Practical information for visiting Florence
Arriving in and departing from Florence
By plane:
Florence is served by the two airports of the Tuscany region, the one in Florence and the one in Pisa.
FLORENCE PERETOLA AIRPORT (Amerigo Vespucci):
Located only 6 kilometers northwest of the center of Florence, this airport is the one that will get you to the heart of Florence the fastest. Unfortunately, this modest-sized airport is rather poorly served by the airlines, especially the low-cost ones. It will therefore sometimes be difficult to find a direct flight, unless you leave from the very large European cities. Official website of the Florence airport
To reach the city center, several options are possible:
The bus: A bus shuttle provides the link between the airport and the Stazione Santa Maria Novella station in the center of Florence. The service is called VolaInBus and is run by the company BUSITALIA. The journey takes about twenty minutes, with a departure every hour during the day (from 10:00 in the morning from Florence, or 10:30 from the airport), at an admission of €6 per person per trip or €10 round trip. As these hours and admission may change over time and according to public holidays, you can consult the ATAF website.
The taxi: In Florence the taxis are white. More expensive but the most practical way to reach your place of stay, the admission is a flat rate set at €22 (with a supplement for luggage and for a 4th person) for a ride to your hotel in the city center. To find out more on the website of the Florence tourist office.
AIRPORT OF PISA (Galileo-Galilei):
This airport, located 5 km south of Pisa, is the main airport of Tuscany, and its passenger traffic is more than double that of Florence. In fact, it is often used as an arrival airport in order to then reach Florence. The main airlines serve it, in particular the low-cost airlines. Official website of Pisa Airport.
To reach the city center of Florence, several options are possible:
The bus: A bus shuttle links the airport and the Stazione Santa Maria Novella (Piazzale Montelungo) in the center of Florence. The company Airport Bus Express is the one with the most frequent services. The journey takes about 1:10, admission €12 per person per journey. To find out more and to book tickets: official website of the Airport Bus Express company. The Caronna company also runs services: Official website of the Caronna bus company.
The train: you can reach the station of the city of Pisa by bus or by taxi and then take the train to the station of Florence. Unless you want to visit Pisa, this option remains less practical than the bus. Official website of Trenitalia.
By train:
Florence is well served by the Italian rail network, with many connections from the main cities of Italy, including high-speed trains. Connections from cities in Europe also exist, but they generally require at least one change and long journey times. The Italian railway company is Trenitalia. The central station of Florence is Santa Maria Novella.
By bus:
The major bus companies serve Florence, whether from Europe or from Italy. Drop-off is usually at the railway station of Florence, Santa Maria Novella.
By car:
It is of course possible to reach Florence by car; the Italian motorway network is of excellent quality. Once there, we advise you against using a car, as traffic in the city center is difficult, with limited-access zones.
WARNING: like some cities in Italy and in the rest of the world, Florence has set up a ZTL system (Zona a Traffico Limitato, limited traffic zone). This ZTL covers the whole city center of Florence, monitored by cameras that check that your license plate is registered. The system is very well established, and many visitors have had the unpleasant surprise of receiving one or more fines at home... So be very careful with the ZTL signs.
To enter these ZTL zones you must be authorized. Thus, if your hotel is in the zone, the establishment can declare your plate and thereby allow you to reach your hotel.
If you are not authorized, park outside these zones, as many parking facilities are available.
Information on the ZTL system from the Florence tourist office
ZTL maps (PDF in English)
Getting around Florence
Bus and tram: the city has a large bus network and a tram line that allow you to make most journeys in town. Official website of public transport in Florence. The ticket, valid for 90 minutes, costs €1.50. You can buy tickets at some tobacconists and bars, and at the ATAF counter of Santa Maria Novella station.
On foot: walking remains the most practical way to discover Florence and its monuments. The historic center remains small, and very often the distance between 2 places of interest is short and easily covered on foot. We recommend using public transport to reach the starting point of your visit, then continuing on foot as long as the distances remain reasonable.
Where to stay in Florence
The hotel offer is large and ranges from the simplest hotels to the most luxurious. As is often the case in Italy, hotels are relatively expensive and there are very few hotel chains of the kind we know in France. Florence is a very popular tourist destination and hotels can fill up quickly at certain times (Easter, the months of May and June, ...).
Museums, churches and discount cards
The last entrance is 30 to 80 minutes before closing. State museums are free on the first Sunday of the month (except the Vasari Corridor). Hours and admission are given as a guide and may change.
Museums and monuments: Florence is a major tourist destination with a large number of monuments to visit. Except for a few minor churches and the cathedral, most churches charge a fee, like the museums. The hours are unusually complex; a city department probably works on them full time... These hours often vary from month to month.
Because of the heavy crowds, it is strongly recommended to book tickets online for precise hours, in particular for the Uffizi Gallery, the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens (Reservations for these museums).
Likewise, it is worth buying the combined ticket for the group made up of the cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, Brunelleschi's dome (note: reservation of the visiting time slot is compulsory), Giotto's campanile, the Baptistery of San Giovanni, the crypt of Santa Reparata and the museum of the Opera del Duomo. Information and reservations.
The Firenze Card: The Firenze Card is a card allowing free access to the main museums and monuments of the city, and it has the advantage of being skip-the-line. Note that some restrictions on priority access may be put in place (removed for some monuments, or a compulsory pre-reservation, in particular for the dome of the cathedral); we recommend checking these limits when buying the ticket. The admission is €85 for 72 hours (from the first entrance or from the reservation of access to certain monuments when this limit is in place). Children under 18 who are family members do not pay the entrance.
The cost of the Firenze Card is high and will not always be recouped. Its main asset remains that it is skip-the-line, which will be useful for access to some very busy museums. If this card is of no interest to you, you can reserve visiting hours for the busiest museums (see above)
In addition to the Firenze Card, you can purchase the Firenze Card + which, for a cost of €7 (on top of the Firenze Card), offers free city bus and tram travel (Ataf and Linea lines) for 72 hours, as well as offers and discounts in some partner shops.
Official website of the Firenze Card.
Hours of the museums for the current period
Information on the Firenze Card +