One Day In Livorno, Italy With A Family On A Cruise

Livorno, Italy is an industrial port that serves as the main cruise ship dock for people visiting Florence or Pisa.

Our family stopped for a day for a cruise ship excursion, and here's our tips for a day in Livorno. 

It's important to note that Livorno is an industrial city. Just see the picture above looking at the dock from the cruise ship - it's a port. And it's NOT walkable to the town center. You must take a shuttle from your cruise ship to the town. It might seem like it's only a 15 minute walk, but you can't really do it.

Overall Livorno, Italy Impressions

Livorno is an industrial city and there's nothing to do or see in the port area. If you're taking an excursion that you booked through your cruise line, your bus will meet you at the dock and you'll leave from there.

If you booked a private excursion or if you're wanting to visit the city, you need to take a shuttle to the city center. It's about a 7 minute bus ride - and it's NOT walkable. 

Some cruise lines will offer this shuttle complementary. Our cruise line, Norwegian, did not, and it was a €5 round-trip ticket per person - so €20 for our family. Make sure you save your receipt for the return trip.

The shuttle will drop you off in the city center. Almost every private excursion will meet you here, and there are a bunch of shops and restaurants nearby to enjoy. This area is very walkable, but there isn't much to see or do - it's a real working city center.

Trip Background

We visited Livorno in mid-August while on a cruise on the Norwegian Escape. Cruises all dock in the port, and you need to take a shuttle to the city center. We were traveling with the family - two adults and two kids. 

The great thing about this port was that you were in port for a long time. We docked by 6:30am and didn't leave until 7pm. 

However, if you're planning to go to Florence, you need this time. The drive to Florence alone is about 1 hour and 20 minutes. Many excursions do Florence, then Pisa, then back, which is a full 8 hour to 10 hour day.

Things To Do In Livorno With Family

Here are some of the things that we recommend to do as a family with younger children in Livorno, Italy:

Excursion To Pisa

Pisa is about a 40 minute drive away, and there are a ton of excursions to Pisa. This is what my family did since we didn't want to be in a bus for 8-10 hours. Instead, we took the shuttle to the city center, caught a private excursion to Pisa, which was about 3-4 hours round trip.

These excursions are only about €25 per person. You can find the one we booked here.

Inside the old fortress is gorgeous and just what you expect from the pictures. It's actually a very large area that has the Piazza del Duomo, Cathedral di Pisa, and the Leaning Tower.

The grass along the Piazza is where you should stand to get the iconic picture of yourself holding up the Leaning Tower. 

Don't forget to get up close to the Leaning Tower. You can get some great pictures on the backside, which (for some reason) most people don't do and it's way less crowded. 

If you want to walk to the top of the Leaning Tower, you need to book your tickets well in advance. Many of the excursions don't offer "walk to the top" because it's challenging to get the limited amount of tickets available.

Pisa is a very old town, and the streets were not designed for buses and tourism. The result is that when you take an excursion, your bus will park about 10 minutes away from the actual tower, and you need to walk through a maze of streets to get there (it's very well signed - don't be scared).

Alert: This area is known for pickpockets. We heard people call out pickpockets at least three times on our walk over to the Leaning Tower.

Excursion To Florence

Another popular option is to take the day trip to Florence, which many also stop at Pisa.

We didn't do this excursion or trip, but there are a lot of other reviews online that highlight this.

If you want to browse some Florence tours, check this out >>

Shopping

There is a good amount of "tourist" shopping in Livorno and Pisa. What I mean by this are the street vendors and tourist shops that sell T-Shirts, Hats, and knick-knacks.

There were some more unique shops right outside the walls of Pisa, but that was really it for shopping. 

Dining

We dined a couple times during our day in Livorno. We stopped in Pisa at a street side cafe and had sandwiches, which were amazing. 

In Livorno, we wanted to try Livorno-style pizza, which is served square with a thicker crust. Almost like Detroit-style in the United States. We sampled two spots near the shuttle stop: Pizzeria la dolce vita and Il Ventaglio. Both were good and reasonably priced.

I also sampled the coffee, which was fine. Overall, the price point in Livorno for dining is very inexpensive.

Explore

There's not a lot to explore in Livorno. The only real attraction beyond going to Pisa or Florence is the Fortezza Nuova. It's an old fort located about 5 minutes walking from the shuttle stop.

If you're looking for something to see while waiting to get back to your cruise, you might as well walk over and check it out.

Final Thoughts

Livorno is an industrial town, but it's the gateway to popular sites like Pisa and Florence. If this stop is on your cruise itinerary, plan to get to at least one (if not both) of these sites.