There are a few different options to consider when flying to Italy to enjoy a city break in Florence.
There are two main choices of airport to fly into – Pisa airport and Florence airport. With budget airlines flying into Pisa airport, many visitors choose to fly there even though Florence airport is nearer. If flying into Pisa airport, it’s easy to transfer from here across to Florence.
For those looking to avoid the expense of hiring a car, the public transport links from Pisa’s Galileo Galilei airport to Florence are certainly excellent. This makes this a cheap and easy option. Bus departure times from Pisa to Florence have been scheduled to fit in with incoming flight arrival times.
The journey time to Florence’s central train station by bus is just over an hour. And with tickets costing only a few euros, it’s certainly a cheap and convenient option for holidaymakers. You can’t miss where to purchase tickets as you come through the airport. Alternatively for those who want to try out the train network, there are half a dozen direct trains from Pisa airport to Florence. If your flight arrival time doesn’t work well with the direct trains leaving the airport, then you might want to consider catching a train to the centre of Pisa and then changing train to Florence from there. Train times and ticket fares can be found at Trainline.
Of course, instead of flying into Pisa airport, you can also fly directly into Florence’s Peretola airport. From this extremely convenient Florence airport it’s only a short 20 minute bus or train ride into the city centre.
A final alternative is also Bologna but this does take longer and is much more complicated. Visitors flying into Bologna’s Marconi airport will have to get a train to Bologna’s city centre and then switch trains from there. Those flying with budget airline Ryanair should also beware – Ryanair’s flights go to Forli airport which is 60km outside Bologna in the opposite direction to Florence.
Once in Florence, it’s incredibly easy to get around. With the Arno flowing through the middle of the city, it’s also pretty easy to find your bearings. The city can still get very busy during the summer months. However, the new traffic regulations do mean that it is much easier to walk around the city than in the past.
However, if you do want to use public transport, then the orange ATAF Florence bus network is extremely efficient. When using the Florence bus, make sure you always stamp your ticket when you board though. Florence bus ticket inspectors will hand out hefty fines for anyone on board whose ticket has not been validated.
