Aroeder

Hello FTers! I need some advice. My wife and I are looking for a one way private transfer from PSA airport to city hotel in Florence.

I know that the bus and the people mover to train is easy enough and much cheaper but we wanted to weigh our options as my wife is pregnant so it might be worth the price to have a hassle free "door to door" transfer.

Our hotel quoted us 430 Euro for two people. I know that a taxi should run about 100 Euro, but our experience with Italian taxis in the past has not been the best with little language skills.

I have looked at viator and it was quoting around 230 Euro.

Does anyone have a reliable service they would recommend? The viator pricing is okay, but I would preferably like to find something closer to the 150 Euro range. I do know you get what you pay for so pricing can be a little flexible, first and foremost will be a comfortable ride for my wife and I.

Thanks.

KLouis

First of all pregnancy is not a disease! Considering, that you will be having vacation in Italy, if you start by thinking that you need a private transfer for Pisa to Florence because of your wife's condition, I'm afraid that you will miss most of what one would be visiting/seeing in Italy. At any rate, since you want it simple and not using the train, I'd go for the taxi. Cabs in Italy are nowadays clean and reliable in every sense and to tell a driver Hotel Blabla Firenze does not require any special language skills. Stop being so anxious (I'm sure your wife isn't, otherwise she would have not have agreed to taking this vacation), enjoy your stay in Italy and look forward to telling your kid about it in a few years

Aroeder

Thank your for taking the time to give me your opinion instead of trying to answer my question. If we are not taking a taxi, bus, or people mover to train, does anyone have any recommendations for a private transfer?

Thanks!

JBD

I don't have first hand experience unfortunately, but I'm a big proponent of taking car services for my FCO to Rome transfers and have received similar chastisements on this forum. And I too have had bad experiences with taxis in Italy. Which prompted me to some googling -

An extremely reputable Florence based tour company offers these transfers, and for 2 people the cost would be €225. The company's name is Artviva and I'm aware of them because I took one of their tours after much research, and they totally lived up to their hype. Here's the link to their page on PSA to Florence transfers:
Private transfers from Pisa International Airport to Florence

I looked on their TripAdvisor page and entered "transfers" in the search panel and saw some reviews mentioning their transfer services, one which alluded to receiving a combination tour and transfer.

This unfortunately doesn't bring your price down from what Viator offers, but I'm personally leery of Viator because they're merely a third party booking engine. Maybe they'd be fine - but I always prefer dealing directly with the service provider.

In the case of Artviva, they very well could be acting as a third party booking engine themselves when it comes to their transfers. But for my money I'd feel more comfortable booking through them than with Viator. They are based in Florence and this is their company and reputation on the line - versus Viator which operates globally and whose bottom line wouldn't be dented if they happened to connect a single traveler to a bad car service.

Just one FTer's opinion of course - hopefully there will be some more transfer services recommended here.

Hope you have a great time in Florence!

JBD

Context Travel has proven itself over the years and has continued to expand. Although now quite big, I feel confident in recommending their services (versus Viators).

I remembered seeing that Context Travel offers transfers, and just called them to be sure. They're a company that primarily provides tours, but transfer services are also provided. The caveat being that you'd need to also book one of their tours and be an existing customer in order to add on their airport transfer service.

And their transfer cost is more than Artviva's at €240.

But I thought I should throw it out there for you to mull over. If you were already thinking about booking some type of tour in Florence, Context Travel really does offer something special (small groups, highly educated tour guides - you can check out their website for yourself).

The collected wisdom here is to have your hotel arrange your transfer because you could easily contact them if your driver wasn't to be found, and they'd be accountable since they want you to check in to their hotel afterall. But your hotel's price is €430. Which is nuts.

Using Artviva or Context Travel seems to me to be the next best alternative in terms that you'd be able to contact their Florence offices directly if a problem arises, and especially in the case of using Context Travel where they'd theoretically be providing you a tour during your stay - they would be motivated to be accountable.

Here's the link to Context Travel's PSA to Firenze transfer page:
https://www.contexttravel.com/cities...rival-transfer

Of course, the best option would be if someone here has successfully and repeatedly used a Florence driver for €150 and posts about!

JBD

Googling again, ruled out companies not based in Florence and for other various reasons, including if they chose to conceal their prices from their website. But found something promising I think.

Mark Limousine Tours - Pisa PSA Airport to Florence Limo Transfer Service - Mark Limousine Tours

Based in Florence, or to be exact, Impruneta. All stellar reviews on TA - but with enough "real" looking reviews to impress me enough to share it here. Here's the link:
https://www.tripadvisor.com/Attracti...a_Tuscany.html

His rate is €169 for a Mercedes. If I had the choice between this or a €170 taxi ride, I'd give this Mark a shot. For whatever that's worth!

Here's a cut and paste from his "About Mark" page: