Cruising to Tuscany

Tuscany is a fabulous cruise destination. It has beautiful countryside, historic cities and great art. The only problem is that it is all inland.

The vast majority of cruise ships offering cruises to Florence and Pisa stop at Livorno or Leghorn as it used to be called. It is an industrial port which suffered badly from bombing during World War II. As a result, there isn't that much to see in the city itself and the busy movement and storage of cargo makes the port less than ideal for passengers on cruise ships, especially the large ships that dock in the midst of the cargo area.

However. Livorno's location and the fact that it is a transportation hub make it a great jumping off point for visiting Pisa and Florence. http://www.beyondships3.com/cruise-port-livorno.html

With Florence, the issue is how much of the city's treasure can you see during a port call. Even if you did not have to travel there and back from Livorno, there is far too much to see to see in one day. Each of the city's great art collections could take up a day. However, the historical center is quite compact and it is possible to glimpse most of Florence's most renown locations in a short time. In fact, as described in my article, it is possible to see much of Florence during a cruise ship's introductory shore excursion to Florence. http://www.beyondships3.com/walking-through-florence.html

In Pisa, everything that most visit want to see is located in the Field of Miracles. This Renaissance era complex was built as a religious complex and was designed to have an other worldly feel. If you ignore all the tourists posing for photos of themselves holding up the Leaning Tower of Pisa, this area still has a unique beauty. Our photo article about visiting the Field of Miracles is at http://www.beyondships3.com/visiting-the-field-of-miracles.html