Florence, Italy: Stazione Santa Maria Novella (Train Station) ... A Bit Dodgy, But Central And Very Convenient

Stazione Santa Maria Novella

Piazza della Stazione 1
50123 Florence, Italy
Stazione Ferroviaria Santa Maria Novella

Not the nicest station in Europe by far, the fascist design is reminiscent of the days of Mussolini. Like many train stations in Italy, it is close to the historic center of Florence and one of the most beautiful cities on the continent if not the world. 

Well connected to all parts of Italy and beyond, you can get a train pretty much anywhere. Just make sure you arrive at least 30 minutes before your departure of purchasing tickets as the ticket machines have long lines during the day and are quite slow. Also make sure you are not using a "credit card only" machine if you want to use cash. There are also human ticket agents available if you have time to wait in line.

Most trains are "Trenitalia" (state trains) and quite punctual. "Italo" also operates here and has very nice, very fast trains for long-haul journeys (Napoli-Firenze for example) and are often cheaper than Trenitalia. On our trip from Naples, they even offered FREE WI-FI with movies available on their network, also free, in English. Italo "veloce" trains hit speeds of 150-180 miles per hour, making the journey between Naples and Florence in just 2.5 hours.

The station is a bit of a pit and full of seedy characters, so clutch your valuables and avoid crowded areas. Otherwise, it is quite handy if traveling by rail to or from Florence.

CombatCritic Gives Stazione Santa Maria Novella (Florence) 5 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Title: Florence, Italy: Stazione Santa Maria Novella (Train Station) ... A Bit Dodgy, But Central And Very Convenient

Key Words: Firenze, Florence, Italy, maria, novella, santa, Santa Maria Novella, station, train, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, stazione, Tuscano, Tuscani

DayTripQuip: Pensione Bencista - Fiesole From Piazza San Marco By Bus (Florence, Italy)

We have spent quite a bit of time in Florence over the years, most recently staying the month of July in an apartment near Mercato San'Ambrogio (don't miss it) in addition to other trips ranging from a few days to over a month.

The ATAF Bus - Line 7 - travels between Piazza San Marco - Via La Pira and Fiesole - Vinandro Osteria about every 20-30 minutes between 5am and 1am. Bus stop: FM0373 (REDRESS) is on the main road to/from Fiesole and a short 10 minute stroll from Pensione Bencista. You can purchase tickets at any tabaccaio (tobacco shop - look for a dark blue sign with a big "T") and the hotel may have some for sale. The stop going to Florence is across the road close to the top of the big bend and the one going toward Fiesole is up the road (to your right) 100 or so feet.

Piazza San Marco is close to the historical center (centro storico) of Florence, very close to Galleria dell'Accademia where Michelangelo's "David" resides and short walk to the Duomo, central Florence, Palazzo Medici Riccardi and the train station (Santa Maria Novella).

From Santa Maria Novella, you can go pretty much anywhere in Italy or Europe for that matter. Nice, short day trips available via rail are to Prato, Lucca, Pisa, Arezzo, Siena and Bologna, all of which leave you close to the city center.

You can read my numerous reviews of Florence restaurants, hotels, museums, and attractions here on TripAdvisor and on my popular blog where there is much more detailed information, including my patented and popular DayTripQuips.

Enjoy Firenze and buon viaggio!

CombatCritic

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Title: DayTripQuip: Pensione Bencista - Fiesole From Piazza San Marco By Bus (Florence, Italy)

Key Words: Fiesole Pensione Bencista, Florence, Firenze, pensione, Bencista, Piazza San Marco, CombatCritic, TravelValue, DayTripQuip, day, trip, quip, travel, value, review, Yelp

Florence, Italy: Beautiful, Historic, Impressive, and Overpriced Like Everything in Florence

Palazzo Medici Riccardi
Via Camillo Cavour 3
50129 Firenze, Italy
Phone: +39 055 2760340
Website: palazzo-medici.it
Prices: $$$$

One of the most ancient and important palaces in Florence, Palazzo Medici Riccardi belonged to the infamous Medici family who started construction in 1445 under the direction of Michelozzo di Bartolomeo, completing the palace in about 10 years.

Courtyard and Statues

Palazzo Medici Riccardi sits prominently on the northwest corner of Via L. Gori just one block north of the Piazza del Duomo (take the street that heads north just between the Battistero di San Giovanni - aka Baptistry of Saint John - and Santa Maria del Fiore - aka "Duomo" or "Cathedral". Entrance is €7 for adults and includes the impressive Capella dei Magi di Benozzo Gozzoli (Chapel of the Magi by Benozzo Gozzoli), the Medici family chapel and the first thing you visit as you enter the apartments on the second (European first) floor. Not very large, the chapel's ornate frescoes, painted in the mid-Fifteenth Century by Gozzoli, tell the story of the journey of the three kings to Bethlehem interspersed with members of the powerful Medici family along the way.

Magi Chapel

The rest of the apartment has a few pieces of furniture, some statues, paintings and tapestries, but the most impressive thing is the palace itself, its beautiful courtyards, and the chapel of course. There are art exhibitions in three locations around the courtyard on the ground floor which are included in your admission.

Palace Interior

Definitely worth a visit, I am not sure it is worth €7 ($7.60) and would be a much better value in the €4 to €5 range. Florence would definitely benefit from a "reasonably priced" all inclusive museum day-ticket option other than the Firenze Card (€72 - good for 72 hours). The Amici degli Uffizi card (€60/adult and good from Jan 1 - Dec 31) used to allow free entry into most of the major museums and churches, including unlimited access to the Uffizi Gallery and Galleria L'academia (statue of David), but starting in June 2015 they limited entry only to the Uffizi, making it a much less attractive option.

