Travel Tips

Last week was the closing to street traffic of the areas around the Duomo that weren't already "pedonale" or pedestrian only streets. Below are a few photos taken while standing in the intersection of Via de'Cerretani and Via de'Martelli. It feels really odd to be able to walk in the middle of these streets knowing how much traffic passed by every day. This week they also took down most of the stanchions and chains that were in the area to control the flow of traffic and keep people from getting run over! I still think that some of this whole thing was just a pro-active PR attempt by the mayor to gain some easy goodwill before the tram construction starts - this is the exact route that the tracks are supposed to come down from the station on the way to Piazza San Marco.

Visiting the Vasari Corridor is something I have always wanted to do but haven't because of the rather prohibitive price (usually somewhere around €90 per person) and the need to go with a tour group. Recently I was tipped off by a post on the LonelyPlanet Italy forum that the corridor was actually open to the public (which is contrary to the "status quo").

The official website of the "Corridoio Vasariano" is here: http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/musei/vasariano/. It is well hidden on the site, and only in Italian. On that page they have the details of the opening dates and times (see the box), as well as a phone number. We tried that number for 2 days and only got a busy signal. So we went by the Uffizi ticket window and asked. We were give another number that was pulled from some papers that seemed to be well hidden under a telephone. For some reason, the fact that you can visit the corridor is not something the Italians are publicizing.

The Vasari Corridor will be open to the public until the 18th of December. When it reopens is anyone's guess at this point, though I will inquire about that when we visit. If you want to try to make a reservation, call immediately - the Italian country code is 39, and the number to call is 055 294883. Note that the number given in the box and on their website is not correct! (It may work - but it didn't for us). The 4:30 time is already fully booked, but maybe you can get one of the other times. When we called a couple of days ago the first available day was November 19th, so if you are planning a visit between then and December 18th you may be in luck. The best part - tickets are only €10 plus a €4 reservation fee.

Since we are Friends of the Uffizi (I will post about this soon) our entrance is actually free, and we will have to pay the reservation fee on the day we visit. Good luck!

The Department of Tourism in Florence has a new bus and road map out to help people get in and out of Florence and the surrounding areas. Of course you have to get one at the tourist office, which sort of makes it a Catch-22 situation. Anyway - it has a ton of good info on it, like this little map below showing the locations of the bus stations near the train station:

And here are some important links for rail and bus transportation into and out of Florence and the surrounding area:

Trenitalia: http://www.trenitalia.com

Ataf: http://www.ataf.net

Sita: http://www.sitabus.it (Arezzo, San Gimignano, Siena, Volterra, The Mall)

Cap: http://www.capautolinee.it (Prato, I Gigli)

Lazzi: http://www.lazzi.it (Arezzo, Lucca, Montecatini Terme, Prato, Viareggio)

Piubus: http://www.piubus.it

Autolinee Toscane: http://www.autolineetoscane.it

Here is a map from Google showing roughly the same area:

Florence Santa Maria Novella (Firenze SMN is how you will see it on train schedules) is Florence's main train station. The station handles more than 400 trains and a 160,000 people a day! Many bus stations (SITA, CAP for Prato and west of Florence) are nearby and there are also ATAF (local Florence line - usually orange) buses to be caught on either side of the station. A lot of car rental agents are just a few blocks away, many on Via Ognissanti. There is a car park underneath the station as well, and there is a taxi stand outside the station with an endless supply of white cabs.

You can find a list of information and usual services available (pharmacy, food, post, luggage, etc.) at the station here, and you can purchase tickets (or at least plan your itinerary) on the main Ferrovie website (there are reports that you can not buy tickets on this site without an Italian credit card).

From Firenze SMN you are about an hour and 40 minutes to Rome, 2 hours and change to Milan, less than 3 hours to Venice (on most trains), and 3 to 5 hours to Naples.

Inside the old city walls of Florence (well, what used to be the walls and is now the viale or large avenue circling the city), driving is limited to registered vehicles (city residents) except for a small area around the train station (Santa Maria Novella). Florentines call this the ZTL, or "Zona Traffico Limitato". It is important to know this to avoid receiving HUGE traffic tickets by driving your car into the center of Florence. On the map below (click it for a larger version), you can see the ZTL entry points (red and blue "T"s) and the various zones by letter (which correspond to where residents can park). You can drive into the center with a rental car if you are staying at a hotel, but the hotel must let the traffic police know your license plates, etc. And if you do drive in, make sure to use one of the blue "T" spots, not the red - even with a residents permit to enter, you can't enter at the red "T" signs (I now know - it was an expensive lesson).

So remember - if you are just coming to Florence as stop on a day trip, or you are staying at a self catering apartment (i.e. not a hotel), you can not legally drive into (most of) the center, although personally we have heard stories of people doing so and not getting tickets, if you do the fines are steep and they are getting better and better at finding you and making sure you pay. In any case, this is something to be aware of and be careful of! Study the map closely and you will see there are a few ins and outs (Sundays are open, as are nights from 7:30 PM to 7:30 AM, but not in the summer, etc.). Lastly, the light blue shaded streets are "zona pedonale" or pedestrian zones, and you shouldn't be driving on them at all!

The best place to exchange - change money (cash) in Florence is with Carlo (or his son Marco) in their tiny shop (actually just a window you walk up to) the size of a closet that is tucked into the side of the Uffizi. They have been changing money in this spot for 40 years, and have the best rates (really!) in town. Carlo is a real Florentine and a great guy - he speaks Italian, English and Japanese - and will always take the time to share an anecdote or two. They are always just 2 or 3 pennies off the published exchange rates, with no extras, no commission added, etc., while many other exchange shops have a spread of 5 or 7 cents - and tack on a commission fee. Cash and travelers checks welcome - he will also let you charge cash on your credit card (they do take 5% on this type of transaction - but it can be really handy). He is open early to at least 7:00 PM, every day. On Via della Ninna (little street on the south side of the Palazzo Vecchio that leads to Via dei Neri if you care coming from Piazza Signoria). Follow the link below for a map.

The Florence Airport (FLR) is named "Amerigo Vespucci Airport" but is also known by many people by its old name "Peretola" (many road signs still have this name on it, more history of Peretola here), which is the area where the airport is located. The airport is about 5 kilometers from the city center. There is now a fixed taxi fare of € 20 (nights, Sundays, and baggage are extra) from the airport to the center. There is also a bus shuttle run by ATAF from the airport to the main train station (Firenze, Santa Maria Novella) every half hour from early morning to 8:00 PM.

This is a small airport, with one runway (which was recently expanded to handle larger planes) - there is a larger one at Pisa, Galileo Galilei, which is 80 kilometers away. Florence Airport has a bar/café, a duty free shop, and a currency exchange. The airport handles about 2 million passengers a year.

Amerigo Vespucci Airport
Via del Termine 11
50127 Florence
Information on flights (24 hours): 39 055 3061700 Ext. 702