If you look at the well-known panorama of the right bank of the Arno River, you can hardly see behind the domes, towers, spiers, roofs of countless medieval monuments at least the outlines of Florence airport in Peretola. Meanwhile, from the airport to the center of Florence, only ten kilometers, and to the outskirts of the city - less than five. The path is short, but most tourists still prefer to get to the pearl of Tuscany by train, bus or car, or fly through the airport of Pisa.
There are three reasons. First: Florence Airport specializes mainly in domestic flights. Second: traveling around Italy is much more profitable by train. Third: only a small number of tourists travel purposefully and only to Florence. Typically, travelers in one run visit several cities of Tuscany, including Pisa, Lucca, Siena, Livorno.
Whatever the case, over the year, Florence Airport (IATA code - FLR, ICAO code - LIRQ) serves up to 2.5 million passengers.
Airport today
Since 2013, Florence Airport has been one of the Vueling low-cost hubs and serves a number of company flights from Madrid to Tel Aviv and from Copenhagen to Santorini, domestic flights and a number of routes from London to Chisinau.
Florence Airport specializes mainly in domestic flights
Thus, only residents of Moldova can fly to Florence without transfers from all over the former Soviet Union (as of 2016). But tickets for flights to Florence with transfers, and even from budget companies, as a rule, are relatively inexpensive.
You can specify the time of arrival and departure of flights on the scoreboard of the Florence airport below:
Cheap flights to Florence
If you have already made a plan for a trip to Florence, but have not had time to buy tickets yet, you do not have to rush to the ticket office, because right here and now you can find out the flight schedule and even make an order.
All that is required is to fill out the search form below, indicating the start and end points of the trip, dates of travel, number of passengers, and then click "Find." Among more than 700 airlines around the world, the flight search engine will select the most convenient route for you.
Buses to Florence
Buses from Florence Airport go to the city center (to Via Santa Caterina da Siena, 17) with virtually no stops, with the exception of a stop at Santa Maria Novella Station. These are Busitalia's Volainbus shuttles - white with purple and red transverse stripes.
Shuttle stop - on the right side of the exit from the terminal. From 5.30 a.m. to 9.30 p.m. buses from Florence airport leave every half an hour, from 20.30 a.m. to 0.30 a.m. - approximately once per hour. Travel time is about 20 minutes, a ticket costs 6 euros (September 2017).
From the airport to the center of Florence no more than ten kilometers
Surprisingly, there are buses from Florence airport both faster and cheaper - in 10 minutes and for only 4.99 euros you can get to the Santa Maria Novella central station in Florence.
Moreover, for the same money you can get not only to the city center, but also to Pisa airport, which is almost 80 km or more than an hour's journey. Such an attraction of unprecedented generosity suits the Terravision low-cost airline.
The first bus leaves for the city at 3.30, the last at 17.00. If you are traveling with young children, feel free to take only 1 ticket, provided that the kids are no more than 4 years old. Buying bus tickets in order to guarantee a place in the cabin is better online.
To learn more about the service, as well as see the online flight schedule, click here. BlogoItaliano recorded a detailed video instruction on how to do this in 2016 - in the process of preparing for the next trip to Rome (Terravision also works there).
Taxi from Florence Airport to the city
You can also get from Florence Airport to the city by taxi: parking is located at the end of the terminal, and the journey time to the center is about a quarter of an hour. But diving into the first car you get is not worth it.
Firstly, as at any southern airport, it is better to be on the lookout for taxi drivers: in Italy, for many years now, the authorities have been struggling with drivers with varying degrees of success, who would like to earn extra money on a gaping tourist, choosing a more authentic route for the trip. Florence or Naples does not play a special role: families in Italy are large, children need to be fed.
Secondly, a rare taxi driver "from the street" is able to articulate in English. And if he speaks Byron’s language, then he won’t be especially good at it. Why would he? Indeed, in a controversial situation, one will have to prove something, but "there is nothing and no trial."
