Our day in Florence, the capital city of Tuscany, will include a morning walking tour. We will be free to explore the city on our own all afternoon before we head back to Montecatini. Some of us may even choose to stay on in Florence for dinner, then take the train back to Montecatini later that evening (the train takes just under an hour and costs Euro 3,70 per person).
For those who want to visit the Accademia Gallery (home of Michelangelo's "David"), it is possible to make a reservation by phone or over the internet for a small fee (3 Euro by phone, 4 Euro internet). There are sometimes long lines at the Accademia and the reservation allows you to avoid the line. Click here for a link to the reservation service (once there click again on the flag in the upper right to switch to English). The historical center of Florence is quite compact, so you should have no problem getting there in time for a 2 PM reservation, no matter where our walking tour ends. (The museum is open until 6:50 PM.)
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| "Primavera" Sandro Filipepi (Botticelli) |
There is a tremendous amount of information on Florence available on the web. Some of my favorites are:
* The official City of Florence web site, which has an English language section with lots of information
* The Florence museums web site, where you can read about the top civic museums
* Polomuseale, an amazing site that offers virtual visits to several museums, room by room
Can you describe what is planned for the walking tour?
ReplyDeleteI have general information. We depart the hotel at 8:00 AM, which means we should be in Florence between 9:00 - 9:30, depending on traffic.
ReplyDeleteThe tour will include the Duomo and the Baptistry, as well as Piazza della Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio. The guided tour ends around 12:30 PM, after which we have free time until about 5:00 PM, when the bus will depart for Montecatini Terme.
The walking tour does not include the Accademia (where Michelangelo's "David" is housed) or the Uffizi.
For those who want to stay longer in Florence, the train station is quite close to the historic center and there are two trains each hour until 9:00 PM, then one more train at 10:00 PM. The one way fare is Euro 3,70.