Florence holiday guide

If you've got your airline tickets to Italy and plan travel to the northern Tuscany capital of Florence, you'll enjoy a holiday in a city regarded for centuries to be the most beautiful in the country.

You'll also be visiting a city regarded as the art capital of Europe, if not the world.

Resting on the banks of the Arno River, Florence is peppered with museums, churches and galleries you can easily tour to admire architecture, sculpture and paintings created by masters such as Michelangelo.

Note Visitors to Italian cities such as Venice and Florence will be taxed up to five euros each a day from 2007, the levy probably being an accommodation tariff, to help the local municipalities maintain tourist structures and services.

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Florence travel tips

If you travel to Florence by train, the most convenient tourist office upon arrival is just outside the train station at Piazza della Stazione 4.

The domestic airport at Florence about five kilometres north-west of the city is called Amerigo Vespucci Airport (also known as Peretola).

Various European airlines fly tickets direct to Florence.

A host of international airlines have mostly European ticket connections to America.

After your flight to Florence, catch Bus 62 for a 30 minute trip to Piazza della Stazione in the central city - if you're on a budget holiday to Italy and can't afford the more expensive taxis.

The nearest major international airport is Pisa's Galileo Galilei Airport, almost 100km west of Florence, with two to three connecting trains per hour.

The Stazione Santa Maria Novella in Florence has an Air Terminal where you can check in your holiday luggage and catch a train direct to your flight.

Florence is a major rail hub with connecting trains to most major cities in the region and to numerous European capitals.

If you catch a train to Florence and are looking for cheap nearby holiday accommodation as soon as you arrive, check out the many budget hotels just east of the train station around Via Faenza and Via Fiume.

The cheapest hotel accommodation we could find through a scan of several hundred Florence hotels in June 2004 was US$36. Prices were considerably higher in most other hotels.

In other words, Florence is not a cheap place to stay if you're into budget travel.

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Most bus stations in Florence are near the train station, servicing all Tuscany towns, much of Umbria and most major cities in Italy such as Rome.

ATAF city buses travel to destinations all over the city from 6am to 1am.

Walking is the cheapest and most convenient way to travel through Florence so you can see the city's numerous holiday tourist attractions, despite ancient, narrow and sometimes cramped sidewalks.

The Duomo is a massive cathedral of Romanesque and Gothic styles built between 1334 and 1887, and the building dominates the skyline of Florence. For six euros (2006), tourists can climb inside the cathedral's cupola to see the artwork of Donatello and his contemporaries, or simply look down upon Florence.

The Uffizi Gallery houses one of the most important art collections in the world and is a labyrinth of galleries, private rooms and breathtaking masterpieces.

The Duomo and the Uffizi are just a few minutes stroll from each other and a half hour walking tour will usually get you to or from most of the other major tourist venues such as the Pitti Palace and the Galleria del'Accademia where the recently restored Michelangelo statue of David can be found.

If you don't pre-book to see David, you'll find yourself waiting for an hour or two in a queue. Tourists can also be stuck in queues to the Uffizi if they don't buy tickets in advance.

Florence was founded by Julius Ceasar in 59BC but was of little consequence till the 12th century when it became a rich merchant city dominated by the dynasty of the Medici family. In the 1500s, this city was the centre of the Renaissance movement that gripped Europe.

Sunset is a great time to admire postcard views of Florence from the elevated position of the Plaza Michelangelo.

The Pitti Palace, built in 1458, has artwork to rival the Uffizi Gallery. The Pitti Palace was home to the city's royal family when Florence was the capital of Italy from 1865 to 1871.

The most attractive of the the many central squares in Florence is Piazza Santissima Annunziata, north of the Duomo along Via dei Servi.

The streets and sidewalks of Florence are mostly cobbled or flagstone so it's important to pack good walking shoes with your travel luggage.

Illegal street hawkers appear on most street corners in Florence.

Florence weather can be very hot during summer. Evenings are cold to cool most of the year and many tourists consider it best to travel to Florence during the mild Mediterranean winter when there are less foreigners in town.

The crowds and traffic can be overwhelming during the peak holiday tourist season, particularly in July and August.

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Cycling is a great way to travel around Florence and there are plenty of places you can hire a bicycle at cheap rates.

Car rental is fairly expensive and particularly inconvenient if you're staying in the historic heart of Florence because of traffic restrictions and high parking fees.

A car is only worth renting if you want and can afford the freedom of independent holiday transport so you can explore the surrounding region of Tuscany.

