we are flying to florence for a 3 day break, in december, we are flying into pisa could you tell us how far this is from the center of florence and how much a taxis would cost. we also would like to know which area to stay in which is in walking distance of the "sights" and nice restaurants....thank you
1st time in florence
- Thread starter naed63
- Start date
recommend taking the train to Florence
Ciao naed63,
The easiest and most convenient way to get to Florence from the Pisa airport is to the take the train directly from the airport. There are trains all day that take you to Florence, passing through Pisa Centrale, to the Santa Maria Novella train station which is in the center of the historical center. From there, in less than 15 minutes, you can walk and be in front of the cathedral, the famous Duomo of Florence.
The train ride takes about an hour and twenty minutes and one way ticket costs from 6 to 9 euros per person.
You can see timetables at: www.ferroviedellostato.it
Florence is a small city, all of the main sights are within a large "circle" formed by the walls that used to protect the city. The walls are no longer there but if you stay within this area, you will be walking distance from everything. Stay near the Duomo, Santa Croce, San Marco, Santa Maria Novella, Palazzo Pitti in the Oltrarno area.... all are really central. Check out Florence Accommodation.com to see a map and see recommendations by area. See that yellow border that surrounds the main sites on the home page? that is the border I am talking about that pretty much marks everything inside as "historical center" and where majority of sights are. Many nice restaurants are in the center as well. The train station is marked as "SMN station" on the map.
Hope this is useful!!
Ciao naed63,
The easiest and most convenient way to get to Florence from the Pisa airport is to the take the train directly from the airport. There are trains all day that take you to Florence, passing through Pisa Centrale, to the Santa Maria Novella train station which is in the center of the historical center. From there, in less than 15 minutes, you can walk and be in front of the cathedral, the famous Duomo of Florence.
The train ride takes about an hour and twenty minutes and one way ticket costs from 6 to 9 euros per person.
You can see timetables at: www.ferroviedellostato.it
Florence is a small city, all of the main sights are within a large "circle" formed by the walls that used to protect the city. The walls are no longer there but if you stay within this area, you will be walking distance from everything. Stay near the Duomo, Santa Croce, San Marco, Santa Maria Novella, Palazzo Pitti in the Oltrarno area.... all are really central. Check out Florence Accommodation.com to see a map and see recommendations by area. See that yellow border that surrounds the main sites on the home page? that is the border I am talking about that pretty much marks everything inside as "historical center" and where majority of sights are. Many nice restaurants are in the center as well. The train station is marked as "SMN station" on the map.
Hope this is useful!!
When going to Florence, ypu might wonder waht to eat. I found a top 3 on http://toscane.nl which says you must eat the Bistecca. Too bad it cotst over 40 euros 
have a great holiday!
have a great holiday!
cost of Bistecca Fiorentina
To reply to bikkel's post above, the Bistecca Fiorentina or Florentine steak is something highly recommended for you to try if you like meat and if you like it rare because that is how it is prepared. It is pretty high and the best is made with Chianina steak, a particular breed of cattle native to Tuscany.
In Florence, the average cost of Bistecca at a restaurant is around 4 euros per 100 grams. When you order you have to clearly state how many people intend to eat the steak so that they can offer a suitable sized piece -- you can also ask for the uncooked steak be brought out to you to see before they grill it so that you can agree with it or ask for a smaller or larger one. Some restaurants do it without being asked. Personally, I think 2-3 people can eat a typical-sized steak since we also order sides of roasted potatoes, cooked beans or roasted vegetables.
If you paid 40 euros, depending on what you paid for each etto (100 gr), you had around a whole kilo of steak (that's like two pounds for our American friends)!
Thanks for the link - we can appreciate the pics but the rest is hard to understand since there is no English version. In the future, please try to post English language resources so that the rest of us will be able to understand it all!
From the pics on that page, the third on the list is pizza - I'd like to mention that if you go into any pizzeria in Italy that says "Naples-style" (pizza Napolitana), it means thick crust. Florentine pizza on the other hand is really thin crust. Just thought that might be a helpful piece of info to know!
To reply to bikkel's post above, the Bistecca Fiorentina or Florentine steak is something highly recommended for you to try if you like meat and if you like it rare because that is how it is prepared. It is pretty high and the best is made with Chianina steak, a particular breed of cattle native to Tuscany.
In Florence, the average cost of Bistecca at a restaurant is around 4 euros per 100 grams. When you order you have to clearly state how many people intend to eat the steak so that they can offer a suitable sized piece -- you can also ask for the uncooked steak be brought out to you to see before they grill it so that you can agree with it or ask for a smaller or larger one. Some restaurants do it without being asked. Personally, I think 2-3 people can eat a typical-sized steak since we also order sides of roasted potatoes, cooked beans or roasted vegetables.
If you paid 40 euros, depending on what you paid for each etto (100 gr), you had around a whole kilo of steak (that's like two pounds for our American friends)!
Thanks for the link - we can appreciate the pics but the rest is hard to understand since there is no English version. In the future, please try to post English language resources so that the rest of us will be able to understand it all!
From the pics on that page, the third on the list is pizza - I'd like to mention that if you go into any pizzeria in Italy that says "Naples-style" (pizza Napolitana), it means thick crust. Florentine pizza on the other hand is really thin crust. Just thought that might be a helpful piece of info to know!