Planning a trip to Livorno
The helpful tourist office is under the arcade in Piazza del Municipio, Livorno (tel. 0586-820-454; www.comune.livorno.it/portaleturismo), open Monday through Saturday 10am to 1pm and 2 to 5pm between November and April, daily 9am to 6pm otherwise. If you plan to explore the town, the Livorno Card (www.livornocard.it) offers free travel on city buses, discounts in some shops, and free entry into the Museo Civico. The tourist office is also the place to meet for the Tour in Battello nei Fossi Medicei (tel. 348-738-2094), a sightseeing circumnavigation of the old port by canal boat. Tours, which cost around 12€ per person (5€ for children), leave daily in good weather.
Getting There
By Train -- The Arno valley line runs 24 trains daily from Florence (about 1 1/2 hr.) through Empoli (55 min.) and Pisa (19 min.) to Livorno Centrale, where you can catch the no. 1 or 2 bus to Piazza Grande. There's also a regular service (Mon-Sat) down the Etruscan Coast to Cecina (25 min.) and San Vincenzo (40-50 min.), with a sparser service also calling at Castiglioncello (18 min.).
By Car -- There's a highway from Florence (the FI-PI-LI) that runs straight into town. From Pisa, the fastest way is to zip down the A12 or the SS1. Driving in the center can be a little chaotic, however; we either take public transportation or park as soon as we arrive: There's pay parking by the train station in Piazza Dante, along the Fosse Reale, and in Piazza Unità d'Italia.
By Bus -- The train is almost always better, but CPT buses (tel. 050-884-111; https://pisa.cttnord.it) do run from Pisa to Piazza Grande. ATL buses (tel. 0586-884-262; www.atl.livorno.it) run from Piazza Grande to service Livorno's province down the coast, including Cecina and Piombino.
