La Spezia Travel Forum

My family of seven will be arriving by cruise ship in early June 2007. We are renting a van in La Spezia to drive to Florence and Pisa. Can anyone describe road conditions and ease of travel to these cities? I have a handheld GPS. we only have 10 hours for our exploration.

Well, I haven't driven in this stretch of Italy, but you're going to be on highways nearly the entire way. From Las Spezia to Pisa, the distance is about 86 kilometers, with about 77 kilometers being on the A15 and the A12.

From Pisa to Florence, it's about 108 kilometers, with about 95 kilometers being on the A12 and the A11.

Assuming that you go back the same way, you'll be on highways going 100+kph most of the way....except for rush hour traffic, construction, etc. Well, in good conditions, the left lanes will be 110-140 kph+, the right lanes may be 50 kph (sometimes farm equipment), and the middle will be you ;-)

Practice using www.viamichelin.com . Note that it estimates distance, tolls, and gas costs. Note that it also warns you about scheduled construction when it can (there is some near Pisa on the Via Aurelia, as I recall)...

Bill

I have driven these autostrada a few times - the highways move fine, wide open, the problem is when you get off the highway. The stretch from the west end of florence into the center of town is slow going and the stretch into Pisa is a one lane each way road with traffic near the Field of Miracles. And parking takes time. You are talking about 115 miles from La Spezia to Florence based on the above post after you pick up the van and get to the highway. This is a lot to do in only 10 hours with the problem that your cruise ship may leave without you As much as it might hurt, you could limit your trip to Pisa and Lucca and spend several relaxed hours, leaving generous time to return to your ship. Lucca is a wonderful city to visit - there are some nice VT pages.

I think Lew has a good point about Florence...while the drive is doable, the farther you go afield, the less quality time you have onsite. Since Florence deserves several days, not a couple of hours, this is better not done as a drive-by visit.

Lew, have you driven to Lucca? Is it one of those towns that is mostly pedestrian inside, with municipal parking on the edge of town?

Bill

Bill - a long while since there - as I recall, walled but much larger than most and the road from the autostrada seemed to have a light on every corner and loads of local commercial traffic not just tourists. Lucca is a city, not a village, but the interior is really nice. The VT page I recall is by alucas.

The road conditions are fine on the autostrada in that area, it's a wide and very straight road, driving in Florence is a mess though. Last year in july we drove there, and from the moment we left the autostrada until the moment we reached the hotel (that was located very close to the uffizi galeries) it took us aaaaaaaaages, well 1 hour actually but I think it would have been faster walking :)

I do think though it's a pity spending most of your 10 hours driving from one place to another, I would chose just one town and enjoy your time in that town instead of having a short time in different towns, I back up the others on the Lucca-advice by the way, it's really nice!

Hi as others have said it is a straightforward drive on a good road to both Pisa and Florence but the problem starts when you leave the motorway. We did it in a motor-home and found it much easier to park outside and bus in. Are you committed to the van? I would find it much easier, and cheaper to take the train which is direct from La Spezia to Pisa (30 mins) then on to Florence (60 mins. You can see all there is to see in Pisa in a couple of hours but you'll only taste Florence in a day.

The time by train from La Spezia to Pisa is about 90 minutes, driving will take about 2 hours.