Medici Family Portraits

CombatCritic Gives Palazzo Medici Riccardi 6 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better!

Six Bombs Equates To:

"Good To Go"

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Title: Florence, Italy: Beautiful, Historic, Impressive, and Overpriced Like Everything in Florence

Key Words: Palazzo Medici Riccardi, palazzo, Medici, riccardi, Florence, Firenze, Italy, Italia, magi, chapel, CombatCritic, TravelValue, travel, value, attraction, museum, review, Yelp, TripAdvisor

Translation for Civilians: 

DayTripQuip™ - Florence, Italy: A Free Bus Tour Of "The Prato You Do Not Expect"

That's Prato
Phone: +39 328 00 21 009
Web: ThatsPrato.com
Prices: € € € € 

Abbey (Badia) of Santa Maria of Montepiano

Across the piazza from Chiesa Santa Maria Novella, a free bus will take from Florence's Santa Maria Novella train station to various itineraries in and around Prato, a town between Florence and Pistoia heading toward Lucca and Pisa. You pay only for the entrance to museums (if applicable) and your lunch.

Monastery of St. Nicholas -Courtyard

The Province of Prato has organized these free weekly tours available on ten consecutive Sundays from May to July, taking four routes/itineraries with both Italian and English Guides:

• CONTEMPORARY ART AND INDUSTRIAL ARCHEOLOGY
• WHEN THERE WERE THE ETRUSCANS / ETRUSCAN PAST
• THE NOBLE TRAIL: VILLAS AND CASTLES
• THE PATH OF PILGRIMS

I emailed That's Prato, asking for a reservation for the Path of the Pilgrims tour which was quickly accommodated with a reply the following day for the next Sunday. When we arrived at the train station on Sunday morning, the group was in front of McDonald's next to Track #1 as promised. We gave them our name, waited until everyone arrived, then made our way to the other end of the station where the bus was waiting.

Monastery of St. Nicholas - Fresco

In a modern tour bus with air conditioning and comfortable seats, we were quickly on our way to Prato, a historic city (comune) and one of Italy's newest provinces (Provincia di Prato), established in 1992 from the Province of Florence. There were about 30 tourists on the bus for The Pilgrim's Walk tour, mostly Italians and, oddly enough, from the Florence area no less.

"THE PILGRIM'S WALK:

The Prato area has a long history associated with monasteries and holy places as well as Marian devotion, Which dates to the Early Middle Ages. This tour retraces some of the stops made ​​by pilgrims as they journeyed through the Apennines."

Our first stop was the Dominican Monastery of St. Nicholas (admission € 5) in the city of Prato. Established in the 13th Century, the monastery has beautifully decorated chapels, a pharmacy, dining hall, and many other rooms with fabulous frescoes and antique furniture. One of the resident nuns accompanied us on the tour, providing details of the history and tales of the ancient building.

Small Lake - Montepiano

We then took a route through the city streets and squares of the old town, then up the winding mountain road to the top of the mountain for lunch in Montepiano, a small town in the Bisenzio Valley. After a reasonably priced (€10) two course lunch on the small lake, we hiked up the hill to Abbey (Badia) of Santa Maria of Montepiano, a small church also from the 13th Century with a fresco of Saint Christopher which sits on what used to be the main road from Florence to Bologna for hundreds of years.

Fresco of St. Christopher - Santa Maria of Montepiano

Next, we made our way down the mountain to Vaiano and the Abbey of San Salvatore with its small, but very interesting museum. This quaint complex dates back to the 11th Century and has a serene courtyard with fountain and bell tower, halls with ancient frescoes, and a museum with historic artifacts, the abbey's original kitchen, a small chapel, and trap door that leads to a 1,000 year-old lavatory. 

Abbey of San Salvatore - Paiano

Our bus driver then took us on the 40-minute ride back to Florence by the appointed hour of 6pm as promised, leaving us at the Santa Maria Novella train station where we had started our journey.

Kitchen (Fireplace) - Abbey of San Salvatore

That's Prato recently added free tours on eight consecutive Sundays in September and October with the following itineraries:

• ART AT THE TABLE IN THE RENAISSANCE / ART AND FOOD IN THE RENAISSANCE
• THE PATH OF PILGRIMS / THE PILGRIM'S WALK
• THE NOBLE TRAIL: VILLAS AND CASTLES

The only negative I can think of is the fact that for a free tour provided and paid for by the province, very little background of or information on the City or Province of Prato was disseminated during the tour. During the 40-minute bus journey from Florence to Prato (and on the return trip), for example, would have been a perfect time to explain about the city and relatively new province to their captive audience. Instead, passengers were left on our own to chat privately while the guides talked only to each other, a lost opportunity and waste of government funds from my perspective.

A trip by train to Arezzo or Siena, for example, will cost you €16 per person for train tickets alone, so for just €15 including lunch and museum entry (both optional), you will not find a better value when visiting Florence in terms of day trips.

You can email thatsprato@po.camcom.it, visit their website: http://thatsprato.com/, or call them at +39 328 00 21 009 to request your spot on the tour.

CombatCritic Gives 9 Bombs Out Of 10 ... More Bombs Are Better! 

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Title: DayTripQuip™: A Free Bus Tour Of "The Prato You Do Not Expect"

Key Words: Prato, day, trip, quip, DayTripQuip, train, Santa Maria Novella, Montepiano, Vaiano, abbey, monastery, fresco, church, antique, travel, value, Firenze, Florence, Italy, free