Livorno to Lucca by Train, From the Cruise Port to the Walls

Livorno to Lucca by train takes about an hour to an hour and a quarter. Almost every train means a change at Pisa Centrale. Coming off most ships, you first need the shuttle out of the Livorno cruise port and then a bus or a taxi across town to the station, so plan on the best part of two hours from the gangway to Lucca’s walls.

Lucca is about half an hour from my home, and one of the walks I guide there starts ten minutes on foot from its station. If you’re staying in Livorno itself, skip to the train section.

From the Cruise Port to Livorno Centrale

Big ships tie up in the commercial harbour, at the Alto Fondale terminal or one of the quays around it. You can’t walk out through a working port. Porto di Livorno 2000, the company that runs the cruise terminal, operates a shuttle bus for the whole time your ship is in. It drops you at Piazza del Municipio, next to Piazza Grande in the centre, after about 15 minutes. Some cruise lines include it and others charge a few euros. Your ship will tell you which.

From Piazza Grande it’s 2.4 km to Livorno Centrale, on Piazza Dante at the eastern edge of town, and on foot that takes about half an hour. I’d take the bus. Board line 1+ heading for Stazione and it gets you there in about ten minutes. Older guides still call it bus 1 or the LAM Blu. The fare is about €2, and you can tap a contactless card or phone on board instead of buying a ticket. There’s also a taxi stand at the shuttle drop-off.

Smaller ships sometimes berth at Porto Mediceo, by the old town, and from some of those spots you may be able to walk into the centre. Some ships also sell a shuttle straight to the station, so ask on board.

Shuttle and bus together come to about half an hour from ship to station, plus however long you wait for the shuttle. That queue builds in the morning rush, and I can’t tell you from here how long yours will be, so I’d try to be among the first off the ship.

The Train From Livorno to Lucca

These are regional trains, with no seats to reserve. One ticket from Livorno Centrale to Lucca covers both legs and costs about €6 each way. Buy it at the station machines or on the Trenitalia app or website.

The first leg, to Pisa Centrale, takes about 20 minutes. In the morning several trains an hour make the run. At Pisa you change for Lucca, about 30 minutes away, on trains that leave roughly twice an hour through the day. Changing at Pisa is the fiddly bit. A good connection keeps the whole trip to an hour or an hour and a quarter, and a bad one can stretch it past an hour and a half. You may have read that Lucca is 30 minutes from Livorno by train, but that’s the Pisa to Lucca leg on its own.

For the trip back from Lucca to Livorno, I’d buy a paper ticket at the machine in Lucca station, since you won’t know which train you’ll catch. Validate it in the station before you board, and it’s good for four hours from then. A ticket bought on the app starts at the departure time of the train you picked, which you can change until that train leaves. Check the timetable for your date before you leave the ship, because these lines sometimes run replacement buses.

What Fits in a Port Day in Lucca

Count your day from the moment you’re off the ship to all-aboard, which comes earlier than the sailing time on your itinerary. Allow an hour and three quarters to two hours each way between the ship and Lucca’s walls, so three and a half to four hours of the call go on getting there and back. Then keep an hour in hand before all-aboard. By my count an eight-hour call leaves you about three hours in town, a little less if the shuttle queue is long.

From the station you’re through Porta San Pietro and inside the walls in five minutes. Three hours in town covers a lap of the ramparts and lunch in the centre. I’d do them in that order. On foot the lap takes about an hour, less on a bike rented near the gates. If you come back for longer, I’ve worked out how many days in Lucca I’d plan and what goes in them.

Livorno calls often run longer than eight hours, 07:00 to 18:00 for example, and some ships stay overnight. Check yours before you plan around it.

The Aqueduct Walk on a Long Call

The Nottolini aqueduct walk I guide takes three hours, and that’s on top of the travel. Add lunch and the hour I’d keep in hand before all-aboard, and it needs a call of ten hours or more, which in practice means your ship is in port all day and into the evening. Even then it leaves you little time in the centre. On a shorter call I’d leave it out and give the day to the town. With an overnight call you have room for both, the town one day and the aqueduct the next.

From Lucca station it’s ten minutes on foot to the Tempietto di San Concordio, where the walk starts, so you can be out along the arches soon after your train gets in. When I guide it, the walk runs the length of the arches and on to the Parole d’Oro inscription near the springs, then back toward the station and your train.

You can walk the arches alone, and my guide to the Lucca aqueduct sets out the route. If you’d still like to see them on a shorter call, turn back where the arches end. That roughly halves the walk, and the time it takes still comes out of your hours in the centre.

Private guided hike

Nottolini Aqueduct

The aqueduct doubles as a sundial. Once a day the light runs straight down its corridor of arches, at a time that shifts through the year.

• About 3 hours
• €165 per group
• Reachable by train
• Longer route to a view over Lucca, on request

Easy · 9.1 km (5.7 mi) · 50 m (164 ft) ascent

View this hike

The other walks on my hiking near Lucca page have no practical public transport to the start, so I’d keep them for a trip with a few nights on land.

Getting Back Before All-Aboard

Work back from your all-aboard time. Trains from Lucca to Pisa leave roughly every half hour in the afternoon, so plan on one and treat the next as your spare, because after Pisa there’s still the train to Livorno, the bus or a taxi across town and the queue for the return shuttle. You wait for that one indoors, in a lounge on Via Cogorano by Piazza Grande. I’d aim to reach the port an hour before all-aboard.