FLORENCE

The whole Florence city centre is an artwork and is famous worldwide. Everybody knows about its Renaissance architecture, paintings and sculptures. If you love art, this is the place for you. You can just walk and discover the city's famous and hidden beauties. What about people looking for nightlife? As a very busy city, the Florence town centre attracts a huge number of tourists every day and offers its visitors several nightlife options: You can enjoy free concerts, dancing in one of its many clubs, have craft beer in a typical pub and last but not least, in Florence you can taste the finest Italian cusine: Ribollita, Fiorentina steak and Lampredotto.

HOW TO GET THERE

AIRPLANE

Florence airport Amerigo Vespucci is linked to a large number of European towns such as Amsterdam, Berlin, Brussels, Bucharest, Copenhagen, London, Madrid, Paris, Vienna and Zurich. The airport is located very close to the city centre. To reach the conference location you can use the public bus service, provided by Busitalia Nord company, which will take you to Santa Maria Novella railway station in 30 about minutes. Right in front of the airport you'll find a taxi service (average fare equal to 22 Euros approximately, some variations might occur depending on driving time, number of passengers, luggage or holidays) as well as a car rental. Note: not all taxis are equipped for credit card payment.

Another important hub is the airport of Pisa , called Galileo Galilei. The airport is better connected to international and non-european destinations in comparison to Florence; many low-cost companies provide flights Pisa. Pisa airport is connected to Florence by coach (Terravision or Autostradale services) and by train (use Pisa Mover to reach the railway station).

For intercontinental flights we suggest to choose Roma Fiumicino airport , called Leonardo da Vinci, which is linked to a large number of international destinations. Within the airport complex is available a railway station boasting high-speed trains to Firenze Santa Maria Novella. Travel duration: 2 hours and 15 minutes approximately.

TRAIN

Firenze Santa Maria Novella railway station is linked to the most important Italian towns through high-speed trains. The company often offers special prices for travels from Milan, Naples, Rome and Venice. Visit Trenitalia or Italo website to learn more about fares, train timetable and to get further information.

TRANSPORTS

Many of the most important attractions of Florence are close to the conference venue and thus it's easy to reach them on foot. People preferring a faster mean of transport though moving in an environmentally friendly way have many options, such as bikes, segways and electric car rental. If you are fond of moving on wheels but don't feel like pedalling you can choose pedicab so that you'll have someone doing it for you. Public transport network connects the city centre to many major attractions in the nearby areas. Most of the bus lines stop at Santa Maria Novella railway station, which is easily reachable from the conference venue.

MONEY

As a major tourists destination, Florence provides plenty of banks, post offices and money exchange desks in the city centre to change your currency. ATMs are also widely available. Credit cards are generally accepted in any shop, but transaction fee may be applied for small amounts.

MUSEUMS

Florence has got many interesting entertainment options, but undoubtedly there are some museums you can't miss. The most important ones are: Uffizi Gallery, which hosts the most valuable collection of ancient drawings, paintings and sculptures through an itinerary from the 14th century, and Accademia Gallery, where you can admire some of the most famous sculptures made by Michelangelo Buonarroti; Palazzo Vecchio, the historical town hall of Florence and Palazzo Pitti, a huge museum that hosts an enormous collection of costumes, jewels, porcelains and more. The average cost for a museum ticket is 8 €. Of course there are reductions for some visitors categories such as groups, kids under a certain age and elderly people. Each museum has got its website, so you can take a further look at it to learn more about provided discounts and services. Standing in a queue is stressful but you can save time booking your visit. Many hotels offer a museum reservation service, so if you're in trouble and prefer to rely on locals you can ask the hotel staff to help you.

A second option, granting a wider range of possibilities, is to purchase “Firenze card”. It is a tourist pass which allows you to access to 72 attractions among museums, chapels, shrines, villas and to travel by Florence means of transport free. Moreover, you can get concessional terms and conditions from “Firenze card” partners: restaurants, theatres and tours operators. It seems very cool but pay attention to the restrictions: you can access each museum only once and the card has a strict expiration limit, namely 72 hours from the first activation, so choose the right moment upon activation. “Firenze card” can be purchased through the website or at on site desks, but you can pick it up only at one of the participating stores.

Many museums propose fascinating activities for kids. Among the others we point out: Palazzo Strozzi, Leonardo da Vinci, Galileo Galilei, Stibbert and Palazzo Vecchio. Palazzo Strozzi is located in the namesake square, right next to Odeon Cinema. It hosts a really lively art gallery, la Strozzina, which periodically proposes thematic activities related to the current exhibition. Should you on the contrary be interested in science, then you can visit Leonardo Da Vinci museum, a few steps away from the Duomo, which displays some interesting military and civil engineering works by the worldwide famous artist and collects a large number of interactive machines. People keen on Renaissance machinery can also visit Galileo Galilei museum: tools for military measurements, ancient maps, and more! Beside the exhibition, the building hosts an interactive area where adults and kids can experience some physics theories with the help of instruments and platforms. Some children just love stories about knights. In this case you can take them to Sibbert museum and let them have fun in “Salone della cavalcata”, a room featuring ancient amours and real size horses. Last, but not least, Palazzo Vecchio offers kids a different activity every day.

PARKS AND OUTDOOR ACTIVITIES

In Florence there are some beautiful parks for having a walk, practicing some outdoor activities and taking a break. The most evocative, in our opinion, are Cascine park, that you can easily reach with by bus and Boboli garden, located in the city centre and surrounds Pitti Palace.

Moreover, Florence is the right city for people who love to go jogging. The town hall often organizes competitive races and marathons and they are setting up one in April as well. The competion, which is now at its 34th edition is called Half Marathon Firenze Vivicittà and is scheduled for the 9th April 2017. Participation is open to all Italian and foreign athletes enrolled in UISP, FIDAL and athletics associations or sport promotional organisations. For further information visit Half Marathon website.