In this chapter we will introduce you to some areas of the historic center, the immediate outskirts and the surroundings of the city, where it is particularly pleasant to live or definitely interesting to take the time for a nice walk.
We will divide the itineraries into: Historic center, which is the central part of the city, bounded by the ring roads, which replaced the old walls at the time of Florence, capital of the Kingdom of Italy, and which is recognized as a World Heritage Site by UNESCO; then we will move on to the neighborhoods outside the walls: Rifredi, Le Cure, Campo di Marte, Gavinana and the Isolotto; to conclude our review with the hills of Fiesole, Settignano and Impruneta.
City Center
When Florentines speak about the city center of Florence, they mean two different areas, divided by the Arno river: the right side with the Duomo and all the main masterpieces of the monumental area, commonly called il Centro, and the left side, known as Oltrarno. These two main areas are both part of the old city center, which was surrounded by walls (and some portions of stone walls, towers and entrance doors are still there), but they widely differ in terms of way of life. The beauty of the historic center is astonishing, but the area can be extremely crowded during the day, and it is mainly inhabited by tourists and foreigner students, whilst in the Oltrarno you’ll find yourself surrounded by locals. Still there are several good reasons for choosing the old Centro as a place to stay .
Piazza Signoria e Ponte Vecchio
Here, in the heart of the historic center, you get the threat of living surrounded by art masterpieces and to walk alone in the silence at night on the Ponte Vecchio, but you’re constantly besieged by tourists during the day. This could be a good option if you stay in Florence only for a few days, especially if you choose to stay in an Hotel or in one of the many luxury Historical Houses of the area, because it’s very hard to find grocery stores or markets, if you choose to rent an apartment here. You’re not so close to the train station and there are no buses or tramways passing trough this area, so you depend on private transportations to move to and from here, but you can easily walk everywhere, you reach the Duomo in a few steps, you have the Uffizi at your disposal and crossing the river you get to the Oltrarno in five minutes.
Things to see
- Museums: The Uffizi Gallery, The Accademia dei Georgofili, The Science Museum with Galileo’s items, Dante’s House Museum
- Squares: Piazza Signoria is more than just a square, it’s an open air Renaissance museum, the little Piazza del Limbo with the church of SS Apostoli, one of the most beautiful and unknown places in Florence
- The medieval Torre de’ Cerchi
Accommodation you can find
When you search for a place to stay in this area make sure that it’s in a hidden corner or in a remote part of a road to have a silent room. Ask for information about the exposition of the rooms.
Hotels
There are several good 4 stars Hotels like gallery Art Hotel, Hotel degli Orafi and Hotel Torre Guelfa and surprisingly a lovely 3 star Hotel, Relais Uffizi.
Charming Antique Mansions
Search for Residenze d’Epoca in Italian, restored antique buildings transformed into luxury accommodation. You can choose an apartment or rooms with breakfast.
Bed and breakfast
Private apartments that offer bed and breakfast or rooms to rent. Streets like Via delle Terme Borgo SS. Apostoli or Via dei Cerchi and Via dei Cimatori that still maintain a medieval profile are good options.
Piazza del Duomo e Piazza della Repubblica
Apart from the obvious joy of admiring the beauty of the Duomo and the Baptistry any time of the day, you can enjoy walking down Via Porta Rossa to reach the fascinating Piazza S.Trinita with its stately obelisc and its opened view on the magnificent Ponte S. Trinita. To your right you have the wide, beautiful Via Tornabuoni, which is finally pedestrian, where Armani, Gucci, Prada and all the main fashion designers have their brand shops. The Odeon Cinehall offers a good selection of original language movies and art movie festivals. You can’t expect to experience the florentine way of life in Piazza della Repubblica, but still every Thursday under its arcades, a very popular flowers market takes place and if you need to take a break from mass tourism, you could sit at a table and sip a coffee, reading a book at the Feltrinelli Bookstore and you’ll find yourself surprisingly surrounded by locals.
