Firenze 2006-2007

My Travel Guide- Part I: Transportation in Florence

So, the first comment on my blog was a piece of pretty good advice, and well, it does give me something to write about, so I guess I will become an 18 year old Rick Steves and write a simple travel guide full of things that are just a little bit different about Europe. My first entry in this guide will be about getting around Florence.
Florence is a small enough town where, if you wanted to, you could walk anywhere and everywhere in the city, but at the same time, it is still large enough where you may want to think about alternate modes of transportation. I would recommend just walking, getting lost occasionally and, in the process, learning your way around the city. Florence is not like an American city at all, hardly any of the streets go in a straight line, they tend to be strangely angled and go in random directions, so it is quite easy to get lost or end up somewhere without having any idea how you got there, all you can do is learn your way around these complicated streets and learn all the short-cuts. A great way to learn your way around the city is to take a run through the streets and go random directions and then try to find your way home from there (that's what I did for the most part).
When you need to get somewhere, and don't want to walk, the public transportation in the city is very good, there are bus stops all across town, and it is cheap too. Buses are easy to use once you know how. You must first purchase a ticket from a bar (not in American sense of bar, like a coffee bar), ask them for the ticket- "vorrei un bigletto per autobus." They cost a Euro, or maybe a little more, and they are good for one hour- not one trip, but one hour from the time they are validated. This means you can transfer lines and take as many trips within that hour as you like on that one ticket. To validate a ticket, there is a machine on the bus that will stamp a time on your ticket and then return it to you. You are then responsible for keeping that ticket and showing it to a conductor when asked. While I don't recommend this, it is possible to travel occasionally without tickets- most of the locals do and there are very rarely ticket checks, but because they are so cheap, it is best to go ahead and buy one to save yourself the potential trouble. You can also buy multiple use tickets that are good for a day, or two, or four individual uses- it is helpful to pick these up to have them always with you for when you really need them.
The buses are very useful, but like I said- you can and probably should walk everywhere. From Fiesole to Piazzale Michelangelo, Florence is not that big of a city, and it is more than possible to walk (or run) anywhere you want in a reasonable amount of time. Just ask Eryn about getting around- especially when you want to go to Fiesole or Piazzale Michelangelo.
That is all I've got for my first "travel guide" entry for Europe. If you have any suggestions about what I should write about, let me know and I'll try to do that at some point. I am already planning to write on trains, Ryan Air, the grocery store, eating out, strikes, and the lack of the pedestrian right of way. I still need more ideas, so let me know.

posted by Daniel Williams @ 14:22