Getting to Florence & Getting Around

Florence sits at the heart of Tuscany and is easy to reach by air or by train. The compact historic centre needs no car at all, if anything, arriving by car quickly runs you into the camera-enforced restricted traffic zone. This overview sorts out the routes into the city and points you to the in-depth guides on the airport transfer and getting around once you're here.

Routes to Florence compared

All local transport tickets work across both tram and city bus: a single ticket costs €1.70 and is valid for 90 minutes, a 10-ride carnet costs €15.50, and buying on board costs €3.00.

By air - Florence or Pisa

Florence-Peretola Airport (Amerigo Vespucci, FLR) lies about five kilometres northwest of the historic centre, making it one of the closest airports to a city centre in Italy. Tram line T2 starts at the Aeroporto stop, only around a two-minute walk from the terminal, and reaches the Alamanni-Stazione stop right at Santa Maria Novella station in about 20 minutes. Since 25 January 2025 it has continued on to Piazza San Marco on the northern edge of the historic centre (about 35 minutes from the airport in total). The first tram leaves the airport at 5:00, the last one runs at 23:58 Sunday to Thursday and at 1:15 on Fridays and Saturdays; during the day a tram comes roughly every 4 to 8 minutes, up to every 11 minutes on Sundays, and every 18 to 22 minutes after 23:30.

The larger Pisa Airport (PSA), around 80 kilometres to the west, often offers more choice and lower fares. The fully automated Pisamover shuttle gets you to Pisa Centrale station in about five minutes for €6.00; from there, regional trains reach Firenze Santa Maria Novella in around an hour (fixed fare €9.30). Door to door, plan for roughly 90 minutes. Both transfers, with full timetables, taxi fares and ticket details, are covered in the guide From the airport to the city centre.

By train to Santa Maria Novella

Within Italy, the train is usually the most comfortable way to arrive, since Florence sits right on the high-speed network. The central terminus station is Firenze Santa Maria Novella (SMN), right on the edge of the historic centre, about a ten-minute walk to the cathedral. On the main routes, Frecciarossa (Trenitalia) and Italo run in parallel at high frequency: Bologna in around 37 minutes, Rome in about 1.5 hours, Venice and Milan in just under 2 hours.

Price depends heavily on when you book. Saver fares are usually released 90 to 120 days before departure; on the Rome-Florence route they start at around €19.90, while booking on the day of travel can easily cost €70 to €80. Booking early and comparing Frecciarossa with Italo gets you the best price, both serve the same station.

By car, avoid the ZTL, park on the edge of town

Driving into Florence is not recommended. The entire historic centre is a Zona a Traffico Limitato (ZTL) made up of five sectors (A, B, O, F and G), camera-enforced and active on weekdays: Monday to Friday from 7:30 to 20:00, Saturday from 7:30 to 16:00, extended in summer by the night-time ZTL Notturna Estiva. Since 2025, the round-the-clock Scudo Verde scheme has also targeted heavily polluting vehicles across the wider urban area. Driving in without authorisation costs €83 to €332 under the Codice della Strada, plus a notification fee; paying within five days gets you a 30% reduction. If you are staying at a hotel inside the zone, ask them in advance to have your number plate added to the whitelist.

The most relaxed option is the Villa Costanza park-and-ride in Scandicci, right off the A1 motorway with its own toll station. Parking is cheap and tiered: the first 15 minutes are free, up to one hour costs €0.50, then €2.00 (up to 4 h), €5.00 (up to 10 h) and €7.00 for 24 hours. From there, tram T1 reaches Santa Maria Novella station in around 22 minutes; the tram ticket (€1.70) is separate. Note that a section of the T1 line between Leopolda/Porta al Prato and Alamanni Stazione has been closed since July 2025 for track works, with a replacement bus running that stretch.

Once you've arrived, getting around the city

Once you're here, the fastest way to get around is usually on foot: the Centro Storico is almost entirely walkable, and it's an 8 to 10 minute walk from the cathedral to Piazza della Signoria. Tram and bus are most useful for the airport, for Piazzale Michelangelo, and for the neighbourhoods on the edge of the centre; taxis run from fixed ranks or on call, with a fixed fare of €28 to the airport on weekdays (€30 on Sundays and public holidays, €32 at night, plus luggage surcharges). All lines, tickets and money-saving tips are covered in the guide Getting around Florence.