Things to see
- Squares: Piazza del Duomo, not only the Cathedral and the Dome but also the Giotto Tower and the Baptistry
- Museums: The Strozzina in Palazzo Strozzi, for contemporary art exhibitions,
- Palazzo Davanzati, a stately home that is now a museum, to experience how a wealthy Florentine family used to live
- The Art gallery Galleria Casamonti, a private collection of modern and contemporary art
- The public library Biblioteca delle Oblate, a library, a place to rest, a cafè with a spectacular view on the Duomo
- Pegna, one of the oldest grocery shops in Florence
- The medieval towers in Via and Piazza S.Elisabetta
Accommodation you can find
This is an area where most of the accommodations are luxury and expensive.
Hotels
Luxury 5 star hotels like the Savoy, the Helvetia Bristol, Tornabuoni Suites and 4 stars Hotel Brunelleschi, Antica Torre Tornabuoni, Hotel Porta Rossa.
Charming Antique Mansions
Search for Residenze d’Epoca in Italian, restored antique buildings transformed into luxury accommodation. You can choose an apartment or rooms with breakfast.
Bed and breakfast
Private apartments that offer bed and breakfast or rooms to rent. You may find better options in Via Ricasoli, Via dei Servi, Via delle Oche.
San Pierino
Commonly, you wouldn’t find this as a separate area, but it’s perceived so by the Florentines and it has its own peculiar identity. Enclosed between Piazza della Repubblica and Sant’Ambrogio, this area is very alive and has a lot to offer, it benefits from the proximity to the Sant’Ambrogio market, but it’s less distant from the monumental area, so this may be a good option if you want to be close to the monuments but not too deeply immersed in the touristic rush. Duomo is around the corner but you can definitely listen to people talking Italian here. The Arco di San Pierino square and Via Ghibellina are packed with food venues of any kind and may be noisy at night so you better avoid them when you choose a place to stay, but all the roads around are lovely and silent and offer various types of accommodations you can choose from. This area has recently become an alive, creative, young artisan neighborhood that has nothing to envy to the most famous Santo Spirito, as you can see in Borgo Pinti, a long, peaceful, narrow road that ends in Piazza Donatello. Together with good restaurants and cafes, frequented by locals, you can easily find shops for anything you may need: food and vegetable stores, bookstores, a Post Office, household and hardware stores, clothes shops and two theaters Teatro della Pergola and Teatro Verdi. Many buses stop here so you can get to the train station in few minutes
Things to see
- Museums: The Bargello – The Museum of Anthropology and Ethnology
- Borgo degli Albizi with its magnificent parade of monumental buildings with painted decorated facades
- Palazzo Panciatichi-Ximenes in Borgo Pinti
Accommodation you can find
Hotels
Many 4 stars hotels and the luxury 5 stars Hotels and The Four Seasons are in this area.
Charming Antique Mansions
Search for Residenze d’Epoca in Italian, restored antique buildings transformed into luxury accommodation. You can choose apartments or rooms with breakfast especially in Borgo degli Albizi, Borgo Pinti, Via della Pergola and Via de’ Pilastri.
Bed and breakfast
Private apartments that offer bed and breakfast or rooms to rent, also for a few days. There are many options at different prices, preferably in the small streets behind Via Ghibellina like Via della Vigna Vecchia, Via Torta, Via dell’Anguillara or towards Piazza D’Azeglio like Via Di Mezzo, Via dei Pepi, Via dei Pilastri, Borgo Pinti.
San Lorenzo e San Marco
This is a good choice if you like to be close to the monumental area, but far from the crowd, especially if you’re planning to stay for more than a few days.
You’re behind the train station, which you can easily reach by walking and not too far from the main stops of the tramway which leads to the airport. This is an area where Florentines still live, so you may also easily get shops for all the things that you can hardly find in the monumental area. It’s not just the San Lorenzo market, but also bakeries, vegetable shops, bookstores, music stores, household stores, well as restaurants and food venues all around the market area, especially in Via dei Ginori, that is now revitalized by a lot of new openings.