Tourists try to take care of the airport transfer in advance
Finally, in taxi fares in Florence, the devil himself will break his leg. For boarding the taxi driver will ask for 3.30 euros during the day and 6.60 at night, the minimum amount for the trip is 5 euros during the day and 8.30 at night. On holidays and weekends, you will be charged 5.30 euros for landing, and the minimum bill will be 7 euros.
One piece of luggage will cost 1 euro, and a fourth passenger (yes!) Will cost you another 1 euro. For calling the car - whether on its own or from the reception at the airport - another plus 1.96 Euro. Thus, just sitting in the car, the passenger already owes the driver from 5 to 15 Euros.
And this is even before the car starts.
For this reason, many European tourists try to attend to the transfer in Florence in advance. And if there are no acquaintances on the spot, and the bus is not an option, then the alternative is to order a taxi online via the Internet.
The main advantage of this method is the calculation of the fare in advance - even before boarding the car. Thus, the options to drive in circles are definitely excluded, and the taxi driver’s motivation is just the opposite - to bring you the shortest way.
In addition, this is especially true for travelers with large luggage or children. According to European laws, when transporting kids, the car must be equipped with child seats, and finding such a car at the airport without a prior order is a big and rare success.
Meeting with the driver when ordering a taxi online occurs, as a rule, at the exit from the baggage claim area. It is easy to identify your driver by the nameplate in his hands with the names of passengers, as well as his contact details that come by email.
More details can be found directly on the service website, especially since it also has an excellent Russian-language version with Russian-speaking support. Approximate rates for the most popular taxi orders from Florence airport for the fall of 2016 are given below.
Car hire at Florence Airport
There are also nuances with renting a car at the Florence airport, although a dozen popular car rental providers provide services here: Avis, Herz, Sixt and others.
You can take the car upon arrival, or you can order it in advance on one of the sites of these companies. But in order to get to the parking lot, you ... have to go by bus.
The shuttle leaves from the terminal exit (on the left side) and goes to Via Palagio degli Spini, where, in fact, there is a car rental strut. The thing is that the territory of the airport is quite compact, there are no underground parking lots, and it is not possible to place all the cars near the airport.
The first bus leaves for Florence at 3.30, the last at 17.00
I would like to say separately a few words about prices, since Italian car rentals are known both for their relatively low prices and for many pitfalls.
Whether you will rent a car at the airport or through the sites of rental offices, be sure to pay attention to the included insurance coverage and the mileage included in the tariff. These are the most frequent ways to initially entice a client with a low tariff, but subsequently recoup it at exorbitant prices. A couple of years ago BlogoItaliano got into such a situation in Rome, when the insurance was counted as much as the original car.
To prevent this from happening, you can use the popular European price comparison services to miscalculate. In online mode, they track data from hundreds of car rentals, bring them “to a common denominator” and allow you to compare in seconds what it takes several hours to do an independent search.
One of the most popular such services in Europe - Rentalcars - the brainchild of the same holding, which includes the famous search engine hotels Booking.com. In the system you can not only compare prices, but also instantly book your favorite option, all conditions are extremely flexible. After all, Rentalcars is one of the largest such services in the world.
By the way, when planning a trip to Florence, it is better not to delay the choice of a car. Tuscany is considered one of the most popular destinations for autotrips in Europe, and therefore at any time of the year the demand for cars is quite high.
Many Europeans try to book a car a few months before the travel date in order to get the most loyal fare. Indeed, when booking a car today for tomorrow, prices are usually the highest, and the choice of cars is much worse.
BlogoItaliano dedicated a separate article to car rental in Italy in more detail, and you can ask about the conditions for renting cars at the Florence airport at this link.
The rest is Florence Airport is a great starting point for traveling around Tuscany. Whatever way you choose from the airport to the city, BlogoItaliano wishes you a great trip.
Other ways to get to Florence:
- From venice
- From rome
- From Milan
Photos by: parkvia.com, tuscany-toscana.blogspot.com, selectitaly, ok-roma.com, Steve Portigal.
