Driving into Florence?
 

We will be staying in a b&b about 15 km. south of Florence for 3 days, and were hoping to drive into the city to visit, at least one, possibly two of the days. How easy is it to drive in, park the car and explore the old city? Would taking a bus in be wiser?

Bad idea to drive to the tourist section of Florence. You'll see why when you get there.

I happen to live 45 mins away from Florence and drive all the time. However, you might have to do a little walking to get to the tourist areas, but its reasonable. Warning: driving in town centers can be scary and confusing (if you are american). If you are only 15 km away, a bus would be a good option.

We stayed in a farmhouse south of Florence and did not want to drive into the city. If you drive up the superstada, Route 3 I believe, at the exit towards Florence there is a small town at the end of the bus line. There is a small commuter parking lot there and you can catch the bus that will take you right to the bus station located at the railroad station in Florence.

Florence is a difficult city to navigate in a car the first time you are there. Take a bus in and save yourself lots of frustration. It looks simple from the maps, but all parks/piazzas look alarmingly similar and none are clearly marked with a name. Ditto the main streets, intersections and circles. Save the time you would be in a panic trying to find parking for walking all over the cento and enjoying yourselves! On foot, it starts to make sense pretty quickly.

Drove into Florence from Villa. Parked near train station with easy walk to center. Just don't drive into old section. Large parking loyts were plentiful.

Don't do it. We drove, intending to park at the train station lot. On the autostrada it was a breeze, however, it became impossible to follow any directional signs to the Stazione and we became hopelessly lost. It was a miracle that we eventually found our way, and by that time the traffic was so bad we almost missed our reserved slot at the Uffizi. Then getting out of town was unbelievably difficult. It came close to ruining an otherwise pleasant day.

I drove in twice from our villa last year and just followed the signs from the autostrada to the train station and parked there all day. It was no problem, but maybe the answer is to drive in early in the morning like we did and exit after a nice long dinner.

Hi Doug: <BR> <BR>I'd recommend driving in. My husband and I have done this from both of the houses we've rented and never regretted it. Even I took my turn at driving, and it really was okay -- and I'm no Speed Racer. <BR> <BR>We have driven to Florence from Chianti and from the area south of Siena via the Siena-Firenze autoroute (not the big autostrada; the one that goes past Monteriggioni). <BR> <BR>Go through the suburb of Galluzo towards the Porta Romano; there is a very big parking lot where you can leave the car safely all day. From there, it's about a five- or ten-minute walk to the Ponte Vecchio. Good luck, and be sure to tell us how it went. <BR>

the closest I've ever been to divorcing my newlywed husband was when we tried driving to our hotel in the center of Rome. It was almost as bad in Florence. Definitely take a bus :-)

It was hard enough walking around Florence trying to read the street names on the sides of buildings much less trying to do that and drive a car!!

Again! Did it (arrived mid-morning and left after dinner)! No problem! signs to train station are very clear, "Stazione". Don't understand the conflict, UNLESS, you are trying to drive into Florence.

No problem. Just head for the train station. If the underground parking garage says full, try anyway as there are bound to be spots. If it is indeed too full there are lots of reasonably priced garages.