Goldenpoint deals in women’s swimsuits and lingerie. It offers no bargains, but there’s a bigger selection of swimsuit sizes and styles than elsewhere. Curvy women take note: Italian swimsuits offer far better support than American styles. Other locations at V. Panzani 33 (055 21 42 96) and V. dei Calzaioli 6 (055 27 76 224).
Take V. Cerretani west from the Duomo. Open daily 10am-7pm.
ESSENTIALS
Practicalities
• TOURIST OFFICES: Tourist Information Offices, or Uffici Informazione Turistica, are staffed by qualified, multilingual personnel who can provide general information about visiting Florence and city services in addition to specifics about events, exhibitions, accommodations, and tours. There are numerous locations around the city, but one of the most useful is at Piazza Stazione 4. (055 21 22 45 Open M-Sa 8:30am-7pm, Su 8:30am-2pm.)
• CONSULATES: UK (Lungarno Corsini 2 055 28 41 33). USA (Lungarno Vespucci 38 055 26 69 51).
• LUGGAGE STORAGE: At Stazione di Santa Maria Novella, by platform 16. ( Cash only. 1st 4hr. €4, 6th-12th hr. €0.60 per hr., then €0.20 per hr. thereafter. Open 6am-11:50pm.)
• INTERNET: Internet Train can be found all over the city. For a central location, try V. de’ Benci 36r. (055 26 38 555 www.internettrain.it From P. Santa Croce, go left onto V. de’ Benci. Wi-Fi €2.50-3 per hr. Internet €3-4.50 per hr. Open daily 10am-10:30pm.)
• POST OFFICES: (V. Pellicceria 3 055 27 36 481 South of P. della Repubblica. Open M-F 8:15am-7pm, Sa 8:15am-12:30pm.)
• POSTAL CODE: 50100.
Emergency!
• POLICE: Polizia Municipale (055 32 85). 24hr. non-emergency helpline (055 32 83 333). Help is also available for tourists at the mobile police units parked at V. de’ Calzaioli near P. della Signoria and Borgo S. Jacopo in the Oltrarno near the Ponte Vecchio.
• LATE-NIGHT PHARMACIES: Farmacia Comunale is in Stazione Santa Maria Novella and is open 24hr. (055 21 67 61). Other 24hr. pharmacies include Farmacia Molteni (V. Calzaioli 7r 055 21 54 72 Just north of P. della Signoria.) and Farmacia All’Insegna del Moro. (P. San Giovanni 20r 055 21 13 43 A little east of the Duomo.)
• HOSPITALS/MEDICAL SERVICES: Ospedale Santa Maria Nuova near the Duomo has a 24hr. emergency room (P. Santa Maria Nuova 1 055 27 581). Tourist medical services can be found at V. Lorenzo Il Magnifico 59. (055 47 54 11 In the north of the city, near P. Liberta.)
Getting There
By Plane
Aeroporto Amerigo Vespucci. (V. del Termine 11 055 30 615 main line; 055 30 61 700 for 24hr. automated service www.aeroporto.firenze.it For lost baggage, call 055 30 61 302.) From the airport, the city can be reached via the VolainBus shuttle. Pick up the shuttle from the Departures side—exit the airport and look to the right. Drop off is at Santa Maria Novella station. ( €5. 25min., every 30min. 5:30am-11:30pm.)
By Train
Stazione Santa Maria Novella will likely be both your entry point to and exit point from the city. The ticket station is open daily 6am-9pm. Self-service kiosks are available 24hr. The Information Ofice is next to track 5. ( Open daily 7am-9pm.) Luggage storage is by platform 16. Trains run to and from Bologna ( €42. 37min., 2 per hr. 7am-10:35pm.), Milan ( €52. 1¾hr., 1 per hr. 7am-9pm.), Rome ( €44. 95min., 2 per hr. 7am-10:45pm.), Siena ( €6.20. 90min., 6 per hr. 8:10am-8:10pm.), Venice ( €42. 2hr., 2 per hr. 8:30am-8:30pm.), and numerous local destinations.
