We will in Florence the beginnig of May.
How far is it between
train station to Duomo
Duomo to Accademia
Accademia to Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio to train station
Is there a better place to park than the train station?
Should we pre-purchase tickets to see David?
Thanks,
Mary

I purchased a Streetwise Map for Florence. Below is a tip from Ira.



Message: Nice tip by Ira!!

Uffizi and Academia Museum Reservations
The easiest and cheapest way is to call Florence 011 (U.S. international access code) 39 (Italy's country code) then 055-294-883 8:30-18:30 M-F and 8:30-12:00 Sat. Florence time. You will get an English speaking operator and in 2-3 minutes YOU CAN RESERVE FOR BOTH. This is through the reservation service at the Uffizi and costs beyond the normal entry fee only about 1.60 euro for the service. This is MUCH cheaper than the commercial booking services.
You will not be charged for the reservations unless you use them.

Il Ritrovo Via de’ Pucci 4/A 055.281688 Best food for the price Has fish. Full dinner w/wine abt 40E pp Closed Monday
From Pzza San Giovani (NW corner of the Pza del Duomo) walk one blk East to Via dei Martelli. Go left to Via dei Pucci. Turn Right. Look very carefully on left. No sign. Door could be locked. Ring bell.

Train station--Duomo 5-10 min.
Duomo to Accademia--5-10 min.
Accademia to Ponte Vecchio--15 min.
The train station is the best place to park and yes, get the tickets ahead of time.

You can go from anywhere to anywhere in Florence in less than 1/2 hour. It's a great walking city.

Definitely get Tix to the Academia (and the Uffizi) ahead of time. It really does save time.

FYI- Most museums and many churches do not allow photography (with OR without flash). Big disappointment for me.

"Is there a better place to park than the train station?"

Yes. At home. Attempting to drive into Florence is asking for aggrevation you don't need. And you certainly don't need a car when you are there.

With regard to David. Save your money and go see the copy in Piazza della Signoria. I'll bet not one person in a thousand could tell the difference in a blind test.

You will be walking on cobblestones in Florence, sweetie. Bloody murder on the feet. Make sure you wear comfortable shoes with a rubber sole. Also, whilst distances in Centro are quite short, the masses of people in your path will sometimes be unbearable. Imagine midtown Manhattan on the Saturday before Christmas.

Good grief! By all means see the David in the Accademia. It is pleasant to see the replica in the Piazza della Signoria but it is obviously a replica. There are 3 (at least) replicas of the Statue of Liberty in Paris but I still want to see the real thing! People copy great art all the time - but the copies are just that, copies.

I just read metallus' ridiculous statement. You can't compare the copy of David in Signoria with the original in Accademia. Even a third-grade student could tell the difference (from the color alone). The size of David's hands will leave you dumb. It is truly miraculous.

Be sure and walk across the river by way of the bridge with all the shops. Buy an Eye Witness Travel Guide or look in one for Florence. In the back are three guided walks that tell you down to the number of steps where to go. I took the long one that goes across the bridge, alone, and it was so incredibly beautiful and relaxing that even though it was the last day of our trip, it felt like I had just gotten there. You'll even be taken by Galileo's residence that has his face painted on it that really isn't known about to most tourist. I love Fodors Books but these guided walks are wonderful. Oh, we never took a cab in Florence. EAT AT THE WHITE BOAR: translate that into Italian and ask for it. Best Restaurant there.

kkk

Go to one of the mapping sites like www.mappy.com or www.via-michelin.com. They have a pedestrian option so you can check out how long the walks are and even print a map to take along.

If you're staying outside Florence, I'd take a bus or a train into town. Otherwise, I'd park on the outskirts and bus in. Driving in the historical center of Florence is very strictly limited. There's been several posts about people getting tickets for driving in off-limits areas. (They identify the car from photos. The car rental company rats you out and charges you for the service.)

The post is 3 years old (info is out of date too). I don't know why lbrawer would top it.

Regarding metellus' misguided statement from 2/28/05 "With regard to David. Save your money and go see the copy in Piazza della Signoria. I'll bet not one person in a thousand could tell the difference in a blind test.":

This was a load of you-know-what almost four years ago when this statement was posted, and it is even more of a load of you-know-what now that the original real David has been polished and restored to his full and deserved glory. As the saying goes, even Blind Freddy could tell the difference.

To anyone who has not been to Florence: Go to http://maps.google.com and input Piazza della Signoria Firenze Italy, then click on Street View in the pop-up, and zoom and mouse around the square.

The weatherbeaten and rough copy out in the square is just that - a crude replica. Then google images of the real statue, you can tell the difference even from lousy web-quality images.

Mimar gave the right answer to the original question about pedestrian distances: Use www.viamichelin.com and, with the "Driving directions" selector below the Departure and Destination fields, pick "pedestrian".

Or use www.mappy.com and do the same.

Or use http://maps.google.com and select "Walking" from the selector field that shows, as the default, "by car".

Google has the advantage of the street view, of course.

kybourbon <I don't know why lbrawer would top it.>

lbrawer also 'bookmarked' a thread about Rome.

Have a nice trip to Italy, lbrawer.