Walking
tours
Tourists can arrange a private walking tour or book one of the daily
guided tours around the city's key attractions through Mercurio
(telephone number: (055) 266 141). Walks include a tour of the Uffizi
Gallery, departing from the reservations entrance at 1600hrs (Tuesday-Saturday),
as well as a tour of the Academy, Pitti Palace
and a Florence Past & Present city tour, which
departs from the Loggia dei Lanzi, in Piazza della
Signoria. The short walking tours range from 90 minutes to two hours
and cost from €25 (including entry tickets). Commentary is
from English-speaking local experts and advance reservations are
recommended.
A number of walking tours are also offered by The
Original and Best Walking Tours (telephone number: (055) 264
5033), often departing from Piazza Santo Stefano. The Original Florence
Walk departs from the corner of Via Por Santa Maria and Borgo SS
Apostoli, taking in the highlights of the city with tales from the
past. The tour takes about three hours and costs €25.
Bus Tours
There is little point in visitors taking a bus tour around Florence,
seeing as the entire city, from north to south, can be covered on
foot in just half an hour. Most of the attractions are closely grouped
together and signposted by the whirr of camera shutters. Visitors
who are lost and do not feel up to asking directions should follow
the umbrella hovering above the crowds, it is guaranteed to be guiding
a band of tourists to another one of the city’s attractions.
For visitors determined to take a bus tour, CAF
Tours (telephone number: (055) 210 612 or 283 200) and CentralSita
Viaggi (telephone number: (055) 219 383) both operate tours of the
main city sites. There are daily departures at 0930 hrs and 1430
hrs from Piazza Stazione. These three-hour bus tours cost approx
€34.
Bike Tours
I
Bike Italy (telephone number: (055) 234 2371; e-mail: ibi_tour_info@ibikeitaly.com)
offers excursions into the Tuscan hills on mountain bikes. Full-day
trips (0900 hrs-1700 hrs) are available at €57, including lunch
and a tour of one of the local vineyards. Bookings are taken over
the telephone in English and a pick-up point in Florence is arranged.
Excursions for half day
Fiesole
Sooner or later, everybody needs a break from the city. The surfeit
of culture can leave the visitor footsore and light-headed. The
English poet, Laurie Lee, fled to the Tuscan hills,
exclaiming: ‘I’d had my fill of Florence … my
eyes were choked with pictures and frescoes … their colours
running. I began to long for those cool uplands, that country air…’
Visitors in search of those ‘cool uplands’ should go
to the lush olive groves and valleys of Fiesole. Situated eight
kilometres (five miles) from the city. Located just a short bus
ride away, bus 7 from Piazza del Duomo, to be exact. Formerly an
Etruscan settlement founded in the seventh century BC, Fiesole grew
in importance under the Romans who left behind a 3000-seat amphitheatre
that is still used for outdoors concerts in the summer. The Archaeological
Park also features Roman baths, a Roman temple and an Etruscan temple,
set against Etruscan city walls. In the town, it is difficult for
any man-made attraction to compete with the glorious views over
Florence. Besides, the Florentines left visitors little choice when
they ransacked the town in 1125, leaving only the Cathedral and
Bishop’s Palace standing.
Today, a smattering of shops and trattorie surround the cathedral,
which contains some of the best works of the local sculptor, Mino
da Fiesole. Gluttons for punishment can visit the Museo
Bandini, Via Dupe (telephone number: (055) 59477), which
is open daily 0930 hrs-1900 hrs in the summer, Monday and Wednesday-Saturday
1000 hrs-1700 hrs during the winter. The museum is closed on the
first Tuesday of each month and admission is €6, for a combined
ticket with the Museo Archeologico.
On the way home, those travelling by car should take the SS-65,
for a look at some of the opulent Medici Villas,
now fighting to survive the encroaching suburban sprawl. The Fiesole
tourist office, Via Portigiani (telephone number: (055) 598 720
or 837 213; fax number: (055) 598 822), can provide further information.
For a Whole Day
Siena
Situated about 50km (31 miles) south of Florence, medieval Siena
is often seen as the female counterfoil to Renaissance Florence.
At her heart lies the beautiful shell-like piazza, Il Campo,
scene of the famous bareback horse race, Il Palio,
which whips the town into a frenzy, twice during the year.
One day is not long enough for one to appreciate all that this tiny,
walled city has to offer. Must-sees include the humbug-striped cathedral
decried by Ruskin as ‘a piece of costly confectionery’
and the majestic Palazzo Pubblico (town hall) topped
by the soaring Torre del Mangia. Named after the
medieval bell-ringer, the tower should be climbed for magnificent
views of the city and hills beyond. Inside the town hall is the
Museo Civico, where tourists flock to see Simone
Martini’s Guidoriccio (the famous Sienese captain
and standard-bearer of the city) and Lorenzetti’s
Effects of Good and Bad Government (a vivid allegory painted
against the backdrop of 14th-century Siena). The city’s best-loved
work, Duccio’s Maesta, lies in the Museo
dell’Opera del Duomo. The devotional picture of the
Madonna, enthroned among saints and angels, once
graced the cathedral altar, her blue robes setting off the church’s
starry vaults. No visit is complete without a wander through Siena’s
cool, warren-like streets that wind around Il Campo, like arteries
feeding the city’s pulsating heart. Tourists can drop into
one of the city’s pasticceria for a slice of Sienese panforte
or mingle with the students, seeping up the sun in the Campo, over
a slice of freshly baked pizza.
From Florence, Siena is best reached by the bus. No cars are allowed
into the city and Siena’s train station is on a branch line,
making it necessary to change. Coaches depart from the station on
Via Santa Caterina every hour and the journey time is approximately
one hour). The Siena tourist office is located at Piazza del Campo
56 (telephone number: (0577) 280 551; fax number: (0577) 270 676;
e-mail: aptsiena@siena.turismo.toscana.it |
