Getting
to Florence by Air
Amerigo Vespucci Airport
Website: www.safnet.it
Florence City Airport is situated just 4km from Florence City center,
the airport is steadily increasing in capacity.
The wide network of connecting flights that are available at the airports
directly linked to the Amerigo Vespucci, makes
it easy to reach any final destination in the world with departures
from Florence Airport. There are nearly forty daily
departures: domestic connections (Bologna, Catania, Milan Malpensa,
Olbia, Palermo, Perugia and Rome Fiumicino);
international connections (Amsterdam, Barcelona, Basel, Brussels,
Frankfurt, London Gatwick, Munich, Nice, Paris
C. de Gaulle, Timisoara, Vienna, Zurich).
Transport to the city
The "fly by bus" shuttle service departs approximately every
30 minutes (journey time: 15-30 minutes).
Tickets cost Euro 3,00 and can be bought on board. The shuttle drops
passengers off at Florence's central railway station. A cheaper alternative,
the local ATAF bus, runs to the same station approximately every 25
minutes between 6:30 a.m. - 8:00 p.m. and then every hour until 11:20
p.m. A ticket costs Euro 1,00 and can be bought at the airport bar
in the departure terminal.
Taxis (phone: 055 4242 or 4390) to the center cost approximately Euro
15,00-20,00 and take up to 30 minutes, depending on traffic.
Galileo Galilei (PSA)
Website: www.pisa-airport.com
Pisa's airport, Galileo Galilei, is the international gateway to Florence.
Situated 80km (50 miles) from Florence, it provides easy access to
the city by road or rail. As one of Italy's busiest airports, Pisa
handles around 1.1 million passengers per year.
Major airlines: Italy's national airline, Alitalia (Phone: 055 27881
- website: www.alitalia.it)
connects Pisa to all the major Italian cities, including daily flights
to the intercontinental airports of Milan and Rome. British Airways
and Ryanair operate daily flights to London (Gatwick and Stansted
respectively) and Lufthansa and Corsair fly to Munich and Paris. Transport
to the city: The easiest way to travel to Florence is by train. The
station (Pisa Aeroporto) is just a short stride from the airport via
a covered walkway and tickets can be bought on the concourse. Trains
depart more or less every hour, between 8:30 a.m. and 7:00 p.m. (journey
time: 1 hour).
Getting to Florence by Train
The central train station in Florence is Santa Maria Novella (or Firenze
SMN), within walking distance from the
Congress Centre. Facilities include an all-night pharmacy, a bureau
de change, left-luggage and an accommodation
booking service.
The Italian state railway is Ferrovie dello Stato (website: www.trenitalia.it),
which is reliable and fairly priced.
EuroStar and Inter City are the fastest trains and need a supplement.
Florence is on the main Rome-Milan line, which ensures a fast service
to Italy's most important business and tourist
centers. Services include the InterCity (journey times: 3 hours 25
minutes to Milan and 2 hours 15 minutes to Rome)
and the EuroStar (journey times: 2 hours 50 minutes to Milan and 1
hours 35 minutes to Rome), which links the city
to Naples (journey time: 3 hours 30 minutes with Inter City and 2
hours 55 minutes with EuroStar) - both services
necessitate supplementary fares. The EuroCity train service links
Florence to more than 40 other European destinations, including Paris,
Basel and Brussels.
