Florence

Florence is almost always crowded with visitors. If you can, avoid summer (June-August) when temperatures can be unbearably hot and the streets unbearably crowded. Unless you’re in town to participate, also avoid the Pitti menswear fashion shows (January and June), when 30,000 industry folk swarm into town. Visit during spring or autumn for the best combination of warm weather and manageable crowds. If you want to avoid queues altogether, visit in the winter (avoiding Christmas, New Year and Carnival).

Florence’s Amerigo Vespucci airport is at Peretola, 5km outside the city centre. There is a frequent tram service from just outside the Arrivals Hall to Santa Maria Novella train station; the journey time is 20 minutes.  Alternatively, take a taxi (approximately 30 minutes).

Many  flights land at Pisa’s Galileo Galilei Airport, a one-hour train ride or 70-minute bus journey west of Florence. There is a shuttle train (The People Mover) from Pisa Centrale train station to the airport. Alternatively, you can catch a taxi, but be prepared for a hefty bill.

Florence’s plentiful, efficient but expensive taxis can be picked up at taxi ranks or contacted by telephone (they can’t be hailed on the street). A network of minibuses links up key points in the historic centre and two new tramlines connect the station to the city’s northern and western suburbs.

Given its compact and car-free centre, the best way to get around Florence is to walk or cycle, and there is an increasing number of cycle lanes.  Download the Mobike app to use the fleet of bright orange bikes.

If you want to stay in the thick of things (and don’t mind battling with the tourist hordes), book accommodation around the Duomo-Piazza della Signoria drag. The Oltrarno neighbourhood south of the river is quieter and more ‘Florentine’ and is home to some lovely small hotels.

But Florence is so small that wherever you stay, the main sites will rarely be more than a 30-minute walk away. If you opt to stay out of the centre, check that the hotel provides a shuttle service into town.

As a rule of thumb (although there are some notable exceptions), steer clear of the most touristy areas when you are searching for somewhere to eat in Florence. There are few good restaurants near the Duomo, for example, while neighbourhoods such as Santa Croce, the Sant’Ambrogio market area and San Niccolò are far more interesting gastronomically speaking, and this is where the Florentines go to eat.

The Oltrarno neighbourhood, south of the river, has a particularly buzzy and eclectic dining and drinking scene.

Florence’s designer drag is Via Tornabuoni, in the historic centre north of the river, but the surrounding streets are home to equally glamorous shops. For low-priced leather goods, try the market in San Lorenzo or the shops around Piazza Santa Croce. For classier, handcrafted artisanal products – from gloves to handmade shirts – head to bohemian Oltrarno. Florence’s out-of-town discount fashion malls are increasingly becoming an essential shopping stop.

What to buy

Since Renaissance times, Florence has been renowned for its world-class craftmanship. Centuries-old techniques have survived in Florence, and the Oltrarno area – the city’s artsy south bank – is today crammed with artisans’ ateliers selling hand-made, high-quality wares.

Also look out for fashion and accessories by local designers, leather goods, herbal beauty products, handcrafted shoes, ceramics and household linens, gold jewellery, olive oil, Tuscan food and wine.