes away. Both times we were in Italy, the Italians are very strict about where coaches park and evem for how long they stop to load and unload people without the driver getting fines. When we stopped at little places like Assissi, the tour director always reminded us to be on time because the driver would be the one responsible for the hefty fines. So although I do not know the layout for Pisa, that could be what is normal for parking in Pisa. It may even be the same for cars, so bare that in mind when you make plans. Finally, when I started to look at Viator recently, I realized that if only a few people go on one of their tours, they can also be expensive so hiring a car might be worth it.
  • jdurkin wrote:
    You'll be traveling from Florence, is that right, Alan? Had you thought of traveling by train? Granted my personal experience of this is in the dim, dark past now ... but the basics would be the same. It was a fairly short trip there and back and once there, I walked everywhere. Have good guide book will travel? How adventurous do you feel? Should be fairly straightforward for someone with your research experience. ;)

    Cheers,

    Jan

    Yes, from Florence. I looked at the trains and while it appears they would be a good (comfortable and relatively fast) alternative, it involves a bit more admin time- getting to the train station early enough at both ends to figure out which train and where to board. Then making our way from the trains to the Tower and back to the hotel. I've looked at Google maps but haven't paid much attention to walking distances and times. Public transportation worked out great for pre-tour sightseeing a few years ago in Edinburgh. Then there is the issue of "exposure" if you know what I mean. The bottom line, I'm not sure I want to be that adventurous this time. The decision will come down to what everyone here says, Viator reviews, and what Nial's (ndvb) referral says. I am also looking at the same company for a car and driver for Naples-Pozzuoli, and maybe a guide for Capri (we arrive 1 1/2 days early).
    British wrote:
    I wanted to bring up your point about the coach parking ten minutes away. Both times we were in Italy, the Italians are very strict about where coaches park and even for how long they stop to load and unload people without the driver getting fines. When we stopped at little places like Assissi, the tour director always reminded us to be on time because the driver would be the one responsible for the hefty fines. So although I do not know the layout for Pisa, that could be what is normal for parking in Pisa. It may even be the same for cars, so bare that in mind when you make plans. Finally, when I started to look at Viator recently, I realized that if only a few people go on one of their tours, they can also be expensive so hiring a car might be worth it.

    The one big advantage of a car and driver- they operate on our schedule not visa-versa. I guess it is a "you get what you pay for" situation. I should be able to get all this sorted out after we get back from Ireland.

    Thanks.
  • https://www.rome2rio.com/s/Florence/Pisa


    this is a great website to figure train bus car or walking. you can, also, figure on schedules. I used it for my upcoming trip to Scotland for some stuff before and after tour that I am doing.
  • AlanS,

    I took the Classic Italy tour (not the small groups tour) in 2013 and took the Viator tour to Pisa on the “on your own” time after visiting the Uffizi Museum.

    Although I liked the tour, I would have to agree with all the reviews you heard about the Viator Pisa tour. The meet up time was about 2PM near the Santa Maria Novella church. We arrived at Pisa around 3:30 PM and had to take a 10 min. walk to reach the complex itself.

    Our tour guide took us around the town itself since our leaning tower appointment was not till 5 PM or so. It was a short tour around town then we made our way back to the duomo complex where we can look around till we had to line up for our trek up to the tower (I myself went on bathroom break).

    When it was our time to climb, there was a short video then we went ahead and climbed the steps. Those steps had varying degrees of wear and tear on the marble(?). You can really see the indentations. Makes you think of all the other people that went up before you. When you reach the top, it was wonderful. I think I stayed at the top of the tower for about 15 to 20 min. Then I descended to go into the Duomo.

    I only had about 15 min to look at the Duomo before I need to go to the meet up place. Wanted to go to the baptistery but was not includes in tour. Some of our colleagues were late so that and the traffic walk back to the bus. It was dark already (maybe quarter to 7 PM) when we made our way to our bus. Longer walk back to the bus in the dark compared to coming to the Pisa duomo complex, made it to Florence at around 8:45PM.

    The Viator tour fit my schedule so I have no complaints. After doing the tour on my own, I do understand why it was taken out of the intinerary for Tauck's Classic Italy tour.

    The guide on the Viator tour was really only there to give the lay of the land. Even though she didn’t go to the tower or gave a tour of the duomo, she did give some good information regarding the duomo complex and the city of Pisa.

    So make of it as you want. It was a good tour, but not great.

    CAPRI

    As for Capri, I did hire a private guide to take me around to Capri. She was born and lived in Capri and she picked me up from my hotel and we made our way to the port in Sorrento to fast boat to Capri. First was the zig-zag ride, then a visit to the Blue Grotto. The guide for on the Blue Grotto took me around the grotto twice! Then the chair lift up to the hill (forgot the name). We toured the inside of the island and she gave a lot of information and knew many of the "off the beaten path places" that made Capri so interesting. One of the places was a church that had a wonderful tile floor depicting Eden. They usually charge admission to get into the church, but she knew the attendant.

    For lunch, she dropped me off at a restaurant and picked me up after I had my meal (not included in the fee). Then we continued with the sightseeing along the coast.

    Just a warning. Aside from the zig-zag car ride, this was all on foot.

    It was a bit pricey, especially for 1 person, but I thought it was worth it.

    The website is: http://www.toursofcapri.com/capriislandtour.html
  • If it were me, I'd take the train. You can buy tickets in advance at the Rail Europe site. About $22 per person if bought in advance. The tower is about a 30 minute walk from the station. The tickets are flexible so you can exchange them up to one hour after the scheduled departure if your plans change. Borrow the Rick Steve's Italy book from the library for more information on Pisa.
  • edited July 2015
    Thanks all for your input.

    soun80, I know things may have changed since then and I'll probably check with Tauck too, but which day did you take the Viator tour to Pisa and what time and where did the Tauck portion of the day end?

    As I mentioned, one benefit of a car and driver is we aren't bound by a specific meet/bus departure time and location. Also, we are going on the 22 May tour (we are in Florence on 31 May & 1 June) so should have plenty of daylight there at that time of year (sunset will be about 8:54 pm).

    I'll post a follow-up in a few months once I get all input and have made arrangements.

Leave a Comment

BoldItalicStrikethroughOrdered listUnordered list
Emoji
Image
Align leftAlign centerAlign rightToggle HTML viewToggle full pageToggle lights
Drop image/file