It's half the distance from the Grand Hotel Royal to Piazza Mazzini, which is the terminus of the local inter-city bus routes. Seven hundred meters down Viale Carducci, or about 8 minutes on foot (heading SOUTH).

You can get to Lucca, Florence, Pietrasanta, Camaiore, Lido di Camaiore, Marina di Pietrasanta, Forte dei Marmi, Pisa, and elsewhere by bus. It's a useful alternative to taking the trains from the more distant train station. The last part of the walk to the train station (inland from the Lungomare) is somewhat dreary.

I would take the nonstop bus between Viareggio and Florence, instead of the train. It's faster and more comfortable. Tickets (sold according to distance) are sold in many tobbaconists, bars, and newsstands, as well as at Piazza Mazzini.

Buses going north toward Forte dei Marmi even stop nearly in front of the hotel. At Forte dei Marmi, you can connect to another local bus continuing north to Marina di Massa and Marina di Carrara.

Here are the bus schedules:

www.vaibus.it

When consulting the bus schedules, pay close attention to the DAYS of operation, as schedules are usually different on Sundays and sometimes on Saturdays as well.

CORRECTION:

The bus terminus in Viareggio is at Piazza d'Azeglio, and not Piazza Mazzini as reported above. It's about 1200 meters south of the Grand Hotel Royal.

The bus schedules for Florence are in Table Q01.

Instant link to the relevant bus timetable booklet www.vaibus.com/pdf/libretto_Extraurbano.pdf

Many thanks for your advice. I thought the station was closer (someone told us it was!) ....but 25 minutes isn't impossible and the buses seem like a good option.

What about organised excursions? Are they easily available in town or in the hotel? We tend to prefer to be independent but sometimes excursions are the better option.

Hallo! When will you come in Viareggio? if you will be here in summer, you can go to Cinque Terre by ship, leaving from the pier. Here there are some informations www.navigazionegolfodeipoeti.it/orario.asp… .

From Viareggio there are also some excursions along the channel Burlamacco to the Lake of Massaciuccoli (leave from 9am to 12am, for more informations turismo@comune.viareggio.it ) …intoscana.it/intoscana2/export/TurismoRTen/… …intoscana.it/intoscana2/… ,

During your stay in Viareggio you can't miss to visit Pietrasanta, called "The little Athens", a very nice town rich in art! The central Piazza Duomo is wonderful, and along the central Via Mazzini there is the Sant'Antonio Abate Church, with the fresoes of the famous artist Fernando Botero. Pietrasanta is esasily reached from Viareggio by train (about 10 minutes, the station is very near to the city center) or by bus (see the link vaibus, line Q25, but I think train is more convenient!).

For going around in Viareggio and near towns on the seaside, I suggest you rent a bike, there is a very good bike lane!

On Wednesday morning there is the famous market at Forte dei Marmi, a town with a lot of boutiques; at the market you can find dresses at good prices, is like an outlet!

Good holiday!

Thank you Chiarana, for the great ideas and advice. It is all really helpful. We will be there in July. It sounds like we will be spoiled for choice for things to do. We really apprciate the help everyone has given.

Is it a better idea to pre book trains and buses or is it cheaper to buy them there?

It depends on where you have to go...

Tickets for Hight Speed trains (AV), that connect main cities (eg. Firenze, Bologna, Milano, Venezia, Roma, Napoli...), can be purchased in advance and you can find also good promotions.

Instead on-line tickets for regional trains (eg. Viareggio-Firenze, Lucca, Pisa, etc) can be purchased only 7 days in advance and price is the same of the ticket office.

Remember that if you buy on-line tickets for regional trains, you must travel within 4 hours (eg. if you book tickets for the train of 9am, you can take also another similar train, but only until 13pm). Instead if you buy ticket at ticket-office you can made that travel whenever you want within 3 months (remember to check this ticket before leave!).

About bus tickets, I think you can buy them only at ticket-office, not on-line. However, price is always the same!

Thank you very much, very helpful.