Some of the most important museums of the town are located in this area, including the Accademia with Michelangelo’s David, the Museum of San Marco with Beato Angelico frescoes and the Archeological Museum with greek and etruscan artifacts, and the fountain garden around the Fortezza da Basso, offers a green area to jog and walk, a rarity in the city center .
Things to see
- Squares: Piazza San Lorenzo with San Lorenzo Church and Cappelle Medicee. Piazza San Marco with the Beato Angelico frescoes in the Convent and Piazza Santissima Annunziata with the Spedale degli Innocenti planned by Brunelleschi and decorated by della Andrea della Robbia
- The peaceful and astonishing Giardino dei Semplici
- The old libraries Biblioteca Laurenziana and Marucelliana
- Museums: The Museum of Paleontology – The Archaeological Museum -The Accademia
Accommodation you can find
Hotels
Various 4 stars Hotels offer good prices for rooms in this area at a lower price than the nearby Duomo area.
Charming Antique Mansions
Search for Residenze d’Epoca in Italian, restored antique buildings transformed into luxury accommodation. You can choose an apartment or rooms with breakfast. Via della Colonna, Via Lamarmora, Via Micheli, Via Capponi offer many opportunities to find wide spaces often with internal courts or little gardens.
Bed and Breakfast
Via San Gallo, Via Santa Reparata, Via delle Ruote, Via San Zanobi are peaceful and beautiful roads where you can find different types of accommodations, especially apartments to rent, also for 1-2 days.
Santa Maria Novella / Central Train Station
The Florence train station takes its name from one the most beautiful churches in Florence, Santa Maria Novella, which is nearby. You’re close to the train station but also to all the main stops of the tramway, so you can definitely move independently towards anywhere. Apart from the roads around the train station that are noisy, crowded, quite insecure at night and not so beautiful, if you move from Santa Maria Novella square towards the Arno river you may really appreciate this area as a place to stay. Streets are quiet, beautiful and close to everything. You can buy food at The Mercato Centrale di San Lorenzo, which is five minutes walking or in one of the many food venues in Via Palazzuolo. Via Tornabuoni and Piazza della Repubblica are two steps away, but you don’t perceive the presence of mass tourism. Just across the bridge Ponte alla Carraia you’re in Oltrarno, in San Frediano neighborhood, whilst ten minutes walking in the other direction you have the Teatro dell’Opera and the amazing Parco delle Cascine, where you can walk, jog, have picnics and visit the biggest weekly market in Florence, every Tuesday.
Things to see
- Chiesa e Chiostro Santa Maria Novella
- Officina profumo farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella
- Alinari National Museum of Photography
- Museo del Novecento
- Piazza Goldoni and Piazza Ognissanti
Accommodation you can find:
Hotels
There are lots of low price Hotels in Via Nazionale and in the other roads around the Train Station but also the luxury 5 star hotels Excelsior and St. Regis in Piazza Ognissanti and several good 4 star hotels in Piazza Santa Maria Novella like Minerva and the lovely JK Place, or Baglioni in Piazza dell’Unità and many others in Via della Scala.
Charming Antique Mansions
Search for Residenze d’Epoca in Italian, restored antique buildings transformed into luxury accommodation. You can choose an apartment or rooms with breakfast. Especially inVia de Fossi, Via del Moro, Piazza Goldoni, Borgo Ognissanti.
Bed and Breakfast
Avoiding Via Cerretani and Via Panzani, you may find several good private apartments to stay. Via del Moro, Via Borgo Ognissanti, Via dei Fossi and Piazza Goldoni are all great locations.
Santa Croce
Santa Croce has become one of the neighborhoods of nightlife on this side of the city center, so it may be very noisy at night, as well as Sant’Ambrogio. But it offers various options of locations to stay, both cheap or luxury, away from the noisy area and it has a lot of beautiful places to be seen. You’re very close to Piazza Signoria and the Uffizi, without being in the middle of the crowd and you can enjoy a walk along the Arno river any time of the day.
