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TRAVEL: Florence is the capital Italy’s Tuscan region and a fantastic central home-base when looking to see the best of what Italy has to offer. The Italian train station is the easiest, and most cost efficient mode of transportation when looking to travel from city to city. Florence’s central train station is the Santa Maria Novella station (stazione) and located within 10-20 minutes of most of our apartments.

TO NOTE: When traveling into Florence be sure you exit the train at Firenze- SMN (Santa Maria Novella) and not Firenze- Rifredi as this station is further outside of city in more “suburban” Florence and generally not where most tourists stay.

The easiest way to acquire train tickets is through the ‘self-serve’ machines at the train station itself. Chose the British option for service in English and then the process is quite straightforward. Payment can be made through these machines with credit card, or in cash whichever is your preference. Alternatively you can purchase through the ticket agents at the station though this will typically mean a much longer wait time. For basic travel times and info you can visit www.trenitalia.com and search for specific routes, times, etc.

TO NOTE: There are yellow “boxes” on the pillars of each train “gate”/ binario- you will need to validate your train ticket before boarding the train to avoid fines. Much like the bus system here, you stick the ticket in the slot on the yellow machine and it will stamp the ticket for the date and time. To avoid forgetting, if you are traveling same-day you can also validate your ticket right at the Self-Service Machines the same way.

AIRPORTS: Florence has one main airport located approximately 5km’s from the city center, and can easily be reached by bus (from city center) traveling from the SITA station near the train station (SMN) in 15-20 minutes. There is also a 2nd airport option in Pisa- Galileo Galilei where many of the low-cost airlines fly from (ryanair.com, etc).
The majority of International flights will fly into the Pisa airport and generally there are few airlines flying directly into Florence (Lufthansa, etc). When considering flight options Bologna should be considered a reasonable third choice and is just a train ride away from Florence’s city center. A handful of European and domestic flights serve Florence's smaller Amerigo Vespucci airport.

TO NOTE: When traveling into Florence be sure you are aware of whether you fly directly into Florence or into Pisa’s Galileo Galilei which will require a bus or train ride into Florence taking approximately 60-90 minutes.

BUSES/ ROAD TRAVEL: Though city buses can be useful in a city the size of Flornece (where you can generally walk from one end to the other in 40-60 minutes) there is no real need to take buses. It will most likely take more time to wait for, and ride the bus from tourist site-to-tourist site then it would be to simply do so by foot. If you decide to attempt to figure out the city-bus routes watch for most buses to depart from stops scattered around the SMN station. To see bus routes and timetables you can check on www.ataf.net.

TO NOTE: Although some bus drivers will have tickets available for purchase on the bus this is NOT always the case. The most cost efficient way to travel by bus is to purchase 10 or 20 EUR passes, or a monthly pass dependent on the length of stay. If you purchase a 1-4 ride ticket be sure to validate this. Even for tourists fine’s can range from 45 EUR to 250 EUR for forgetting to validate you 2 EUR (or less) ticket!

DISABLED TRAVELERS: Unfortunately the uneven ground and cobblestone streets often provide obstacles for those with disabilities when traveling around Florence, however a good point of reference is a brochure published by Florence Town Council (the Comune di Firenze; www.comune.firenze.it) called the Guida alle Strutture e ai Servizi della Città , and names hundreds of monuments/hotels/ tourist sites/ banks, etc, which are more easily accessible for the disabled. This booklet includes location details, full descriptions as well a useful “accessibility rating”. Along with this brochure you will also receive a map of central Florence which clearly outlines the accessible routes (by foot) and/or wheelchair accessible crossings. Although not always you can find this brochure at many tourist offices, so please ask if this is something of concern.