September 2012 Archives

At some time in late 2021 the bus system for Florence and the region of Tuscany changed over to Autolinee Toscane. The old SITA bus depot (called the "FIRENZE AUTOSTAZIONE" in Italian) on via Santa Caterina, close to Firenze SMN (the train station) is now used by Autolinee Toscane, and is still the location for many regional buses, like the line to Siena, but the local Florentine buses have beginning and end points at their various stops throughout Florence - not at this station.

It appears most of the sites below are no longer active and/or just place holders for the former companies.

Unfortunately the Autolinee Toscane website does not have route maps, just a very annoying system of timetables - but that is where you can find information on all of the local lines.

Here are some important links for rail and bus transportation into and out of Florence and the surrounding area:

• Trenitalia: https://www.trenitalia.com This is the main train company in Italy
• Italo: https://www.italotreno.it Are high speed only trains with limited (but still substantial and covering all the major cities) lines
• Autolinee Toscane: https://www.at-bus.it The bus company that took over for ATAF and others, locally and regionally in Florence and Tuscany.
• ATAF: http://www.ataf.net
• SITA (Busitalia): http://www.fsbusitalia.it the only service they have remaining in Tuscany is The Mall bus
• CAP: http://www.capautolinee.it (Prato, I Gigli)
• Lazzi: http://www.lazzi.it (Arezzo, Lucca, Montecatini Terme, Prato, Viareggio)
• Piubus: http://www.piubus.it

And here is a map showing the location of the autostazione:

Perhaps the best gelato in Florence is right on our street (we have sinced moved!) - Gelateria dei Neri. They have some amazing flavors, and in the cold months the most beautiful semi-freddo. This place is on everyone's list as the place Florentines go for gelato - it may not have the name and the tour book recommendations of Vivoli, but the gelato is better and the staff is always friendly. For the winter months they have a half price special on gelato to go - it is almost too good to be true! On via dei Neri - near the Via de Benci end of the street.

The Medici ruled Florence and most of the surrounding territory almost continuously from the early 15th century to the early 18th century. A large part of their legacy is the constellation of villas they left: a network of rural buildings, farms, hunting lodges, and villas used as country palaces by the Medici for vacations, hunts, parties, and family celebrations.

Click on the pins in the map for more information about the many villas of the Medici that surround Florence:

Piazza della Repubblica is one of the largest and most famous city squares in Florence. It is the original site of the Roman Forum (from which columns are believed to be used in the interior of San Miniato). The remains of the ancient Campidoglio are buried beneath what once was the Teatro Gamberinus (now the location of the Hard Rock Cafà©!), just off the northwest corner of the piazza on Via DਠBrunelleschi.