Piazza Santa Croce is a unique sample of wide open space, with the church at the focal point and a theory of antique noble palaces on the sides, many of which have rooms or luxury suites to rent. Behind the church, two public elementary schools represent a bulwark against mass tourism and together with the National Public Library and the Verdi Theater, contribute to maintain this neighborhood alive and populated by locals; here is where you can find nice apartments for an affordable price. About food, this area teems with venues of any kind, especially in Via Ghibellina, Via de’ Benci and Via de’ Neri.
Things to see
- Church and Cloister of Santa Croce
- Museo Casa Buonarroti whit Michelangelo’s autograph drawings
- The medieval square Piazza Peruzzi
- The Calcio Storico matches in Santa Croce square, in June
Accommodation you can find:
Hotels
As in the rest of the city center, you won’t have problems in finding good 4 stars hotels in this area like the Plazahotel Lucchesi and the 5 stars Relais Santa Croce.
Charming Antique Mansions
Search for Residenze d’Epoca in Italian, restored antique buildings transformed into luxury accommodation. The most beautiful are in Piazza Santa Croce,Borgo de’ Greci, Borgo Santa Croce and Piazza Peruzzi.
Bed and Breakfast
In the streets behind the Santa Croce church, on the way to the Viali, you have a perfect position for apartments to rent, for long and short term, close to the ring boulevard, with a peculiar authentic Florentine feeling. Search Via delle Casine, Via delle Conce, Via dei Conciatori, Via dei Malcontenti.
Sant’Ambrogio
Should you ask a Florentine which neighborhood of the city center she or he would like to live in, the answer would be Sant’Ambrogio for sure. The daily market Mercato di Sant’Ambrogio, attracts people from any part of the city with its various offers of fresh vegetables outside and bakeries, cheeses and organic products, together with a tuscan trattoria, inside. All the area is influenced by the presence of the market and it’s definitely populated more by locals than tourists. It is really alive at any time of the day, it may be extremely noisy at night, especially in Borgo la Croce, but it offers a lot of lovely accommodations especially in private apartments and a lot of artisan workshops. You can experience how locals live also thanks to the presence of a lovely garden in the peaceful and beautiful square Piazza D’Azeglio, populated by teenagers, kids and families, as well as people who walk their dogs. The splendid Synagogue of Florence is here so there are also kosher restaurants and shops. This could also be considered a strategic choice, since from this area you can easily reach Santa Croce moving east, or San Marco going west and it is the best choice if you have a car, because ring roads are very close
Things to see
- The Sant’Ambrogio Market every morning
- Piazza de’ Ciompi with the renewed garden and the Loggia del Pesce
- The Flea Market in Piazza Annigoni
- The Synagogue
Accommodation you can find
Hotels
Since this is a less touristic area, there aren’t as many hotels as in the other part of the city center, but still there are the 5 stars Four Seasons and Regency, together with a choice of good 3 stars hotels like Hotel Liana and several others in the Viali.
Charming Antique Mansions
Search for Residenze d’Epoca in Italian, restored antique buildings transformed into luxury accommodation, in Piazza D’Azeglio, Via della Colonna, Via Giusti, Via Capponi, Via Farini.
Bed and Breakfast
Here you’re just spoiled for choice. The area teems with bed and breakfasts and apartments of any kind for any price. The zone around the market can be a bit noisy but it’s worth it because it’s really voguish and vivid.
