Off To Florence..
Discussion
Good Afternoon 
Off to Florence next week with the GF, my birthday present to her.
Never been Italy at all before so really looking forward to it.
Just after some advice where is best to go for food/drink? are there any other sites/places/areas worth going too except the obvious famous attractions? Any hidden gems?
Was also looking at sneaking in a football game but can't see anyone who is close playing at home...
All thoughts and suggestions welcome !
Off to Florence next week with the GF, my birthday present to her.
Never been Italy at all before so really looking forward to it.
Just after some advice where is best to go for food/drink? are there any other sites/places/areas worth going too except the obvious famous attractions? Any hidden gems?
Was also looking at sneaking in a football game but can't see anyone who is close playing at home...
All thoughts and suggestions welcome !
Here are the restaurant recommendations from the Rough Guide from when we visited Florence. The Trattoria Cibreo was especially quaint.
For Florentine steak, Ristorante Buca Mario is reportedly one of the best and frequented by tourists and locals alike. You may need to book as it can get quite busy. Steaks are typically served v rare! Very tasty.
For Florentine steak, Ristorante Buca Mario is reportedly one of the best and frequented by tourists and locals alike. You may need to book as it can get quite busy. Steaks are typically served v rare! Very tasty.
The Mercato Central is a good place for different food outlets
http://www.mercatocentrale.it/
Another pizza place we like is Pizzeria Riva D'Arno, which is on the south side of the river.
http://www.mercatocentrale.it/
Another pizza place we like is Pizzeria Riva D'Arno, which is on the south side of the river.
nealeh1875 said:
Much appreciated g3org3y
No problem. Florence is a lovely place. I've around quite a bit of Italy and I'd now consider Florence one of my favourites. Art + architecture + food + gelato =
AWG said:
We're going in December, that steak look amazing!
As good as it looks! Planet Claire said:
The Mercato Central is a good place for different food outlets
http://www.mercatocentrale.it/
This is also worth a look.http://www.mercatocentrale.it/
towser44 said:
Watching this thread with interest, as I'm off with the OH and daughter for a week in October too. So far have booked the Duomo tickets and trains for day trips to Rome and Venice.
If you are planning to visit as many of the sights as possible and time is limited, I'd strongly suggest the Firenze card.http://www.laprosciutteria.com/firenze/
Great wines by the glass, and don't be afraid to have them make up a charcuterie / cheese/ bread board for you. Spent about 3 hours here one day, sitting at the outside counter and people watching.
Great wines by the glass, and don't be afraid to have them make up a charcuterie / cheese/ bread board for you. Spent about 3 hours here one day, sitting at the outside counter and people watching.
Wife and I go to Italy for a holiday each year, always a different place. Last year we spent 5 nights in each of Siena and Florence. I think that a split like this is better than a whole week in Florence. Easy to travel between the two by train.
Florence is always mega busy with tourists with queues everywhere. Strongly recommend pre-booking timed entry for anything you want to see especially the Ufezzi where you can queue over two hours. Get you tickets paid for and printed before you leave the UK: use Viator for this service.
As regards Florence restaurants, there at too many to be able to recommend any. Note that many have arrangements with travel companies so when you get there you find 30 or so Japanese, say, and they will depart en masse. We frequently got a free prosecco if we were willing to wait maybe 15 minutes for a table. Note the Florentines tend to eat out later, often taking simply a starter and a pasta dish, which is usually sufficient for us too. I could look up the restaurants we used and send a note if you wished.
As regards Siena, still busy but much less so than Florence. Really nice place to wander around. We booked a two hour walking tour before we left the UK, excellent. Also took a day trip to Assisi, well worth it. Restaurants are also good in Siena and much less busy than Florence in our experience.
R.
Florence is always mega busy with tourists with queues everywhere. Strongly recommend pre-booking timed entry for anything you want to see especially the Ufezzi where you can queue over two hours. Get you tickets paid for and printed before you leave the UK: use Viator for this service.
As regards Florence restaurants, there at too many to be able to recommend any. Note that many have arrangements with travel companies so when you get there you find 30 or so Japanese, say, and they will depart en masse. We frequently got a free prosecco if we were willing to wait maybe 15 minutes for a table. Note the Florentines tend to eat out later, often taking simply a starter and a pasta dish, which is usually sufficient for us too. I could look up the restaurants we used and send a note if you wished.
As regards Siena, still busy but much less so than Florence. Really nice place to wander around. We booked a two hour walking tour before we left the UK, excellent. Also took a day trip to Assisi, well worth it. Restaurants are also good in Siena and much less busy than Florence in our experience.
R.
towser44 said:
Watching this thread with interest, as I'm off with the OH and daughter for a week in October too. So far have booked the Duomo tickets and trains for day trips to Rome and Venice.
