I'm trying to research staying in Florence vs. doing day trips <i>to</i> Florence from Tuscany. All the threads I find are about day trips out of Florence.

We will have a car. Is there a convenient train or bus stop just outside Florence where we can leave the car for the day? Do they charge for parking?

We plan to spend a few days in Montalcino and Spello. But we also have 3 nights before that when we may stay in upper Tuscany. This is in mid-April.

Piazzale Michelangelo...accessible and large parking area, no charge, easy walk into the center of town.

In mid-April you shouldn't have a problem finding parking at the edges of the city. But you never want to drive into the city if at all possible.

Usually a Michelin map, even in the Green Guide, will identify parking lots on its map. I wouldn't want to park at Piazzele Michaelangelo if I could help it. It's quite a hike up hill or you need to wait for a bus to take you there. However, I would drive up there on my way out of Firenze to see the sunset.

If you don't enjoy cities and art sightseeing is not that important to you, skip staying in Firenze. However, if you plan to do something other than see &quot;David&quot; and go to the Uffizi and the Duomo, Firenze is especially dense in art treasures, and you will probably want to take more than one trip in or spend a few nights there.

ness:
Here's some background. We were in Florence in January. The weather was so cold we couldn't do much and left quite disappointed. Now we feel like we shortchanged Florence. Or maybe we just didn't like it as much as we anticipated? We've seen the David and Duomo/Campanile/Baptistry. We're not &quot;big&quot; art lovers---more as related to Renaissance history.

If we do 2 day trips, we will arrive in the morning. Visit the Ufizzi, a few churches and do some shopping. When the shops close in the afternoon we could return to Tuscany for wine tasting or hilltown visits.

This may be way too much trouble. We're just trying to get a feel for this option. Thanks for suggestions and insights.
J

We took a day trip from our apartment in Montepulciano into Florence...leaving very early in the morning.

We parked at a garage at the train station without any problem.

This link will take you tom ore parking info in Florence.

http://tinyurl.com/y3h46h

Whatever you do, DO NOT park on the street in Florence.

I found a day was enough to see everything I wanted to see in Florence. Book tickets for the Uffizi gallery beforehand to avoid long queues.

Hi J,

Here's my plan for A DAY IN FLORENCE:

From Piazza d' Stazione, walk up via Nazionale to via d'Ariento and the Mercato Centrale, wander through.

Take any street going NE to Via Degli Alfani and go right to the Accademia for The David.

Take via Ricasoli SE to the Duomo, the Baptistry and the Opera Museum (Originals of the bronzes on the doors)

From the Campanile, take via Calzaiuoli S (do some window shopping) to the Piazza d' Signoria. Look around, take a break.

Continue S to the Uffizi. Visit.

From the Uffizi, walk W along the Arno River to the Ponte Vecchio.

(You can walk up to the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens if there is time. Great views of Florence from the top of the Gardens)

If you have time, walk E along the S bank of the river to Ponte alle grazie and cross over to visit Santa Croce.

If not, go W along the Arno from Ponte Vecchio to Ponte S. Trinita and go right. Go left on Via d'Spada to via d'Fossi and go right to Santa Maria Novella. Look around.

SMN is across the square from the train station.

Be sure to have lots of gelato (in a cup, not a cone), take some wine breaks and a light lunch.

Train schedules, prices and tickets are at www.trenitalia.com

Bus routes are at http://www.ataf.net/
Buy your ticket before you get on the bus. Stamp it in the yellow box on the bus.

Uffizi and Academia Museum Reservations
The easiest and cheapest way is to call Florence 1016868 (dial around number), 011 (U.S. international access code) 39 (Italy's country code) then 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes YOU CAN RESERVE FOR BOTH. This is through the reservation service at the Uffizi and costs beyond the normal entry fee only about 3 euro for the service. This is MUCH cheaper than the commercial booking services.

You will not be charged for the reservations unless you use them.

Hope this helps.

Have a nice visit.

Jeanne,

On my next trip to Italy, coming up shortly, I've already decided to make a day trip into Firenze, having spent 4 days there previously. My agenda will be extremely modest and more along the lines of just looking at a city that was so wall-to-wall crammed with seeing things I'd wanted all my life to see that I'd now like to experience it without a big to-do list. (Although one thing I've never done is see Michaelangelo's David, so I think I might get around to it this time.)

I'm going to be mainly in Lucca, so if I want to go back more than once, I will. Even though I will have a car, I think I will probably take the train in, but I might change my mind. Depends on whether I want wine with lunch!

I think it is great to dip in and out of a city that you've already got a basic grip on, and I think in mid-April you won't find it a huge hassle to go in and out. Put your own ideas of enjoyment and relaxation first.

We visited Florence from Tuscany (San Gimignano) and it worked like a charm. We simply walked down the hill to the city &quot;gate&quot; and caught a bus. We bought a ticket in the little paper shop on the way down the hill. We did have to change buses, but still got there in less than an hour. When we were ready to leave, we walked back to the bus station in Florence and repeated the process. Buses were clean, fast and reliable (and inexpensive).

JeanneB,
From Montalcino just drive down the hill to Buonconvento and take the train into Florence.