FLORENCE: Invaluable Quick Tips: I just returned
May 8th, 2003 | 04:14 PM
#1
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
FLORENCE: Invaluable Quick Tips: I just returned
May 7, 2003,
I just returned from Italy and have these quick tips to share on Florence (I have been there over 12 times now):
1. Make it a point to walk to top of the Piazzale di Michelangelo to be there just before sunset. It is one of the most breath-taking views of a beautiful city that you can possibly imagine. DO NOT MISS THIS SITE!
2. The Boboli Gardens sound more beatiful then they really are. Each time I go I think to myself: "That's it?" On the other hand, it is the only place in the city where you can find lots of green grass to lie around in or to play in if you brought kids with you (and --please don't forget some kind of ball to toss around on your vacation if you are traveling with a child!!)
3. This time of year have your hotel phone ahead to make reservations for your favorite museums there. The few Euros it will cost you per ticket will be nothing compared to the long long wait you will have to endure if you just show up. We reserved tickets to the Accademia to see David and walked past over 100 people to the front of the line and were escorted right in. The line to get in was 2 blocks long when we walked out later!
Your hotel will give you a reservation number. You give the number to the person at the front of the line at the museum who will find your number on his/her list. Poi, eccolo! You are in!
(You owe me big for this tip! Enjoy!!)
4. Traveling with kids or just want to do something a little different? Visit the Science Museum of Florence to see some of di Vinci's finest inventions, some creative optical illusions, some very real looking surgical/anatomy dummies used for medical instruction and GALEILEO'S MIDDLE FINGER IN A GLASS JAR. Our 8 year old begged to go back upon our return this year (2 years later) but we managed to put him off for another few years until our next visit. (Needless to say, it left quite an impression. He bragged about it for days on the school playground both before and after our trip! Well... okay... so did I!!)
5. Skip Vivoli's for their overpriced gelato and head straight to Via di Neri and Neri's gelato about one block off the Arno River and a few blocks down from the Ponte Vecchio heading towards the Duomo.
6. Take your kids people watching at the Duomo. My husband and 8 yr old camped out there in the piazza for over an hour watching the portrait artists and the people passing by. They also loved watching the little wind tunnel/tornadoes swirling stray paper to the top of the Duomo.
7. Unless, you feel you absolutely must have that special view, find a quieter street to sit at a lovely outdoor cafe for a coffee and pastry. The price of your snack will drop from about 20 Euro for 3 to about 12 Euro.
8. To save money and have some great pizza or salad, eat lunch at a Self Service cafe. Same food, cheaper price, especially if you are on a budget or traveling with kids. They have sprung up all over the city.
9. 20 years ago, I lamented that there was no such thing as a "take out" meal in italy. I wanted to buy stock in pizza boxes when that fateful day arrived and you could order a take-out pizza in italia.
Eureka! That day has arrived! If you don't want to order take-out, be sure to at least tell your cameriare (waiter) that you want to take your food away ("a porta via"
. Now all the restaurants that serve pizza have take-out boxes. Save your pizza on your window ledge and have it for lunch the next day. (I was 20 years ahead of my time on this one!)
10. Consider staying at the Hotel Silla on the "other side" of the Arno River -- the Boboli Gardens side. We have stayed every time we have ever gone (about 12x) and still love the place. It is about a 10-15 minute walk to the Piazzale di Michelangelo in a very nice neighborhood within walking distance of all of Florence. (At the ages of 6 and 8, my son never complained about the walk.)
Ask for Laura at the front desk and tell her Peter, Gail and son Alex sent you.
I hope this helps you save some time and money! Look for my other tips on Rome, Siena, Amalfi, Mt. Vesuvius, Pisa and Milan elsewhere! (If i think of anything else about Florence, i will repost later...)
Ciao,
GailT
I just returned from Italy and have these quick tips to share on Florence (I have been there over 12 times now):
1. Make it a point to walk to top of the Piazzale di Michelangelo to be there just before sunset. It is one of the most breath-taking views of a beautiful city that you can possibly imagine. DO NOT MISS THIS SITE!
2. The Boboli Gardens sound more beatiful then they really are. Each time I go I think to myself: "That's it?" On the other hand, it is the only place in the city where you can find lots of green grass to lie around in or to play in if you brought kids with you (and --please don't forget some kind of ball to toss around on your vacation if you are traveling with a child!!)
3. This time of year have your hotel phone ahead to make reservations for your favorite museums there. The few Euros it will cost you per ticket will be nothing compared to the long long wait you will have to endure if you just show up. We reserved tickets to the Accademia to see David and walked past over 100 people to the front of the line and were escorted right in. The line to get in was 2 blocks long when we walked out later!
