Air
The nearest international airport is the Galileo Galilei in Pisa, which is about 51 miles west of Florence. A regular train service links the airport with Florence, and the journey’s about an hour. Tickets can be bought from the information desk at the opposite end of the terminal building from the arrivals hall. A single journey is 5.20 Euros. Florence’s own small but growing airport is Amerigo Vespucci, about three miles north-west of the city. It handles domestic as well as daily flights to and from major European cities. The bus company Sita runs a service to the city centre up to about 11 in the evening. The journey costs about 4 Euros and tickets can be bought from machines or on board the bus. You can also get a taxi to your hotel for about 18 Euros.
Train
Florence is well served by trains from all the major cities of Italy. The high-speed trip from Rome, for instance, takes about an-hour-and-a-half. If arriving by train from a European destination, you’ll come to the Santa Maria Novella station, which is very convenient for the centre of the city, either by walking, cab or bus.
Road
Motorists planning to take their vehicle into Italy need a full driving licence, an International Motor Insurance Certificate and a Vehicle Registration Document. The use of seatbelts is obligatory – fines for non-compliance are stiff. But taking the car to Florence is simply not worth the hassle. The centre of the city is a restricted area and between 7.30am and 6.30pm only residents with special permits are allowed into this zone. Even if you make it into the city centre, it is virtually impossible to park on the street, although you can pay to park in one of the 70-plus official car parks.