San Niccolò
Less famous than the super cool Santo Spirito, San Niccolo is definitely the most peaceful and enjoyable neighborhood of the Oltrarno. It has many green areas and a lot of possibilities for nice walks that the other central neighborhoods don’t have. You can reach the Terrace of Piazzale Michelangelo with its spectacular view on the city, by the pittoresque stairway of Via Monte alla Croci, and go anytime you like to rest in the lovely rose garden Giardino delle Rose. You can get lost in some of the most beautiful little roads of the town, Costa San Giorgio and Costa Scarpuccia and reach the fortress Forte Belvedere that often shows interesting art exhibitions in its park and offers another unique view on the city. This is why a lot of new art galleries and food venues are opening here, together with some haunts that have always been there. Nightlife is very lively here, with a lot of wine bars, osterie, good gelatos and several bistros, but in good balance with the needs of the inhabitants. In summertime a beach on the Arno river is set up with pubs, cocktail bars and music and if you are so lucky to be in Florence on June 24, day of the celebrations for patron saint San Giovanni, Piazza Poggi is the best place to admire the show of fireworks.
Things to see
- Via del Monte alle Croci e Giardino delle Rose
- Museo Bardini
- Piazza Poggi fountain
- On the hill above the neighborhood,the breathtaking Piazzale Michelangelo and the gorgeous church of San Miniato al Monte
Accommodation you can find
Hotel
Only a few hotels in this area like the nice 3 star Hotel Silla, and on the Viali to reach the Piazzale Michelangelo, the luxury 5 stars hotels Villala Vedetta and Villa Cora.
Charming Antique Mansions
Search for Residenze d’Epoca in Italian, restored antique buildings transformed into luxury accommodation. Several beautiful buildindings host apartments, studios or rooms to let. See Palazzo San Niccolò and others in Via San Niccolò and Via dei Bardi.
Bed and Breakfast
This area offers a lot of bed and breakfasts and apartments, all in lovely and charming streets as well as in the Lungarno. Apart from the little squares of Porta San Niccolò and Via dei Renai, heart of the night life, the other streets are all silent and peaceful.The stip narrow streets Costa San Giorgio and Costa Scarpuccia are simply unique.
Santo Spirito and Pitti Square
If you continue walking from San Niccolò along the Arno river, you’ll reach Ponte Vecchio and Piazza Pitti with Boboli Gardens and Pitti Palace. Just five more minutes walking and you’re in Piazza Santo Spirito, heart of the most famous, coolest and trendy neighborhood in Florence. It’s actually true, not just a matter of bloggers or tour guides, even if, because of them, it’s becoming more expensive and a bit less inhabited by locals then in the past years. The whole area is really alive and freshly vivid any time of the day, the gentrification of what used to be a poor neighborhood of craftsmen, started out in the 80’s and it’s now evolving into a more touristic manner, but still Florentines go there whenever they want to enjoy nightlife, aperitives and for some of the most attractives markets in the city center, the Organic Fierucola in Piazza Santo Spirito every third Sunday of the week, the vegetable market every day, and the artisans market every second Sunday of the week. This is really a lovely place to stay, especially if you decide to live in Florence for a longer period, it’s definitely the most enjoyable area to appreciate all the blessings of living in a small, artistic, friendly, alive city as Florence can be if you escape from mass tourism. You’ll always find someone to talk with for a coffè or a glass of wine, plenty of restaurants and bistros, artisan shops, fancy clothes shops, vintage venues and a multitude of little hidden streets to walk on aimlessly.
Things to see
- Squares: Piazza Pitti with Pitti Palace, Piazza S. Spirito
- Museums: Galleria Palatina, Museo d’Arte Moderna, Galleria del Costume
- Gardens: Boboli Gardens
Accommodation you can find
Hotel
Apart from the 5 stars luxury Lungarno Hotel Collection, this is not a neighborhood of hotels, because by the time it became more fashionable, they started out to restore antique buildings into boutique mansions instead of hotels.
Charming Antique Mansions
Search for Residenze d’Epoca in Italian, restored antique buildings transformed into luxury accommodation. Several beautiful buildings host apartments, studios or rooms to let. See Via Maggio, Via de’ Serragli, Via S. Spirito, Piazza Pitti.
Bed and Breakfast
Avoiding Piazza Santo Spirito and the immediate vicinity that are very crowded and noisy at night, any other street of this neighborhood is a good place to choose an apartment to rent or a bed and breakfast. See in particular the area around Piazza della Passera.
