Visiting Florence

Firenze (a.k.a. Florence) is a big city by our Little Roads standards, but we do visit there from time to time. In this episode we discuss some of our favorite places to eat, drink, visit, and stay in this very touristy and crowded but undeniably special town - from sandwiches to shopping to spritzes to spectacular viewpoints. 

But more importantly, we also talk about how to visit: Getting the most out of your time in Firenze - the same valuable travel tips and planning strategies that we share with our itinerary service clients. 

Want to know more about us and our travel services? Find us at:

www.LittleRoadsEurope.com

www.facebook.com/LittleRoadsEurope

We craft small-town driving itineraries for travelers to Italy, Ireland and Scotland.

And our "alter-egos" as musicians:

www.OrsiniVirtuosi.it

Transcript

Note: This is not a complete transcript, but rather the show notes we write in advance to prepare for the episode.

INTRO: 
Welcome to Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond

Today we’re talking about Firenze, otherwise known as Florence
Among other things, you’ll hear about…:
- Our favorite sandwich shop
- Our favorite hotel right across from the Duomo
- Our favorite spot for the best view of town

[music up then down]

This is Matt Walker          …and I’m Zeneba Bowers - 

We’re recording while sitting on the terrace of our tiny home in Italy - so you’ll get a sense of the sounds of life in our little town. We want this to be more like a casual conversion with us, rather than a scripted studio session - complete with church bells, cats meowing, motor scooters and trains and the town’s daily siren, and maybe the occasional clink of our drinks. 

“ … we’ll be talking about Florence, in today’s chat - here on Little Roads Unfiltered: Italy and Beyond.”
[Music up then fade out]

For those of you who don’t know us: We are professional musicians and also travel writers and consultants, living and working here in Italy for the past 6 years. 
If you want to learn more about us and our lives, you can find us on our website LittleRoadsEurope..com, on our socials, and now here on our new podcast, which we’re doing as if you’re sitting here chatting with us - 
…and by the way, the music you hear on this show is done by us - As we’re musicians working here in Italy, we thought it made sense to do it ourselves. Matt did the arrangements, and we record it right here in our house! 

So let’s get to talking about Florence!

Although it's a big city by our standards, we visit Florence ourselves a few times a year, always by car - sometimes for business (that’s where our immigration attorney is) and sometimes for fun (but only in certain circumstances that we’ll talk about later). We do have a lot of good info for visiting there; so this podcast will be very helpful if you are visiting with car, but also helpful if you are just training it

Often our clients want to spend at least some time visiting Florence. Museum packages, ticket options are always changing, so we refer them to the thousand guidebooks, or our favorite site, Florencewise. 
We supplement with our own ideas about a few things, to help them do what they want to do in the best and most effective way possible, to accomplish their goals. 

If they’re traveling by car (and those are the only types of trips we plan - we don’t deal with public transport) we try to help them arrange to visit Florence at the beginning or end of their trip 
- to visit the town for a day (or two or three) before getting the rental car, or vice-versa, exploring countryside and small towns first before dropping the car and visiting the city at the end.
 
But a day trip, or a one-night overnight is possible too, again depending on the travelers’ goals.
 
ALLOWING THE “RIGHT” AMOUNT OF TIME TO TAKE IN EVERYTHING. Compare to menu
 
First thing: Get advance tickets. Even if you do, you will still stand in line
 
See just the David, or rest of museum - 
 
Time to explore and discover places - cute cafe, artisan shop, ancient church off of the tourist track) 

We put a note in our own itineraries for our clients: some days of this itinerary might have more things in it than are possible - leaving room for varying weather or whims. 
Doubly important in big tourist location like Firenze, where things are much more expensive and crowded 

Driving into Firenze: ZTL
Travelers from US are not used to ZTL concept - we can drive all over Manhattan, right by WH 

PARKING
Easiest/cheapest: Villa Costanza - big lot west of town right off the Autostrada

PARCHEGGIO PARTERRE (north) or S AMBROGIO (east) - can stay hourly or overnight 
(Use Google Street View to get there)
Parking choices depend on goals of visit


— “ADVERTISEMENT” BREAK —
That reminds me that we need to stop for a word from our sponsor - - - - 
- - - just kidding, we don’t have any sponsors - and we’re not looking for any either, we want to keep this an ad-free show.
So today’s show is brought to you by: A Good Idea. 

And today’s Good Idea is: 
PUT MONETARY VALUE ON YOUR TIME
In this context, related to parking: We were long-time sufferers of what we call CPCS, or Chronic Parking Cheapskate Syndrome - but: sometimes worth it to pay more for a better use of your time. Instead of hunting around for a free spot, especially when traveling, just pay. Parking in small town Italy and Ireland is very cheap! 

That’s it!
… So anyway, where were we?

Parking choices depend on goals of visit

For example, Semel sandwich shop - by S Ambrogio market. Wine in a real glass. Mill around the market if there is a line. 
Speaking of lines, we notice LOOOOONG lines for gelato, sandwiches, like TWO BLOCKS long. Would only wait for Harriet Tubman, Michelangelo serving 
Good time to mention street food here, but FINES & RULES

EATING:
Reservations - two seatings most places - book at least 3-4 weeks in advance, expect to call several times to get through. For our clients, we call 2 weeks, because sometimes it’s a single table (by the lake, hidden terrace looking out over Civita di Bagnoregio. But they often ask us to call back. 
- Study menu in advance, be ready to order right away

Antica Trattoria da Tito 1913 - bistecca specialty place, super hip, graffiti on walls, 
REFER TO CHIANTI EPISODE for Bistecca Fiorentina
Camillo - super traditional, ask for specials “fuori menu” 
Sostanza - from 1869 - butter chicken, tortino di carciofi (secret recipe), cake with meringue, chocolate, strawberries - people being turned away with no reservation 

Drogheria “Hamburgheria” - also makes their own herbal liqueur, specialty cocktails

Other cocktail spots: Refer to our Italian Bar Culture 101 podcast episode 
- Mad Souls & Spirits (south)
- Oliandolo (2 blocks from Accademia/Davide) sisters that work there, spicy negroni, super nice
- Caffè dell'Oro (on river by Ponte Vecchio) VERY €€€ due to location/view - they make their own liquori and infusions, lavender

Shopping: 
Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, 800 years old, oldest fragrance still in production from 1533 was a wedding gift from Catherine de Medici for her husband. perfumes €125

HOTELS
A few hotels w parking on edge of ZTL - for overnights w car. NO AirBnBs

At these types outside ZTL, you can park, walk right into historic center in a few minutes

Palazzo Gamba - is NOT one of the parking ones
Scoppio del Carro (Easter), NYE 


Best view of Firenze - not in Firenze
S of town, Piazzale Michelangelo (hike/bike/shuttle/bus/cab to get there)

Farther up: Abbey of San Miniato al Monte 


OUTRO: 
I think that’s a good place to wrap it up here - we hope you enjoyed joining us for our chat about Firenze ! If you are looking for visiting nearby, listen to our Chianti episode. 

We’ll be talking about a wide variety of topics here on this podcast, from travel tips to slice-of-life stories - we’ll post a new episode every Tuesday. 

So catch us next time - we’ll see you down the Little Roads… CIAO!