need help- 1 day in tuscany

[abitobritt]

I will be in Italy on a cruise and we port in Livorno. I would like to rent a car and go into tuscany and stop at vineyards and see the countryside. Im a little worried about getting back in time before the ship leaves. Where can I find a good map of where to drive to? How hard is it to do this in a day? Is traffic really bad? will we get lost? is there a book or something that outlines a trip like this? I don't want to take one of the tours they have because we would do too many touristy things. Thanks!

[Lourdes]

Ciao!

Do you already know how many hours you will actually have from the time you leave the ship until you have to be back on board? Have you driven in Italy or Europe before so that at least it won't be new, getting on these roads and driving a stick shift?

I think having to worry about getting to the car rental place, figuring out directions and trying to not get lost - you should have a specific destination in mind before hand - might eat up too much of the time you have. I understand not wanting to do the tour offered by the cruise line, but you could always come into Florence and then "lose" the rest of the group, do your own thing and just be back at the bus on time to be taken back to the ship on time..... or how about looking into hiring a car with driver and you deciding where to be taken and therefore not having to worry about the rental or driving? Search on Google for "private car livorno" or something to that effect, I am sure there are several private drivers in the area offering itineraries to wineries and the countryside. I can't recommend any personally as I've never done it, but I've read that many consider it a better alternative to the tours offered by the cruise lines. Some are interested in shopping, for example, and take a tour to the designer brand outlets .

You decide what you want to do, but consider the amount of time you have available overall..... plus, drinking and driving don't mix well, not to mention the narrow, curving roads of Tuscany which take some getting used to.

Do let me know if you have any further questions, I'll try to help out if I can!