San Frediano
This neighborhood maintains the genuineness of its poor artisanal origins, without the excess of coolness of Santo Spirito of which it represents the natural prolongation towards Porta Romana. Cheaper and less modish than it’s super cool cousin, San Frediano is the place for those who want to experience the Florentine way of life but don’t feel too comfortable with the hipster trend of Santo Spirito. Via Romana and Piazza Tasso are fantastic open air classes of pure Florentin slang. Perfect neighborhood for long stay. The proximity with Porta Romana is also a good way out to go to the Chianti hills and if you have a car, it gives the possibility to park it outside the walls.
Things to see
- Squares: Piazza del Carmine with Cappella Brancacci
- Museums: Museo della Specola
- Gardens: Giardino Torrigiani
Accommodation you can find
Hotel
There’s an old lovely charming 3 stars hotel Pensione Annalena.
Bed and Breakfast
Together with S. Niccolò and S. Ambrogio, this is the best neighborhood for those who decide to stay in Florence for a longer period. There are many nice places also just outside the walls in Viale Petrarca and in the many lovely, peaceful roads along it, between Piazza Tasso and Porta Romana.
Staying in Florence, outside of the city center
This section is about the neighborhoods that are outside the city center, in the immediate surroundings, just outside the boulevard rings. These are all residential areas, inhabited almost exclusively by resident people, with all the public services you may need, shops, green areas, amenities of any kind. It’s a good choice for families, for those who travel with kids, pets, or groups of people, that can find bigger accommodations at a cheaper price. You may find locations with gardens or with terraces which is almost impossible in the city center. In general you can find these areas more alive during the day, but much quieter at night. Locals generally go to the city center if they want to do something in the evening or after dinner.
Le Cure and Campo di Marte
Among the residential areas, Le Cure is the more elegant, beautiful, stylish, a bit sleepy, people choose this area because it is calm, clean and peaceful and hosts one of the best daily markets in Florence. Campo di Marte is buisier, with more activities, good food venues and nice shops, especially in Via Gioberti and around it, the football stadium and the Campo di Marte train station, which is a good alternative to the very chaotic central station. Sports are welcome here, two public pools and several gyms, dance classes and various Pilates and yoga studios, the rugby school and a Circus school.
Accommodation you can find
Hotel
There are some 3 stars hotels in Via Cimabue, near Via Gioberti.
Apartments
Different kinds of accommodations are available, from two rooms to big size flats also with terraces and/or gardens.
Gavinana
More working class than Le Cure, Gavinana is a pure heap of Florentines, there are still families that live here from generations. Tied to the Arno, it hosts the Florence canoa team and the Albereta, a beautiful park all along the bank of the river, much loved by locals. It’s limited by two bridges the Ponte Ferrucci and the Ponte di Varlungo, the part between Ponte Ferrucci and Viale Europa, with Piazza Gavinana and Piazza Gualfredotto is older the area further south is greener.
Lots of good food venues, supermarkets, street food trucks, as well as public services, bookshops, pet shops, household and hardware stores. It’s well connected to the rest of the city by public buses, close to the south Florence gate of the highway, and it has many gardens for kids and green areas. There are many roads that are still maintaining a rural atmosphere where it is nice to have a walk, from Via Benedetto Fortini to the little church of Santa Margherita a Montici.
Accommodation you can find
Hotel
Rosery garden hill is a 3 stars hotel in Piazza del Bandino, then, further south, some bigger hotels close to the highway, including 4 stars hotel Mulino di Firenze and Villa Olmi.
Apartments
Different kinds of accommodations are available, from two rooms to big size flats also with terraces and/or gardens. The areas around the Albereta park are greener and peaceful, whilst between Piazza Ferrucci and Piazza Gualfredotto you’ll find the historic heart of the neighborhood.
