I'm going on a trip to FLORENCE in 2023
Cheap and cheap accommodation in Florence
Florence City Guide (Italy)
Cozy where they are, Florence reflects the essence of the authentic Italian spirit. A city that has managed to perfectly combine its historical part, with the modernities that are expected of a place as touristy as it is the capital of La Toscana.
Spirit that is also reflected in its people, friendly and always ready to help the tourists who visit this city every day and that surprises every person who knows it. A place to fall in love, have fun, learn, get reacquainted and that you can visit on a weekend getaway or take a few more days to explore the magical landscapes of the famous Tuscany Italian.
Florence is art, culture, gastronomy and history and, above all, it is one of the Italian cities that is worth knowing, in which you will never lack things to visit or activities to do, regardless of your tastes, both day and night.
Located in the north of Italy, it is the eighth most populated city in the country (with a little more than 383.000 inhabitants), very comfortable to visit although, yes, we recommend that you write down all the cultural heritage points that you want to know in advance, because the list is really great regarding the size of this city. For something Unesco named the set of monuments of Florence as a World Heritage Site. A very deserved honor!
The weather in Florence
Florence
clear sky
5.2 ° C
7.1 °
3.6 °
78%
1kmh
0%
Mon
8 °
Mar
8 °
Wed
10 °
Thu
10 °
Fri
8 °
What are you going to find in this article?
- 1 I'm going on a trip to FLORENCE in 2023
- 1.1 Cheap and cheap accommodation in Florence
- 1.2 Florence City Guide (Italy)
- 1.3 The weather in Florence
- 1.4 Best areas to stay in Florence
- 1.5 How to get to the city of Florence by plane
- 1.6 Arrive to Florence by train
- 1.7 How can you move around the city of Florence
- 1.8 The best what you can see and do during your stay in Florence
- 1.9 Visiting the surroundings of Florence
- 1.10 OTHER DESTINATIONS FROM ITALY THAT COULD INTEREST YOU
Best areas to stay in Florence
To make the most of your stay, in this section we offer you a small guide with the best areas of Florence: the most tourist, the safest, from which it is easy reach any point in the city, walk on foot or eat and buy without problems, a few meters from your hotel.
The historic center (Duomo)
El heart of Florence and the most comfortable place to go on foot to the main tourist points of the capital of Tuscany. A safe place where there are, where you will always have at your disposal shops, restaurants and all kinds of leisure to do both day and night.
A must in this area is the Duomo Square, nerve center and meeting of tourists and Florentines, where you will be able to visit the cathedral of florence, as well as the Duomo Opera Museum.
Attached to the cathedral, in the same square you come across the Brunelleschi's domewhose visit It's worth it and it's free, although it is necessary to make a reservation in advance. In fact, our advice is that you inform yourself well about the schedules of these places of visits and others that require entry into the city, so that you do not get any surprises.
Following your tour through the heart of Florence, we recommend the visits to the Dante House Museum, in which you will not only discover the life and work of this famous Italian writer, but also part of the history and culture of Florence.
The Piazza de la Signoria
A few meters from the famous Ponte Vecchio, where some of the most important cultural and commercial exchanges were once held, is the Piazza de la Signoria, a place with a lot of life, but quiet at the same time, where you can enjoy the daily life of the Florentines.
The Vecchio Palace, today the seat of the City of Florence; which you can visit - in fact, we recommend it - and discover part of the beauty of Florence from the top of its dome.
It is, without a doubt, the most lively area of the capital of Tuscany and in which you will also find the famous Fountain of Neptune or the equestrian statue of Jaime I, 2 very photographed monuments of the city.
And if you want to enjoy the Italian music, especially in the hottest times of the year, do not hesitate to stop by this plaza at night. The atmosphere is really nice and very quiet, at the same time fun.
Santa Maria Novella
One of the benefits of staying in the Santa María Novella square or its surroundings is that you will be a few meters from the main train station in Florence, so that if you arrive in this means of transport, as if you do it by plane, you will have to go through it.