Towser, just out of interest, how far is rome/venice away on the train? and how did you book it online?
feel free to pm
The Leaper said:
Florence is always mega busy with tourists with queues everywhere. Strongly recommend pre-booking timed entry for anything you want to see especially the Ufezzi where you can queue over two hours. Get you tickets paid for and printed before you leave the UK: use Viator for this service.
R.
With pre booking and getting 'cue jump' i assume, is this also valid with the Firenze card?R.
nealeh1875 said:
towser44 said:
Watching this thread with interest, as I'm off with the OH and daughter for a week in October too. So far have booked the Duomo tickets and trains for day trips to Rome and Venice.
Towser, just out of interest, how far is rome/venice away on the train? and how did you book it online?
feel free to pm
Rome is 1 hour 30 minutes and Venice is 2 hours 5 minutes, both on the High Speed Line. I wouldn't have chosen Venice myself, but this is a bit of a one-off holiday for us and the Mrs was keen to go to Venice so as we're going for a week I caved in.
There are 2 options of rail companies for both Venice and Rome on the High Speed Line, the private company Italtreno ( http://www.italotreno.it/en ) and Trenitialia (National Rail) www.trenitalia.com
I booked direct with Italtreno for both, just because the train times suited us better, but prices were similar for both. I booked both trips less than 2 weeks ago and each one was 39 Euros Return per adult and 20 Euros for our daughter. Upgrades were available for a little more too. There's lots of information on this website if it helps - https://www.seat61.com/Italy-trains.htm
The tickets for Italtreno are emailed to you and they give you a code which is the only thing you need to show to get on the train.
Definitely book in advance if you go though, they are apparently much more expensive on the day (same as over here).
We're also planning day trips to Siena and/or Lucca and Pisa, but the train tickets are a fixed price for those and no cheaper if pre-booked.
nealeh1875 said:
The Leaper said:
Florence is always mega busy with tourists with queues everywhere. Strongly recommend pre-booking timed entry for anything you want to see especially the Ufezzi where you can queue over two hours. Get you tickets paid for and printed before you leave the UK: use Viator for this service.
R.
With pre booking and getting 'cue jump' i assume, is this also valid with the Firenze card?R.
The Leaper said:
I am reasonably sure timed entry ie queue jumping is not included with the card. Ask the card supplier to be sure.
R.
Just seen this on the website which is good - Priority access to museums with no need to make reservations, except for the Dome (Cupola) R.
Also found these guys but the card seems to be much better value - http://visittodayitaly.com/tour/?tour_types=17&...
Regarding train travel in Italy, wife and I have done so quite a few times now. Always booked ahead using the TrenItalia UK website which eventually links to Voyages SNCF in the UK. Pay by card in £s in the UK, print off the tickets, or sometimes they are posted to you, so you are all set before leaving the UK.
Note that Italian timetables are often not published until quite near the time of travel, say not before three months or so. Use the current timetable to get an idea of timings etc. Voyages SNCF can sometimes get the timetables before the public so a phone call to them can be good for booking tickets you may think are not yet available.
Note too that there are regional trains, express trains and fast Intercity type trains, so for example Rome to Milan is good for Intercity. When we went from Naples to Palermo in Sicily in 2016, it was an express train, quite basic, not really expensive, got seats booked, no catering on the train so stocked up with wine and paninis just like the Italians, excellent! Took 10 hours including 2 hours for the train on/off ferry at Messina.to get to Sicily. Quite an adventure.
Someone mentioned Lucca, Pisa, Florence etc. Lucca is a lovely city and a good base for train journeys to Florence (1/12 hours), Pisa (40 minutes maybe) and even Viareggio on the coast (30 minutes or so).
If you buy tickets in Italy they are not dated and you MUST "stamp" them at the station automatic machine to show the date being used. Failure results in a reasonable on the spot fine if you are caught.
R.
Note that Italian timetables are often not published until quite near the time of travel, say not before three months or so. Use the current timetable to get an idea of timings etc. Voyages SNCF can sometimes get the timetables before the public so a phone call to them can be good for booking tickets you may think are not yet available.
Note too that there are regional trains, express trains and fast Intercity type trains, so for example Rome to Milan is good for Intercity. When we went from Naples to Palermo in Sicily in 2016, it was an express train, quite basic, not really expensive, got seats booked, no catering on the train so stocked up with wine and paninis just like the Italians, excellent! Took 10 hours including 2 hours for the train on/off ferry at Messina.to get to Sicily. Quite an adventure.
Someone mentioned Lucca, Pisa, Florence etc. Lucca is a lovely city and a good base for train journeys to Florence (1/12 hours), Pisa (40 minutes maybe) and even Viareggio on the coast (30 minutes or so).
If you buy tickets in Italy they are not dated and you MUST "stamp" them at the station automatic machine to show the date being used. Failure results in a reasonable on the spot fine if you are caught.
R.
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