Your hotel will give you a reservation number. You give the number to the person at the front of the line at the museum who will find your number on his/her list. Poi, eccolo! You are in!
(You owe me big for this tip! Enjoy!!)
4. Traveling with kids or just want to do something a little different? Visit the Science Museum of Florence to see some of di Vinci's finest inventions, some creative optical illusions, some very real looking surgical/anatomy dummies used for medical instruction and GALEILEO'S MIDDLE FINGER IN A GLASS JAR. Our 8 year old begged to go back upon our return this year (2 years later) but we managed to put him off for another few years until our next visit. (Needless to say, it left quite an impression. He bragged about it for days on the school playground both before and after our trip! Well... okay... so did I!!)
5. Skip Vivoli's for their overpriced gelato and head straight to Via di Neri and Neri's gelato about one block off the Arno River and a few blocks down from the Ponte Vecchio heading towards the Duomo.
6. Take your kids people watching at the Duomo. My husband and 8 yr old camped out there in the piazza for over an hour watching the portrait artists and the people passing by. They also loved watching the little wind tunnel/tornadoes swirling stray paper to the top of the Duomo.
7. Unless, you feel you absolutely must have that special view, find a quieter street to sit at a lovely outdoor cafe for a coffee and pastry. The price of your snack will drop from about 20 Euro for 3 to about 12 Euro.
8. To save money and have some great pizza or salad, eat lunch at a Self Service cafe. Same food, cheaper price, especially if you are on a budget or traveling with kids. They have sprung up all over the city.
9. 20 years ago, I lamented that there was no such thing as a "take out" meal in italy. I wanted to buy stock in pizza boxes when that fateful day arrived and you could order a take-out pizza in italia.
Eureka! That day has arrived! If you don't want to order take-out, be sure to at least tell your cameriare (waiter) that you want to take your food away ("a porta via"
. Now all the restaurants that serve pizza have take-out boxes. Save your pizza on your window ledge and have it for lunch the next day. (I was 20 years ahead of my time on this one!)10. Consider staying at the Hotel Silla on the "other side" of the Arno River -- the Boboli Gardens side. We have stayed every time we have ever gone (about 12x) and still love the place. It is about a 10-15 minute walk to the Piazzale di Michelangelo in a very nice neighborhood within walking distance of all of Florence. (At the ages of 6 and 8, my son never complained about the walk.)
Ask for Laura at the front desk and tell her Peter, Gail and son Alex sent you.
I hope this helps you save some time and money! Look for my other tips on Rome, Siena, Amalfi, Mt. Vesuvius, Pisa and Milan elsewhere! (If i think of anything else about Florence, i will repost later...)
Ciao,
GailT
May 8th, 2003 | 04:29 PM
#3
Joined: Feb 2003
Posts: 249
Likes: 0
Gail, these are wonderful tips. I am getting them so quick because I am work..LOL Business is slow so I am surfing away.. Thanks again and I will post lotsa info when I return. This time I am taking notes as we go along and keeping a journal..
May 8th, 2003 | 06:51 PM
#5
Joined: Jan 2003
Posts: 527
Likes: 0
I loved the view from Piazzale di Michelangelo also, but we didn't walk; instead, following suggestions here, we caught the #12 bus right outside SMN and rode the bus up. It was a very interesting ride, and allowed us to see several neighborhoods we wouldn't have otherwise seen. Sort of a "real life" view of the area around Florence. You are right--the view from up there is amazing!
I'd like to add a suggestion: go the the Mercato Centrale and purchase bread, deli meat, cheese, and fruit and have a wonderful picnic. It's fun shopping for your meal, and it's much more appealing than the snacks sold by the vendor carts on the piazzale.
I'd like to add a suggestion: go the the Mercato Centrale and purchase bread, deli meat, cheese, and fruit and have a wonderful picnic. It's fun shopping for your meal, and it's much more appealing than the snacks sold by the vendor carts on the piazzale.
May 8th, 2003 | 07:31 PM
#6
Original Poster
Joined: Mar 2003
Posts: 33
Likes: 0
re: the Kaffeehaus at the top of Boboli Gardens: IT IS CLOSED. Locked up tight and partially pulled apart for major major renovations when we were there around late April. I can't imagine it will even be open this summer.
FYI
GailT
FYI
GailT
Trending Topics
May 9th, 2003 | 08:02 AM
#8
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 30
Likes: 0
A nice side trip for kids is Parco Di Pinocchio in Collodi, about 35 minutes from Firenze. We drove but there are several shutle buses per day from Florence. The park was fun for our daughter and the drive through the countryside was very interesting!