A very cozy square surrounded by green gardens, which highlights the presence of the church of the same name, dating from the early thirteenth century and was built by the Dominicans. Today is one of the favorite places for tourists to rest and for the Italians to eat something fast and outdoors, in those days in which time accompanies.
Whether you are interested in sacred art, or not, certainly the visit to the church is worth it, because its architecture and colors attract attention. In fact, next to the church of the Holy Ocher, is considered the most beautiful church in Florence And that has a lot of competition!
La entrance to the church is not free and it can be visited from 9 to 17.30 (from October to March) and from 9 to 19 hours the rest of the year. From this square you can go to other nearby and interesting areas such as the Duomo or the Florence Cathedral, which we have already mentioned above.
Via Faenza
One of the Florence's most famous streets and for several reasons. In the first place, because it travels through the main historical areas (it goes from Piazza Madonna Degli, passing through Aldobrandini and reaches the Fortezza da Basso), making it a place of passage for both tourists and Florentines.
One thing to keep in mind is that Claro, Via Faenza is not as central as the aforementioned areas. But the accommodations offer a good price / quality ratio and from there you can walk to the key tourist sites.
It is surely the area with the largest number of cheap hotels in Florence, since there is a lot of offer and it is not in the old town.
On the other hand, it is one of the streets where you can find more shops and stop, in between, to rest or recharge your batteries in some of your bars and restaurants. And finally, because it is a really picturesque street. Go through it and then tell us!
Tornabuoni
Tornabuoni is, along with the previously mentioned street, one of the best known and busiest of Florence which, in this case, stands out at present for hosting some of the most luxurious shopss city in fashion and jewelry.
This to this day, but it is important to note that since the Renaissance it has been one of the most important streets of the city, for the elegance that characterizes it. Something that has much to do with the architectures of the buildings that you find along it, which, incidentally, starts at Piazza Antinori, runs through Santa Trinita Square and ends at the bridge of the same name.
Why is it worth staying on this street in Florence? To start, because it's about one of the safest streets in the capital of La Toscana. In addition, if you are a lover of luxury or simply enjoy watching it, it is the perfect place to do it. Of course, it is true that the price of accommodation is somewhat more expensive than in other areas of the city.
Yes, It is also a very quiet street, especially in the afternoon and evening, as both shops, banks or architecture studios and law firms, which are the main businesses of this street, in addition to fashion, close their doors. As a curiosity, it should be noted that in this street the Negroni cocktail was invented, in the Caffè Casoni.
How to get to the city of Florence by plane
One of the advantages of traveling to Florence is that you can do it comfortably by plane, without having to do long routes or transfers. Specifically, you can Get directly to Florence if you are traveling from Madrid o Barcelona, with quite affordable roundtrip prices, with the flight duration between 1.40 and 2.30 if you go from Barcelona or Madrid, respectively.
This means that you can enjoy practically all day, if you go since the morning. In addition, there are also good connections from other main cities such as Bilbao, Sevilla o Valencia, but you have to stop in Munich or Brussels in the first case, as well as traveling to Madrid or Barcelona in the other 2 cases, but with the convenience of not having to take care of your suitcase on the second flight.
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How to get around from Florence airport
If you arrive directly at the Florence airport, known as Amerigo Vespucci Airport or Peretola (and which is the second largest airport in Tuscany), you can travel to the city (about 10 kilometers away) both by bus and by Taxi.
In the first case, the Volainbus buses they pass each 30 minutes, from the 5.30 and up to the 20.30 hours and each 60 minutes up to the 00.30 hours. They take you to Piazza Stazione (Santa Maria Novella Train Station) and it takes about 30 minutes to arrive. If you know that you are going to return in the same transport, take a round trip ticket, because you will pay a little less.
Of course, you also have the option to rent a car at the airport or do it in advance with your travel agency or by making a prior reservation online. This will allow you to travel to other places near Florence, which I will tell you about in a moment.
Arrive to Florence by train
Go ahead, it is not the most recommended option, but another option that people usually do is travel by plane to Pisa and from there take a train to Florence, but it really is not much more expensive and depending on the days you have to visit the capital of Tuscany, it is not worth it. It is a matter of looking at flights, schedules and rates.
