Hi, I'll be travelling from Genoa to Florence on 23 March 2013. I suspect the best station to board will be -PPrincipe . What good cheap accomodation is available in Florence close to a train station. The idea would be to be close to popular places to see/visit

You'll need to check this info, as it's from 1999 but hub and I stayed in Fenice Palace on our first trip to Florence. It was basic but close to Duomo and maybe a 10-minute walk to train station:

http://www.hotelfenicepalace.it/

Online now, it says it's a 4-star--it certainly wasn't when we were there but we liked the people very much. 5 minutes to Duomo, btw.

On a different trip, we trained from Menton Fr to Genoa and did land at the Piazza Principe you mention above.

If you are starting from Genova, you have a choice of Piazza Principe (west end) or Brignole (east end). It depends on where in Genova you will be coming from. www.trenitalia.it shows that most, if not all, trains heading towards Florence stop at Brignole.

I don't think near SMN station at Florence is close to the popular places. As noted above, Duomo is more centrally located to attractions, shopping, and eating.

I've stayed between the train station and Duomo (about halfway) at Alloro B&B. What amenities do you want and what is your price range?

http://www.allorobb.it/

It's a half-mile walk from the Santa Maria Novella train station to the Piazza del Duomo.

I have stayed at a hotel within sight of the SMN station but without a price range not even gonna go there.