***Important Notes about Transportation and Bus/Train Tickets***
The buses are great – and taxis are expensive – so we would very much recommend using them.
You can pay the buses directly with contactless – either VISA or MASTERCARD are acceptable. Your ticket lasts for 90 minutes and if necessary you can use on different buses until your time runs out.
If you buy single ‘paper’ tickets – it is REALLY important to remember that they must be put in the ticket machine and stamped! The ticket controllers will give you a steep fine if you don’t even as a tourist!
Another option is a card called the Carta Agile – which contains 10 tickets. Paper tickets and the Carta Agile can be bought from newsagents and from shops selling tobacco and cigarettes (a big blue T) outside the shop.
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The Florence airport has no direct flights from North America, so flying here involves a change of planes somewhere in Europe. Presumably many North American participants will fly to Rome-Fiumicino (Leonardo da Vinci Airport) or Milan Malpensa, both of which have easy train connections to Florence. Pisa airport is another convenient option.
To Florence from Pisa Airport
Pisa Airport is to Florence as Newark is to New York. A peoplemover (like Newark’s Airtrain) connects you to Pisa’s main railway station in about 7 minutes for 5 euros. From there, trains depart at least hourly for Florence S.M.N. (about a 60-minute ride for under 10 euros).
From Florence Airport to Florence Santa Maria Novella (S.M.N), the main railway terminal
The tram line T2 runs directly from the airport to Florence S.M.N., terminating at Unità, just past the railway station. To reach the tram stop, turn left upon exiting the airport. Buy a ticket from a machine before boarding the tram, and be sure to validate it when you board. The fare is good for 90 minutes after validation, which should be sufficient time for a connection to Fiesole on the no. 7 bus. There is also a more expensive nonstop bus service from the airport to the train station, “Volainbus”; the fare may be paid when entering the bus. Of course, taxis are also an option.
To Florence from Rome-Fiumicino Airport
The Fiumicino Aeroporto railway station is reached by a covered pedestrian skyway from Terminal 1. From here, Frecciargento high speed trains travel directly to Florence S.M.N. in about 2 ½ hours, but only about twice a day. Otherwise, trains to Florence make connections at either Roma Termini or Roma-Tiburtina. Note that some of these connections stop only at the Florence Campo di Marte station, requiring an additional connection to the main station Florence S.M.N.
To Florence from Milan Malpensa Airport
The Malpensa Express runs from stations at both Terminal 1 and 2 to two different terminus stations in Milan. If you are connecting to Florence, be sure to take a train going to Milano Centrale, not Milano Cadorna. From Milano Centrale, trains leave hourly for Florence S.M.N., taking just under 3 hours.
For train schedules, check the Trenitalia website https://www.trenitalia.com/en.html or the Deutsche Bahn site https://www.deutschebahn.com/en.
Florence city center to Fiesole
Fiesole is a comune within the Metropolitan City of Florence, and is three miles as the crow flies from the main railway station Florence S.M.N. The road is considerably less direct than the crow’s route, but it is still only about 20 minutes by bus. (At least according to the timetables!)
Bus route 7 connects Florence S.M.N. with Fiesole about four times an hour during the day. Buses depart from a stop called “Stazione Nazionale – Scuola Internazionale Ottico.” This is just to the east of the railway station (to the left from the direction trains travel pulling into the station). Walk across the street (Piazza della Stazione) and tram tracks toward McDonalds. The no. 7 bus stop is around the corner from McDonalds, in front of a sushi restaurant.
If you are arriving by tram from the Florence Airport, walk from the Unità tram terminus back toward the station, and you should see the McDonalds and sushi place ahead to your right. (Google Maps street view currently shows this tram stop under construction, but it is now finished and open for service.)
If you are staying at the Hotel Mercure, you can just walk a block toward the train station to find the no. 7 bus stop.
If you are staying at the Hotel Malespina, you can do the same—walk back down Via Nazionale toward the station–but there are closer no. 7 stops. Heading to Fiesole, the stop is “Lavagnini Fortezza,” on the south side of Viale Spartaco Lavagnini between Via Enrico Poggi and Via Santa Caterina d’Alessandria. Turn right when you leave the hotel, then take the first right, then the first left, then the first right, and look for the bus stop. Returning from Fiesole, the stop is “Indipendenza Nazionale,” right on the Piazza Indipendenza.
The stop for the symposium venue, Villa Torrossa is “Regresso 2,” right on the very sharp curve where the road to the venue joins the main highway. Villa Torrossa is visible from the bus stop. The stop to return to central Florence is about 100 feet further up the hill. Be careful—this is a narrow road with no sidewalks.
See note on bus tickets below under Local Transit in Florence.
Local Transit in Florence
Buses and trams are run by two different authorities, but tickets are interchangeable. Purchase tickets before boarding and be sure to validate your tickets in the machines immediately upon boarding. There is a hefty fine for travelling without a validated ticket. The ticket is good for 90 minutes after validation; you can ride as many buses and trams as you want within that period.
Tickets may be purchased from machines at any tram stop, from the ATAF ticket counter in the S.M.N. train station (ticket booths 8 and 9 on the right as you leave the station), or from authorized sales points such as newsstands, tobacconists, bars, etc. identifiable by the “Ataf & linea” logo. A single ticket costs 1.50 €; a carnet of ten tickets costs 14 €. A 24-hour pass may be available, but I cannot verify this on the ATAF website. Tickets may sometimes, but not always, be purchased from the bus driver; the cost is 2.50 €.
The website for ATAF (the bus company) is clunky, but you can find information on bus routes there. http://www.ataf.net/en/ataf.aspx?idC=2&LN=en-US. There is a highly schematic route map that isn’t too useful (http://cambianoitempi.ataf.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/06/mappa-32.pdf). But once you identify a promising route number, you can find its exact street routing and timetable from the route list (http://www.ataf.net/en/timetables-and-routes/timetables-and-routes/route-list.aspx?idC=180&LN=en-US).