How can you move around the city of Florence
One of the main advantages of traveling to Florence is that you can move comfortably on footAs it is not a huge city and the main monuments and must-see places are in the city center.
However, if you want to do longer routes or tire less, you always have the option of traveling in the bus service or trolley car, which opened in 2010. Although it is true that they have more than 100 different lines, the Most interesting for you, as a tourist, are A, B, C and D, which are smaller and electric buses, which are an excellent and much cheaper alternative to tourist buses.
If you plan to use public transport a lot, I encourage you to get some of the different options that exist for tickets and tickets, but it is rare for tourists to use them, because, as I say, the center of Florence can be traveled without problems on foot. For its part, the tram does not go through the most touristic places, but depending on what your travel idea is, it is an option that you have to take into account.
The best what you can see and do during your stay in Florence
As I have already mentioned before, the city of Florence is a Cultural Heritage of Humanity for the amount of monumental complexes it houses and in very good condition (much more than Roma, with all the fame that the Italian capital has). But so you do not miss the most important places in Florence, I have selected the following 5 for you:
Visiting the surroundings of Florence
If you have a few more days, we invite you, in addition to visiting Florence, to visit these places that are undoubtedly worthwhile.
Pisa and its leaning tower
Known for its leaning towerYou can get there from Florence by train or rental car. It is a one-day visit (or a half, depending on the time you have), where you cannot miss the Duomo and the Baptistery and, of course, take the photo that every tourist takes, showing that he can push the tower .
The spectacle represented by the leaning tower is worth seeing, but the buildings that stand next to it do not leave much to be desired: the Duomo and the Baptistery. Of course, it will not be possible to visit both the cathedral (duomo) and the Baptistery without paying the classic toll of several euros for each of them.
To perfectly see the inclination of the tower, it is better to stand behind her, the furthest from the cathedral, from where you can perfectly contemplate the 4th that they say is inclication. In 2001 the area where the tower rests was rebuilt to prevent its collapse.
The beauty of the city of Siena
Considered the first rival of Florence, it is a town that surprises everyone who visits it for its architectural beauty and whose historic center has been declared Heritage by UNESCO.
Located about 70 kilometers from Florence, you can get to it in bus, train or rental car and make the visit in half a day or more quietly, throughout a day, without stopping passing by the Palazzo Pubblico, Church of San Domenico or the Via Bianchi di Sopra.
As a essential visit highlights the Piazza del Campo in Siena, which is inclined and looks like an immense theater, in whose scene would be the Palazzo Público, from where eight lines divide this immense grandstand into nine sectors, representing the nine representatives that once ruled this prosperous city.
San Gimignano and its towers
This medieval town located about 60 kilometers south of Florence is known as the City of Thousand Towers (It has 14) and its walled complex has been declared a World Heritage Site.
It is ideal to make a half day visit and walk its cobbled streets, being surprised by its beauty; yes or yes you are going to pass through its most emblematic places, such as the Palazzo Comunale, the Duomo or the Civic Museum, among others.
The most typical of this city are the medieval towers, from the same time as the wall that surrounds it. For this characteristic it is called San Gimignano dalle belle torri (in his day he even had 70 towers, currently only has 14). But the tour of the small city has other elements of interest: palaces, church, austere squares, etc.
Here you can find a great variety of sale of alabaster, very typical product of the area (between thousands of tourists and shops, that maybe it is the worst of this city).
The 5 towns of Cinque Terre
Of surprising beauty, Cinque Terre is the set of five coastal towns, built on beautiful cliffs: MonterossoIt is the most populated locality; Vernazza, that has a natural harbor and a castle; Corniglia It is the highest town of all and stands out for its vast extension of vineyards; Manarola, It is the oldest population of the five and, finally, Riomaggiore, one of the most touristic and picturesque.
Cinque Terre is one of Italy's best-kept treasures, a piece of land suspended between land and sea that it does not leave its visitors indifferent. The area still retains its charm of yesteryear and farmers continue to work the steep fields as they have for centuries.
The Cinque Terre are located about 160 kilometers from Florence, so they are a ideal destination for a day trip.