Looking to rent an apartment in Florence for two weeks. Hoping to use Florence as our base while traveling to outlying areas. I would love some suggestions as to what areas in Florence work best for access to train station/transportation. Is the area around the train station a safe area? Would it be better to be in the historic area? Any suggestions on good apartment rentals are also welcome. Thanks.

The train station in Florence is just a short walk from the heart of the historic centre. The area around the station is very busy, but safe. I've stayed in that area multiple times. If you stay near the Duomo, or anywhere between the Duomo and Santa Maria Novella station, you'll have easy access to buses and trains.

What nearby places do you want to visit? Florence might not be the best hub.

Thanks for your input! Some places I am looking to include are Lucca, Siena, Arezzo, Montepulciano, etc. However, I am very open to suggestions as I haven’t set an itinerary yet.

Thanks.

Siena, Lucca, and Arezzo are all easily visited by train from Florence. Montepulciano is a good deal south of Florence, and is more easily reached from Siena.

Some of the Chianti towns, such as Greve in Chianti, and Panzano in Chianti, can by reached by bus from Florence.

Other possibilities are San Gimignano, Pistoia, and Montecatini Terme. Also, Fiesole, just outside of Florence, on a city bus route.

Also easy by train from Florence is Certaldo. Bologna is easy, too, but fares are higher.

Thanks, Jean and bvlenci. So areas near the train station and the Duomo would be good areas for train and bus access is that correct? Are there any other areas in Florence that I could consider and still have easy access to public transportation? I found an apartment on the other side of the Arno. Would that be a bad idea if I intend to rely on public transportation?

thanks.

Being near the train and bus station is always going to be easier than across the river.

Can you walk from the river to the station? Sure. Do you want to? Depends on how much of a walker you are. Check the distance on Google maps.

Florence is pretty small... for most tourists' purposes approximately 4 square miles (2 miles x 2 miles)... but obviously it depends on how far the apartment is from the river/historical center. Some neighborhoods on the other side of the Arno (aka the Oltrarno) are very close to the train station. Use maps.google.com in pedestrian mode to calculate the walking time/distance between the apartment and the train station. Google can also show some basic bus info (change the search mode from pedestrian to public trans), but you'd be better off researching the Florence bus system separately.

The further you are from the train station (which is also where most busses depart) the more time you add to the length of a day trip. An extra 20 minutes may be easy in the morning, but in the evening, when you return home after a day of exploring on foot, it may be tedious.

I've stayed across the river, up by the Porta Romana and it does get tedious, there some incredibly narrow public buses that go up there. On the other hand there are some amazing properties to rent in that area. We took a three level medievel merchant's house backing onto the gardens and because it was not central the prices were low, and the local shops all did for our daily shopping.

Yes, a 20-minute walk in the morning can feel a lot longer at the end of the day. And, suddenly, that's when taxi fares seem cheap and bus service convenient.

Unless trips out of Florence are planned for nearly every day, I'd prioritize lodging that is central to sightseeing plans IN Florence and hopefully not too far from the train station. But that's me, and I don't know how many excursions you want to make in your 2 weeks. Which brings us back to bvlenci's original question in post #2 of where you want to visit. It might make sense to split your time between two cities and be less compelled to pick Florence lodging based on proximity to the train station.