Florence
Florence (Italian: Firenze) is the capital of the region of Tuscany in Italy, with a population of some 366488. The city is considered as a cultural, artistic and architectural gem.
Florence was the epicentre of the Italian Renaissance and remains one of the world's top attractions for lovers of art as well as being one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Located in the heart of Tuscany – a stunning province of hills and mountains – Florence is the Renaissance capital of the world, with famous sons like Leonardo, Dante, Machiavelli and Michelangelo, is a sight not to be missed.
The world-famous Duomo with the Brunelleschi cupola and the marble clad baptistry are simply stupendous, but not all the monuments are like this. The streets of the historic town centre are often narrow and dark, the palaces robust and intimidating. But have a look at the squares: wonderful Mediterranean places where you will like spending hours sitting down, having a coffee and just watching people passing by.
Florence is a city of incomparable churches, monasteries, museums, galleries and palaces. Among the things that you can't afford to miss are the Uffizi Galleries (one of the best art museums in the world), the Duomo, the Santo Spirito church and the Ponte Vecchio. To get a great overview of the city, you have plenty of choices: climb the "Cupolone" of the Duomo or the Giotto Tower, head for Piazzale Michelangelo in Oltrarno (South or literally "other" side of river Arno) or farther up to the church of San Miniato.
Florence's Amerigo Vespucci international airport (IATA: FLR) [2] has good connections to the center of the city, which can be reached in about fifteen minutes by taxi or bus. The Ataf-Sita "Vola in Bus" ("Fly by bus") service costs €4.50 one way, and makes the circuit between the airport and the central train station every half an hour from 5:30AM to 8:00PM, then once an hour afterwards. Note that the €1.0 bus no longer exists.
Note that 5:30AM bus leaves from the corner of Valfonda and Piazza Adua which is north of the train station instead of from the ATAF-SITA bus station which is on the west side of the train station. You can buy the ticket on the bus.
Much cheaper flights to destinations throughout Europe can be found at Pisa airport [3] (only a €5.40 train journey from the centre of Florence). Low-cost airlines which fly to Pisa include Thomsonfly, Easyjet, Ryanair, Transavia and HLX.
Modern, fast Eurostar trains connect Florence with Italy's main cities, and local trains from other parts of Italy and express trains from around Europe arrive in Florence. The main station is Firenze Santa Maria Novella [4], on the edge of the historic old town. Other small stations are Firenze Campo Marte (near Florence Stadium) and Firenze Rifredi. If you take an Intercity train to Florence, you may need to change at Rifredi for another train to Firenze S.M.N.
You might want to consider the overnight train connections to Florence from Paris or most German towns. For example, the train from Florence to Munich leaves at 21:53 and arrives in Munich the next morning at around 08:00. You can sleep comfortably the entire way and it costs about €100.
The train to Vienna takes about 12 hours and costs €70.
Florence is connected by good highways to the rest of Italy. Cars are not allowed in the small old town centre, so plan on parking your car and leaving it for a while.
Parking is expensive.
