Florence on a budget

Quick Tips:

Best Way To Get Around:

The hotel is located between the train station and the Accademia - I''d say it''s about 3 minutes from the train station and 6 from the Accademia. We had difficulty finding the place at first, mainly because of the way streets branch off of the main piazza outside the train station. The map failed to show that the street we should have taken was VERY wide near the piazza - we thought it was another square rather than a street.

E-mail address is: 055291660@iol.it, fax is 055-287-145

For a thrilling experience, pay the L8,000 and head for the cupola (if you can handle the heights). You'll walk around the base of the inside of the dome and have a great view of the church from above.

Gelato is richer, creamier, and smoother than American ice cream. It's dipped out with a wide-spatula type spoon, and comes in more flavors you could dream of. (In Turin a few years ago, I ran across a place that sold rose and violet flavors!)

For L3,000-L6,000 (depending on location - the more "touristy" the city, the higher the price of course) you can have your choice of 2 to 3 flavors of heaven. My favorites are fior di latte (a creamy white almost vanilla like flavor), fragola (strawberry), stracciatella (chocolate chip) and niocciola (hazelnut). Ask for a "cono" (cone) or "copeta" (cup). Or just point and use sign language.

In Florence, try Vivoli's, near Santa Croce. Just get near the church and ask where it is (or follow the trail of cone wrappers and napkins on the ground). Grab a cone or cup and spot on a bench outside the church and people watch for a while. (We like to look for the person with the craziest shoes.) Also, the Mio Bar near Piazza de Repubblica has decent prices and good-sized scoops.

Wander through the San Lorenzo street market (not really off the beaten path, but fun none-the-less). Try to find the cheesiest souvenier & take a picture of it. Search through booths of leather jackets, silk ties, pashima wool scarves and find the best deal. Buy a few scenic postcards to keep in your travel journal/scrapbook.

Think about seeing an opera. Even if you aren't an opera fan and can't understand it, it's the quintessential Italy experience. You can have any unsold seats for L15,000 (this was the price on my first trip in 1998) by heading to the box office an hour or so before the performance begins. I decided to see the opera at the last minute and ended up sitting one row behind friends who had bought L40,000 seats the week before!

Catch the #7 bus out to Fiesole, and wander the back streets. There are great views of Florence here as well. If there is a production in the ampitheater, check it out. We couldn't afford to shell out the L25,000 for tickets to the ballet that was going on, but we walked along the side of the ampitheater (down the street to the right of the entrance) and watched the performance for free from the street through the fence. The wings (of the stage) blocked a bit of the show, and there were a few tree branches in the way, but we had a memorable evening all it cost was the bus ride.