Isolotto – Soffiano
If Gavinana grew up as the working class neighborhood in south Florence, Isolotto developed the same identity going north. It’s specular to Gavinana also for the relationship with the river and for the presence of many green spaces. The daily market Mercato dell’Isolotto is alive and crowded. This area is well connected to the rest of the city by public buses and it’s also linked to the 1 route of the new tramway and it’s close to the freeway that goes to the beaches of Viareggio and Forte dei Marmi. There are many big supermarkets, as well as little food venues, pet shops, household and hardware stores.
Soffiano is located more east and it has an older origin which can be recognised by the architecture of the buildings. Via Pisana and Via di Soffiano are densely populated, the Teatro Florida is quite popular for its contemporary dance and theater programs and the park Il Boschetto with Villa Strozzi is beloved and alive. The hills above Via di Soffiano, towards Marignolle and Bellosguardo are beautiful destinations for a walk and offer great panoramic views.
Accommodation you can find
Charming Antique Mansions
In the hills of Bellosguardo and Marignolle there are beautiful old Villas where you can get portions of apartments to rent. It’s quite expensive but it’s a fantastic opportunity to live in a Tuscan Villa close to Florence.
Apartments
The area around Piazza dell’Isolotto hosts a lot of small houses, while if you move close to Viale Canova you may find flats in condominiums at cheaper price. Many apartments in Via di Soffiano have terraces or gardens.
Rifredi – Satuto
Rifredi is nowadays densely populated and quite busy. It’s close to the main Hospital Careggi, it hosts some departments of the Florence University and it’s a crossway of the tramway. Like Gavinana and Isolotto it has a peculiar Florentine identity and it’s revitalized by the presence of two important and active theaters, Teatro di Rifredi and Teatro della Limonaia. In Rifredi area you’ll easily find food shops and supermarkets, but less green areas than in Isolotto and Gavinana, whilst Statuto, which is the wealthy and elegant section of this neighborhood, with the stately homes of Piazza Viessieux and Piazza Leopoldo, hosts the beautiful park Villa Fabbricotti and, at the border with Piazza della Libertà, the lovely Giardino dell’Orticoltura. Not too far, on the hill, you can enjoy nice walks on the old streets of Via Bolognese.
Things to see
- Museo Stibbert
Accommodation you can find
Charming Antique Mansions
In the hills of Careggi and Via Bolognese there are beautiful old Villas where you can get portions of apartments to rent. It’s quite expensive but it’s a fantastic opportunity to live in a Tuscan Villa close to Florence.
Apartments and Bed and breakfast
Together with various types of apartments to rent, because of the presence of the Careggi hospital, here you’ll find many options for short term stays.
Staying in Florence, hills around Florence
One of the peculiar characteristics of Florence and among the reasons for its beauty, is the fact that it’s surrounded by green hills with little villages and amazing villas. It’s not countryside and it’s not suburbs, but a natural prolongation of the city all around its farmed hilly borders. Stone walled old roads, rustic farmhouses, stately villas and antique mansions submerged in vineyards and olive grows. Since the Middle Ages, when living in a flat area was too dangerous, small villages grew up around the city, and because of the hilly conformation of the landscape, they have maintained their original structures and dimensions, so they still represent an idyllic escape.
Public transportation is not good enough and mostly related to the needs of students and commuters, so if you decide to choose one of these destinations as a place to stay, consider that a car is definitely necessary. We’re talking about Fiesole, Settignano, Impruneta, Pratolino: they are all beautiful and your choice can be simply determined by your preferred position related to the city.
Fiesole
Fiesole deserves a special mention for the presence of a perfectly preserved Roman Amphitheater which can be visited during the day and becomes a magnificent location for open air concert and live opera plays at night.
Differently from the other villages, where you can mainly rent a villa or apartments in antique mansions, Fiesole also offers the possibility to stay in hotel.
Accommodation you can find
Hotel
The lovely family run hotel Pensione Bencistà, or the 5 stars Hotel Villa San Michele and the 4 stars Hotel Villa Fiesole.