Florence vs. Pisa

Wow, the things people became famous for back in the day....Cringe

Great tip, we aren't planning any excursions for Cannes or Marseilles! I'm eager to have some of our trip to be just that--happy wandering, eating, & drinking :) I think at the tail end it will be well welcomed.

I have to agree, Italy is a place where you need time, not just to see it but to experience it. Over a couple trips I have spent a few weeks in Rome. I have done all the sites to see the first trip, after that I was then able to experience it, take my time and walk around the city, stop in a cafe for lunch and a liter of red wine, sit outside at a cafe and watch time go by, do some shopping, go to the farmers market to get some fresh fruit, take the subway around town and go to some of the bars and clubs at night.

On a port day you just get to hit the highlights to see them, if you can extend your trip (since the air fair is expensive part) stay a few days or a week in Rome or Florence. When your in port in France if you do not do an excursion get lunch or go to a bakery for French pastry (best pastry I ever ate was at a hole in the wall cafe in France)

Italy is so beautiful and has so many must see things that it's truly hard to do in just a short amount of time. We were glad we did our three nights each in Venice, Florence, and Rome prior to our Western Med. cruise. We highly recommend Florence over Pisa and were lucky we didn't have to choose between the two. Pisa is nice, but Florence is truly special. We plan on returning to Italy someday to visit places like Milan, Assisi, and the Cinque Terra. Some more buck list stuff we want to cross off.

Some cruise lines offer excursions that visit both, though the stop in Pisa is typically just long enough for the requisite photos and little else.

Unless you really really want to impress your friends by holding up the Tower, you won't regret having a bit more time in Florence and skipping Pisa.

We're doing Pompeii as part of the Naples stop, sadly I almost wish we were doing all Italy stops vs. the two France stops (Cannes & Marseilles)--not due to anything that is going on over there, but I'm finding myself so frustrated not to be able to do all & see all in Italy. & to be limited with the cruise time frames each day. I think it's definitely a place we'd go back to I'm sure in the future, do Venice, Tuscany etc. But that's also our hindrance--we're on the East coast, but with kids in the future at some point, I don't see us spending the money or really having the time for a veryyy long time to do another large scale European trip. & our travel is also limited to the summer time, which means expensive flights. Thank you for your feedback!

LoL!

Thank you! We're staying in Barcelona for a couple days prior, but feel like we'll probably make our way back to Italy at some point..I've heard the food is especially good in Florence!!

It's hard to see Florence in one day. We did three nights there ahead of our cruise. It was truly worth it. I understand your plight. Pisa is nice and you can see it all in about 4 hours. Even if you only to get to spend one night in Florence, it's worth it. There are 3 must see things in Florence, and if you're there only one day, you can probably get to all these: Statue of David in the Accademia, The Duomo/Baptistery, and the Ponte Vecchio/Pitti Palace area. One you've visited Florence, you'll understand why we would recommend it over Pisa.

Well, mostly remembered as Mrs. Brady on the Brady Bunch, you have Florence Henderson. I don't think you can compare her to Pia ( Zadora I presume ) on any level.

oh, ummmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

nevermind.