We were thinking about taking a shore excursion while in Florence/Pisa which would take us to Pisa and then onto Viareggio for a day at the beach. Has anybody been to Viareggio before? Would this trip be worth going on? Any comments would be much appreciated. Thank you.

If you want the beach over Florence or Lucca then Viareggio is probably a good choice. It is a resort town (fairly large at that) and, as such, attracts tourists from all over Europe (as well as some cruise passengers.) You C/L excursion will get you admittance to a private 'club' and probably will include your own beach chair (nope, you cannot move it.) They are funny that way - all lined up in neat rows aligned exactly the way that they want them. It's a Mediterranean beach club so enjoy it for what it is.

For grins, go to maps.google.com and search for 'viareggio, it'

Use the zoom slider to move in closer (you may have to move left/right to keep beach centered.) As you get closer you will see all of the beach chairs lined up.