Another gorgeous Tuscan city is Siena to the south of Florence. Siena, a city notable for its orange-red buildings and steep medieval alleys, was one of Europe's artistic capitals during its heyday in the 14th Century. Much of the city's public works date back to that era.

Like many Tuscan towns, Siena's narrow streets are built for pedestrians and are lined with a heavenly mix of shops and cafes crowded with locals and tourists. A Siena travel magnet is the city's 800 year old Il Palio bareback horse races staged on July 2 and August 16 each year within the 12th Century Piazza del Campo piazza in the centre of town. The Piazza del Campo contains magnificent Gothic architecture such as the soaring Torre del Mangia and the Palazzo Comunale, along with numerous medieval high-rises.

Florence is a fairly small city laced with alleyways and squares, its skyline dominated by the majestic Duomo cathedral dome built by architect Brunelleschi and consecrated in 1436.

The picturesque waters of the River Arno meander through a cityscape of superb architecture, the exquisite detail of buildings dating back to medieval times and the Renaissance.

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Your holiday travel to Florence is certain to lead you north of the Arno River, where most of the city and its historic sites are located.

South of the river, the Palazzo Pitti district is a living museum of great museums.

Five bridges stretch across the Arno River from central Florence to the southern district called Oltrarno. Grey cobbled stone is the dominant building and street material.

The grandest of the bridges is Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge), a three-arched span built in 1345 and lined with shops such as jewellers and goldsmiths.

Despite its snapshot reputation for serene elegance, Florence is a city saturated with tourists. As a result, many local citizens have sealed their homes from the crowds with iron bars on windows and seemingly impregnable doors.

Unless you holiday in Florence for a considerable length of time so you can get to know the locals, it's difficult to experience much more than the city's tourist facade.

As a result of the tourist trade, many large or central shops remain open throughout the day rather than closing for the traditional midday siesta - creating an uninterrupted holiday shopping mecca for travellers who can afford high-society fashion and other retail goods.

You can avoid spending all of your holiday in the central area of Florence, sometimes referred to as the visitor's city, and instead base yourself in the outer suburban or semi-rural areas - although it helps to have friends or acquaintances with accommodation and transport.

The main tourist office in Florence is about three blocks north of the Duomo at Via Cavour 1r.

There are dozens of internet cafes and web access locations throughout Florence, although prices are high.

Travel to Florence and you should protect yourself against pickpockets.

Otherwise, the city is safe to walk at night in most but not all areas.

A 24 hour Tourist Medical Service operates north of the city centre between the Fortezza del Basso and Piazza della Liberta (Via Lorenzo il Magnifico 59).

It's worth noting that finding an exact address in central Florence can sometimes be confusing because of an arcane color numbering system that is gradually being phased out.

If possible, ask for a visual description of your desired location as well as its address.

A great spot to enjoy a view over the historic city of Florence is Michelangelo Park.

The tomb of Michelangelo, incidentally, is at the church of Santa Croce.

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Perhaps the most famous art centre in Florence is the Palazzo degli Uffizi.

Better known simply as the Uffizi, this fortress building constructed in the late 16th century houses the Uffizi Gallery collection of masterpieces by artists such as Raphael, Botticelli and Titian.

The Uffizi has more great art per square centimetre than any other museum in the world, holding about 1,600 paintings in 45 rooms, and queues of tourists are usually waiting to get in by 8.30am each day. It's not uncommon to wait several hours simply to enter the Palazzo degli Uffizi so it's worth reserving tickets by telephone beforehand to beat the crowds.

If you do have to wait, you can wander nearby through the most famous square in Florence, the Piazza della Signoria, which has been city's civic centre since it was built around the end of the 13th century.

Another popular tourist attraction is, of course, the Duomo cathedral whose massive dome is the signature icon of Florence.

Travel tip ... get to the Duomo as early as possible as only limited numbers of tourists are allowed inside and long queues are common.

Expect to devote several days to exploring just a few of the city's many churches, museums and palaces. Note that there are often long entry queues of tourists waiting outside the city's numerous treasures. The crowds can be discouraging and it's wise to pick a quiet time of year for travel if you want to conveniently enjoy the city's many religious and artistic icons.

The outer fringe of Florence is a combination of suburbs, light industry and olive-bearing hills. Florence is an excellent base for tours to the Chianti wine-growing district and the city is centrally located by train within three hours of cities such as Rome, Milan, Venice and Pisa.

Tuscany is exceptionally rich and the region boasts a magnificent rolling landscape.

The best times to travel through Tuscany are April-June and September to mid-October.

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