florence holiday

[Bob]

Hello everybody, I am looking to arrange a short break in florence, or somewhere nearby, can anyone offer me any advice from their previous visits to the area?

 

How much am i going to be looking at for about 3 or 4 nights stay.

 

ta.

[RJ Fan club]

Florence ain't cheap and a decent and central hotel will be expensive.

 

I can't really recommend the hotel I stayed at, as it was a bit average.

 

The big tip I would give you though is to pre- book the Uffizi. Its a must do in Florence and the queues are only beaten in Italy by the Vatican Museum. You can wait somewhere around 4 hours, so get in early and book it up.

 

Uffizi, Uffizi gallery, Florence.

[Remmie]

Do a trip to Cinqueterre which is about 3 hours away by train. It's 5 villages cut into a cliff face and is absolutely stunning.

 

Florence you are looking at £70+ per night in a hotel. You can book it when you get there as there is a hotel booking area in the train station. It's a beautiful city, enjoy.

[Remmie]

Some pictures of Cinqueterre I took (on a shitty camera a few years ago):

 

 

 

[DT]

Florence is lovely but it's absolutely full of Americans complaining about the lack of elevators in that there 14th century church.

[RJ Fan club]

I would also add that there are a few tourist traps to be wary of. Over priced and under whelming food and drinks etc. But you can eat very well for reasonable prices you just have to think on a bit. They should be quite obvious though.

 

I can't say that if you eat out in a certain part of the centre then you would be better off. Its fair to say the further you get out from the sights the more value you may get. But it doesn't exactly work like that. I paid a euro for a coffee near the Duomo and a couple for sandwich, then paid three times as much away well away from the very centre.

 

The city is beautiful and I'd recommend it to anyone, but I did find too touristy. Obviously I was part of that problem so I'm not moaning about the crowds etc; that's to be expected in a place like Florence. What I found was that there are some many tourists that I thought the level of customer care and politeness was a little lacking. Which I found to very surprising as I have found Italy is a very friendly country otherwise. Needless to say, that doesn't go for everyone or everywhere I went in Florence; rather that I got the feeling they didn't really give a shit because they know its gonna be busy the next day and the one after regardless of how you're treated. Anyway minor rant aside, its a brilliant place to visit.

 

Obviously its Tuscany, so the local cured ham, red wines and some other specialities like Wild Boar Ragu are well worth a try.

[dirty_sanchez]

My missus and I did a Fiat 500 tour around Florence as part of our honeymoon and it was awesome. We did it with these guys:

 

Florence Tours Fiat 500 Tours Firenze Cinquecento Tuscany

 

Honestly one of the best things I've ever done.

 

We stayed in this hotel:

 

Hotel Firenze centro - Hotel Rosso 23

 

...located in the Piazza Santa Maria Novella, which is right next to the main station (as in about 5 mins walk away) and also perfectly located for access to the city centre (about 5-10 mins walk to the Duomo). It was about €100 a night if I remember correctly and I can't recommend it highly enough. The hotel is very modern and stylish with excellent bathrooms, very comfy beds, and really good continental breakfasts. As I said, absolutely superb hotel.

 

As people have said, there are a lot of really touristy restaurants, so you'd be well advised to buy a good guide book. I can't remember specifically any of the restaurants that we went too, but the prominent ones are all touristy crap. You'll easily spend €50-60 on a two course meal and a bottle of wine.

[Alan Sex]

Spending the weekend in Florence?

 

 

Dirty bastard.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

I would.

[havarantagain]

what ever you get up to dont forget a trip/stay in Sienna. Climb the dome of the main cathedral in Florence, it too is a must.