bonvoyagegirl619

Hello!
I'm hoping you guys will be able to help us with our conundrum. We are supposed to stay in Florence 9/25-9/27 (currently in Tuscany with rental car) however it sounds like the bike race will be a huge damper on our plans.

Our hotel said many streets will be closed to pedestrians and all to cars. We would have to drop our rental off at the airport and either take a taxi to outside of the city center and walk in or take a train to SMN station and walk from there, about 2 miles to our hotel (both options would require lugging two huge bags, one with a handle that broke yesterday UGH!).

That being said, do you think we should cancel our trip to Florence? We have a train booked from Florence to Venice 9/27 and can probably change with a fee. We could add two extra days to our rental car or take a train somewhere. We have been to Amalfi, Rome, Cinque Terre, Lucca, and Tuscany. Thought maybe stay in Tuscany two more days or perhaps Como? Any thought would be greatly appreciated!!

Bonvoyagegirl

Dukey1

There is no way a taxi can reach your hotel from the train station?

kybourbon

Where is your hotel? Depending on hotel location, I think your hotel has blown this out of proportion. Here's a map of the race route and it's really not in the area of Florence where you would be sightseeing except for the Duomo. You would have to find a way to cross the route to sightsee if you are staying on the outside of it. Really shouldn't be a problem though for many areas. Even taking a taxi from the station to the historic center is possible, but will have to take a route around the stadium and cross the river, etc.

http://www.firenze2013.it/wp-content...e_ciclismo.jpg

You might find it fun to be there while the race is on.

mamcalice

Good Grief! Never cancel a trip to Florence. Work with your hotel to determine a way to get there. The bike race shouldn't last more than a day.

kybourbon

This is the cities info about bus transport, etc. for each day of the race in time increments, etc. It's only in Italian, but you can scroll down to your dates and look at the options. Non bloccate means not blocked roads. The city lists route suggestions, etc. As you can see, the majority of the race is after you leave Florence.

http://www.comune.fi.it/opencms/open...ismo_2013.html

kybourbon

>>>The bike race shouldn't last more than a day.<<<

This is a big bike race, not a little local thing. It's over several days.

susoir

>>>This is a big bike race, not a little local thing. It's over several days.<<<

kybourbon is correct. This is the road cycling world championships. It runs from Sept 22nd to the 29th, with different races every day for men, women, juniors, and teams.

The official website has this (and more) information about road closures and transportation:

"ATAF, following the provisions of the Municipality of Florence, prepared a mobility plan for the event. The plan will allow all citizens to move freely around the city during the event.

PERCORSI
Starting from the 21st of September, every day the city hosts one race or training session in the morning and one in the afternoon. The courses will run through Florence, passing by the Duomo and arriving in Viale Paoli.

MOBILITY
The Gavinana, Galluzzo, Isolotto and Legnaia districts will not be affected by the races. The city center, Campo di Marte and Rifredi will be concerned by the races. The course will be closed only during the races,. It will be accessible before and after the end of each race. It will be possible to cross the course by foot in certain specific access points."

http://www.toscana2013.it/per-i-mond...-ataf/?lang=en

kybourbon

>>The official website has this (and more) information about road closures and transportation:<<<

The city of Florence link I gave above lists more detailed closure information by day/location/time of day (not all days/times are the same).

asps

Bike races will be a major inconvenience to tourists and residents. There is no way to advice you unless you state the exact street address you need to reach and at what time. Some addresses are not affected at all, some will be completely off limits during the race.