Tourist Visa

All USA passport holder are able to visit Florence, Italy. You just need to visit nearest Italian consulate office. Go there and submit your visit application if you have no time for this you can contact any good reputation Italian travel company. They will provide you are visa services and other services which you need on your tour.
 
Want to correct what John said above. All US passport holders can of course visit Italy but there is NO need to apply for a tourist visa!
If you aren't a US citizen, you do need to check with Italian consulate or Embassy to see whether you need a visa.
 
Thank YOU!

Lourdes!

I just came back from Florence. I absolutely loved it! I wanted to thank you profusely for all your tips.

I stayed at La Casa dei Tintori, and you were right they were super sweet to me.
I purchased the Amici degli Uffizi card and also loved being able to skip the lines and in my case it was a great value.

Thanks to you, I felt prepared and was able to enjoy myself.

Can't wait to go back. :)
 
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Very glad to hear you loved Florence and to have been of help! :)

Would you mind sharing with all of us a little of what you ended up doing, what you loved the most of the places you saw, a favorite place you ate at or ate gelato at, or anything that really stood out for you about the trip? did you end up doing day trips and where did you go? It would definitely be useful to us and to everyone else looking for ideas to know about your trip!! ;)

Thank you for coming back to post - now I have a big smile on my face and my day has brightened! :)
 
@Uomo Grasso - when are you coming to Florence? had missed your last post above - I agree, if you are here for 12 days, then the Amici degli Uffizi card is a better deal. Then you can pay for any others not covered by the pass if you really want to visit. The other card has so many included, it is impossible anyways to see them all in 3 days, at least not at an enjoyable pace (for me, at least!)
 
Ciao UomoGrasso,

June is right around the corner!

I have the Amici degli Uffizi Card... when I went recently to the Uffizi it was around 11am, they handed me a ticket that said 9am entry... so I am thinking they print out the total number of tickets for the day and hand them out - that is their way to keep track of how many each day.

Head to the front of door 2 and show the card, you'll get immediate access to the line waiting to go through the metal detectors. You might have a very short wait to pick up your "free" tickets then, but it has always been quite relative to the amount of people going in.... took me a while on a Saturday, to get from there all the way up to the 2nd floor where they ask for tickets (maybe 30 min total). There was a line after the tickets, just from people waiting to get in at the last turnstill... I'd say if you go on any other day, wait will be shorter.
 
HI Again

Hi Lourdes!

I am an art nerd and the main reason I visited Florence was to visit as many museums as possible. I loved being able to see so many original masterpieces. I was completely overwhelmed with the architecture and imagining the life around the time of their completion.

The Boboli Gardens were an unexpected surprise and was sad to not be able to go again before leaving, certainly will spend more time there on my next trip.

Towards the end of my stay I asked Riccardo (La Casa dei Tintori) for his assistance to find some music event in town. Lo and behold the St. Mark British church was playing Carmen the opera, (of all operas!) on the last night of my stay. It's a small production but very nice and intimate. Very memorable for me, to have gone to the opera on my last night.

I will continue to visit your forum, I certainly miss Italia!

Carmen
 
Ciao Carmen,

It sounds like you had a wonderful time in Florence - including the opera at St. Mark's! Hope you manage to come back soon - Florence has many more "off the beaten track" places to discover when you have more time and on return visits it makes sense to spend more time in those. Was there anything you recall you forgot to ask before your trip or me to mention that you wish you had known while here?
Feedback from everyone then helps me remember better things to point out and emphasize - I've spent many years in Florence now so a reminder from first time visitors is always good ;)
 
Hello everybody,


Remember that starting 2021, U.S. citizens will be required to complete and submit an online ETIAS application. The ETIAS online visa waiver will be needed to enter and travel to and around the Schengen Area. The ETIAS travel authorization will be a multiple entry authorization valid for 3 years and will grant its holder a stay of up to 90 days.

The ETIAS visa waiver will be valid to enter countries that are part of the Schengen Area but not the EU, which means, that every American citizen traveling to Europe will be able to travel to these countries without the need for any additional travel documents or permissions.

Hope this info helps ;)
 
Thank you Titania for reminding us of this new security measure that will be implemented soon --- for now, you can read the Q&A on the official EU website explaining how it will work - there will be an application, fee of 5 euros and the travel authorization would be valid for 5 years. You can read that here: https://europa.eu/rapid/press-release_MEMO-16-3706_en.htm

For the moment, the system HAS NOT BEEN SET UP. So if you start seeing websites asking you to do your application (for example aimed at US citizens, which will need to get this authorization), be hesitant to pay any money since the system is not set up and you currently do NOT NEED it!

Looking for the correct website for more details, I found countless website set up seeming to be official and offering details on how it works and with application forms, asking for payment. So beware, at the moment you don't yet need it!

I deleted the links titiana added to her post above because it seems she is more interested in getting traffic to the site she linked rather than just informing travelers to Italy about the ETIAS travel document. She also incorrectly says it will be valid for just 3 years.... SHAME to those people already trying to game this new travel document requirement!
 
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