The Courier & Advertiser (Fife Edition)
The Italian job
Cruise and travel addict Bridget – who’s also a massive fan of Italy – heads to the beautiful region of Tuscany
Although considered the gateway to Tuscany, Italy’s second largest port, Livorno, isn’t seen as a beautiful city. This was hardly helped by extensive bombing during the Second World War.
Despite that negative press I’ve been drawn to this bustling port at least half a dozen times and I’m never disappointed.
The main reason I keep returning is due to the fact that I’m not only a cruise addict, but smitten with Italy.
I regularly set sail from Civitavecchia (near Rome) as I did recently and calling at Livorno during Mediterranean voyages with Princess Cruises, Silversea, Saga and Azamara Club Cruises.
As it’s so close to Pisa – around 20 minutes by train – it’s also easy to fly there and you can catch a connecting bus or train from the airport, although you may need to change en route.
I flew in once on the way to the friendly boutique Hotel Ilio at St Andrea on Elba, an island as famed for Napoleon’s exile there as for stunning beaches and scenery. Another two of my favourite islands – Sardinia and its French neighbour Corsica – can be reached by ferry from Livorno.
Perhaps the reason Livorno is often ignored by its cruise visitors is that there are so many attractions on its doorstep.
Tour buses head for Firenze, or Florence, where in around two hours, you can be standing below the famous Duomo, surrounded by the world’s greatest concentration of Renaissance art and architecture.
It’s worth taking an organised tour if only to skip the huge peak-time queues to view Michelangelo’s David, now standing in the Academy of Fine Arts.
The medieval Ponte Vecchio Bridge with its jewellery shops spanning the Arno is also unmissable, while climbing to the top of the Duomo is wonderful, as long as you have a head for heights.
Only a brave vertigo sufferer would attempt the sloping 296 steps of the Leaning Tower of Pisa, but I recommend it for the unique experience and unnerving view. The Torre Pendente (Leaning Tower), Duomo and Battistero all stand within the Campo dei Miracoli or Field of Miracles, undoubtedly one of the world’s most impressive squares. As visitor numbers are limited, you must book at a separate ticket office where you also leave any handbags or rucksacks in a security locker. If you plan to tour all the monuments, you can save money with a multiple ticket.
The ancient walled city of Lucca is also within easy reach of Livorno. Its Romanesque architecture features intricate facades on impressive buildings such as the Lucca Duomo and Church of San Michele in Foro.
Yet if you want a day off from serious sightseeing to sit in the sunshine enjoying a glass of vino or a cappuccino, then Livorno is for you. It’s compact
The main reason I keep returning is mainly due to the fact that I’m not only a cruise addict, but smitten with Italy
enough to navigate on your own and you can also take tours on its canals.
The district with its maze of waterways and Renaissance-era fortifications is known as Nuova Venezia or New Venice and a boat tour gives a glimpse of how the city once was in its grander past. Like many travellers of his time, 18th Century century Scots novelist Tobias Smollet loved Livorno so much, he retired there with his wife. Lovers of seafood and other Italian delicacies shouldn’t miss the colourful morning Mercato Centrale, where you’ll enjoy a large slice of local life while grazing fresh food stalls.
Walk off your meal along the Terrazza Mascagni, a checkerboard waterside promenade and enjoy magnificent sunsets and the sea air. Something tells me, Livorno, I’ll be back…
Travel News:
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