Arrival and departure from Florence

By plane :

Florence is served by the two airports of the Tuscany region, Forenza and Pisa.

FLORENCE PERETOLA AIRPORT (Amerigo Vespucci):
Located only 6 kilometers northwest of the center of Florence, this airport is the one that will allow you to reach the heart of Florence most quickly. Unfortunately, this small airport is not well served by airlines, especially low cost airlines. It is therefore sometimes difficult to find a direct flight, unless you are flying from major European cities. Official website of the airport of Florence

There are several ways to reach the city center:
Bus: A shuttle bus runs between the airport and the Stazione Santa Maria Novella station in the center of Florence. The connection is called VolaInBus and is provided by the company BUSITALIA. The trip takes about 20 minutes and leaves every hour during the day (from 10:00 am from Florence or 10:30 am from the airport) at a rate of 6€/person/journey or 10 euros for a round trip. These schedules and rates may change over time and according to holidays, you can consult the site of ATAF.
Cab: In Florence cabs are white. More expensive but the most practical way to reach your place of stay, the rate is a fixed price of 22 euros (with extra charge for luggage and a 4th person) for a connection to your hotel in the city center. For more information, visit the website of the tourist office of Florence.

PISA AIRPORT (Galileo-Galilei):
This airport, located 5 km south of Pisa, is the main airport of Tuscany, its passenger traffic is more than double that of Forenza. In fact, it is often used as a welcome airport to reach Florence. All major airlines fly into the airport, especially low cost airlines. Official website of the airport of Pisa.

There are several ways to get to downtown Florence:
Bus: A shuttle bus runs between the airport and the Stazione Santa Maria Novella station (Piazzale Montelungo) in the center of Florence. The company Airport Bus Express is the one that provides the most frequent rotations. The trip takes about 1 hour and 10 minutes and costs 12€/person/trip. For more information and to reserve tickets : official website of the company Airport Bus Express. The company Caronna also provides connections : Official website of the Caronna bus company.
By train: you can reach the train station in Pisa by bus or cab and then take the train to Florence. Unless you want to visit Pisa, this solution is less convenient than the bus. Official website of Trenitalia.

By train :

Florence is well served by the Italian rail network, with many connections from the main Italian cities, including high-speed trains. Connections from European cities also exist but usually require at least one connection and long travel times. The Italian railway company is Trenitalia. The central station of Florence is Santa Maria Novella.

By bus :

The major bus companies serve Florence, both from Europe and from Italy. Drop off is usually at the Florence train station, Santa Maria Novella.

By car:

It is of course possible to reach Florence by car, the Italian highway network is of excellent quality. Once in Florence, we do not recommend the use of a car, as the traffic in the city center is difficult with restricted access zones.

ATTENTION: Like some cities in Italy and in the rest of the world, Florence has a ZTL (Zona a Traffico Limitato, Limited Traffic Zone) system. This ZTL covers the entire city center of Florence, controlled by cameras that verify that your license plate is registered. The system is very well implemented and many visitors have had the unpleasant surprise of receiving one or more fines at their home... So be very careful with the ZTL signage.

To access these ZTL zones, you must be authorized. If your hotel is located in the zone, the establishment can declare your plate and allow you to reach your hotel.

If you are not authorized, park outside these zones, as many parking lots are available.

Information on the ZTL system on the tourist office of Florence

ZTL Maps

Parking lots in Florence

Getting around Florence

Bus and streetcar: the city has an important bus network and a streetcar line that allows you to make most of the trips in town. Official website of public transport in Florence.

The ticket, valid for 90 minutes, costs 1,50€. You can buy tickets in some tobacconists, bars and at the ATAF ticket office at Santa Maria Novella station.

On foot: walking is the most practical way to discover Florence and its monuments. The historic center is small and often the distance between two points of interest is short and can be easily reached on foot. We recommend that you use public transportation to reach the starting point of your visit and then continue on foot as long as the distances remain reasonable.

Lodging in Florence

The hotel offer is important and goes 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 as we know them in France. From our site, you will find a wide choice of hotels at low rates. Florence is a very touristic city and the hotels can be quickly full at certain periods (Easter, May and June, ...)

Museums, churches and discount cards ....

Museums and monuments: Florence is an extremely touristy city and offers a large number of monuments to visit. With the exception of a few minor churches and the cathedral, most of the churches and the museums are not free. The timetables are extremely complex, a department of the city must probably be dedicated to them full time... These schedules often vary from month to month.

Due to the high number of visitors, it is strongly recommended to book your tickets on the internet at specific times, especially for the Uffizi Gallery, the Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens (Reservations for these museums).
It is also interesting to buy a combined ticket for the whole complex composed of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Brunelleschi's dome (please note that it is necessary to reserve a visit slot), Giotto's Campanile, the Baptistery of San Giovanni, the Crypt of Santa Reparata and the Museo dell'Operà. Information and reservations.

The Firenze Card: The Firenze Card allows free access to the city's main museums and monuments and has the advantage of being a queue breaker. Please note that there may be some restrictions on priority access (e.g., no access to certain monuments, or pre-booking is required, especially for the cathedral's cupola). We recommend that you check these restrictions when you purchase your ticket. The rate is 85€ for 72 hours (from the first entry or from the reservation of access to certain monuments when this limitation is in place). Children under 18 years old, family members do not pay the entrance fee.

The cost of the Firenze Card is high and will not always pay for itself. Its main advantage is that it cuts the line, which is useful for access to some very busy museums. If this card is not of interest to you, you can reserve time slots to visit the most popular museums (see above)

In addition to the Firenze Card, you can purchase the Firenze Card + which, for a cost of 7€ (in addition to the Firenze Card), offers free use of the city's bus and streetcar lines (Ataf and Linea) for 72 hours, as well as offers and discounts in certain partner businesses.

Official website of the Firenze Card.
Museum opening hours for the current period
Information about the Firenze Card +