Those who book a vacation rental in Florence will quickly discover that it is an excellent destination for those who like to get around on their own steam! The centre is smaller than one might imagine, given its incredible cultural importance and weight, with many of the most famous attractions located within close proximity of each other. In fact, right in the heart of the historic core of the city, you will discover that Florence is a patchwork of pretty piazze, ringed by architectural gems, shops, bars, eateries, and sights. So, as you move from one thing to another on your itinerary, you’ll have plenty to feast your eyes on along the way and ample opportunity to stop for a bite, a glass of famous Tuscan wine, a coffee, a gelato, or any other delights you might need to fuel your voyage.
Driving is not overly appealing
When you consider parking, ZTL areas of the city with limited access for cars, and more, Florence is actually easier to traverse without a vehicle of your own. Besides, as you move about, the visual feast of the city will whizz by too fast to really take in if you are in a car, especially if you’re the driver. So, it’s not only that walking is easier but driving just isn’t that appealing while staying in a villa in Florence.
Public transportation
If you do need to get around the city but want to rest your feet a little, there are also plenty of public transportation options in town. Autolinee Toscane offers a reliable and extensive bus network around the city, with official ticket offices and machines located all over the city, an app, and TAP machines that allow you to pay with a credit card or Apple Pay/Google Wallet on your phone or smartwatch. Bicycles and scooters, however, do offer one of the best ways to get around the city. Not only can you get around faster and with less effort but you’ll still be able to admire your surroundings as you do! RideMovi offers both electric bikes and pedal bikes that can be picked up and left anywhere inside their large operating area and there different companies offer electric scooters - Bird, TI Move, and BIT.
Accessible Florence
As Florence is an old city with narrower paths and uneven surfaces at times, navigating some parts of the city may be difficult. However, the city has taken lots of different measures and put many different initiatives into place to make travelling in Florence easier for those with mobility issues or certain disabilities, such as blindness. The app Kimap, which can be downloaded on the Apple Store and Google Play, can inform visitors of the best routes through the city centre to avoid the architectonic barriers presented by its preserved historic core. Special routes and tours through different museums are also offered to guests with reduced mobility – each institution should have more information available on their websites about what they can offer to make guests more comfortable. Blind and visually impaired tourists are also catered to with initiatives such as the placing of plastic models that act as tactile maps in the centre of Piazza Repubblica and the “Living Florence” braille publications that have reproductions of some of Florence’s significant monuments and can be collected for free at the information points at Piazza Stazione. Tactile sections and other amenities for visually impaired guests can also be found in museums such as the Museum of the Cathedral (Opera del Duomo), the Florentine Civic Museums, the Museum of Natural History of the University of Florence, the Archaeological Museum of Florence, the Marino Marini Museum, the Museo Galileo, and the Horne Museum.
So, if you find a holiday rental in Florence, enjoy the fact that you can really take the city and its famous beauty in as you explore… largely on foot!
