Tourist offices - Apt, via Cavour 1r. Florence's city council tourist offices: piazza della Stazione4 and Borgo Santa Croce 29r. The police and tourist office combine to operate tourist help points at the Ponte Vecchio and Piazza della Repubblica
Booking for museums - You can skip the museum queues by booking ahead. There are long lines for the Uffizi Gallery and Accademy. You can book a reservation by phoning Firenze Musei 055 294883 or there is an on-line service. I will book admission to the museums for my clients.
Museums: opening times - Timetables change from year to year and from summer to winter. Get the latest schedules from the tourist office as soon as you arrive in Florence, or from the web-site.
Taxi - Taxis can be called by phone (numbers: 055 4242, 055 4390, 055 4798) or found at the various taxi stands around the city: train station Santa Maria Novella, via dei Pecori (Duomo), piazza della Repubblica, piazza Santa Croce, piazza San Marco.
ZTL - Limited traffic access zone: in Florence getting around by car may cause some difficulties. The city centre is a restricted traffic area controlled by a network of video cameras.
Car rental - If you want to rent a car you will find many car rental agencies in the borgo Ognissanti area: Avis tel. 055 2398826 , Europcar tel. 055 290437. The tourist office has a list of all the companies
Parking lots - There are underground parking lots and many outdoor lots around the city centre. Blue stripes: you have to pay, white stripes: basically for residents only, yellow stripes: for disabled people, taxis or public services. Parking is free in Piazzale Michelangelo.
Public buses: ATAF - Ataf (orange buses) serves Florence and Fiesole. Buses are a practical way of visiting towns close to Florence such as Fiesole or Settignano. Useful lines are n.7 for Fiesole, n.12 and 13 for Piazzale Michelangelo, n.9 for Settignano. Little electric minibuses operates around the centre of town: you can get a map of the routes from tourist offices. You can buy tickets at the newspaper stands, some bars and all tobacco shops. In the bus you will find the stamping machines where you should validate your ticket.
SITA - Sita operates buses service from Florence to central Tuscany, including Chianti region. Bus station is in Via Santa Caterina, near the train station. Regular runs to Siena, which is more easily reached by bus than by train.
LAZZI - Buses for tourist localities in Tuscany: Lucca, Viareggio, etc.
Trenitalia - Train Information: all destinations, schedules, and prices at the website of Trenitalia. Because of its central position in Tuscany, it is quite easy to take a train in Florence if you wish to reach Arezzo, Lucca, Pisa, Pistoia, Prato, Siena and Viareggio, in about one hour