By Bus
Three major intercity bus companies run out of Florence. SITA (V. Santa Caterina da Siena 17 800 37 37 60 www.sita-on-line.it) runs buses from Siena, San Gimignano, and other Tuscan destinations. LAZZI (P. Stazione 4/6r 055 215155; for timetable info 055 35 10 61 www.lazzi.it) buses depart from P. Adua, just east of the train station. Routes connect to Lucca, Pisa, and many other local towns. CAP-COPIT (Largo Fratelli Alinari 10 055 21 46 37 www.capautolinee.it) runs to local towns. Timetables for all three companies change regularly, so call ahead or check online before traveling.
Getting Around
By Bus
Since buses are the only public transportation in Florence, they are surprisingly clean, reliable, and easy to manage. Not to mention adorably orange and tiny! They are operated by ATAF and LHNEA. Buy a ticket before boarding from most newsstands and tabacconists, from a ticket vending machine, or from the ATAF kiosk in P. Stazione (800 42 45 00 90min. ticket €1.20, €2 if purchased on board; 24hr. €5; 3-day €12.) Time-stamp your ticket when you board the bus—there are sporadic ticket checks, and if you forget, are caught without a stamped ticket, or can’t successfully play the “confused foreigner” card, it’s a €50 fine. You’re unlikely to need to use the buses unless you’re leaving the city center. The network is extensive, with several night-owl buses taking over for the regular routes in the late evenings, so if you are venturing out of town, pick up a schematic bus map from the ATAF kiosk or use the trip planner at www.ataf.net.
By Taxi
To call a cab, try calling 055 4390, 055 4499, 055 4242, or 055 4798. Tell the operator your location and when you want the cab, and the nearest available car will be sent to you. Designated cab stands can be found at P. Stazione, Fortezza da Basso, and P. della Repubblica. Cabs between fares can also often be found at Santa Maria Novella.
By Bike
It takes some confidence to bike in the crowded parts of central Florence, but cycling is a great way to check out a longer stretch of the Arno’s banks or to cover a lot of territory in a fast-paced day. Mille E Una Bici (055 65 05 295) rents out 200 bikes in four locations, and they can be picked up and returned at any of four locations: P. Stazione, P. Santa Croce, P. Ghiberti, and Stazione F.S. Campo Di Marte. Florence By Bike (V. San Zanobi 91r and 120-122r 055 48 89 92 www.florencebybike.it) is another good resource. Staff will help renters plan routes, whether for an afternoon or for a multi-day trip outside of town.
siena
0577
Thanks to the biannual Palio, Siena shares a reputation with Spain’s Pamplona for being a city that’s completely crazy two days of the year and asleep the other 363. That’s really not a fair rep though, because the Sienese provide plenty to see even when they aren’t racing bareback around Il Campo. The city’s completely befuddling medieval layout is Tuscany taken to its illogical—and seriously charming—extreme. Amid the trapped-in-time Gothic architecture, you’ll find that Siena is also a respectable university town with a campus indistinguishable from the city around it—you’ll only realize you’re at the university when you poke into a church and discover it’s actually a Linguistics department. Offering pleasant Campo-centric nightlife, relative freedom from overwhelming Florentine tourist crowds, and a twisty jumble of streets hiding secrets that will take a semester to unlock, Siena is perhaps the best study-abroad city in Tuscany—and one of the best to visit as well.
ORIENTATION
Siena is a tricky maze of dead ends and twisting streets going to who-knows-where. Learn the key locales of the city center (Il Campo and the Duomo) and orient yourself as best you can from them. Note that the train station is well to the north of the city center, so it may be better to arrive by bus, which will drop you off in Piazza Matteotti, in the northwest of the centro.
ACCOMMODATIONS
We are sad to report that there are exactly eight dormitory beds in the entirety of Siena. If you have a friend with whom to share a bed-and-breakfast double, however, there are quite a few good options. No matter what you’re looking for, you need to plan ahead when trying to visit in early July or early August—at these times, every room in the city is booked (and has been months in advance) for the Palio.
CASA DI ANTONELLA
V. delle Terme 72
B AND B
339 30 04 883 [email protected]
You’ll feel like you’ve scored your own flat at this hands-off B and B where check-in consists of wandering inside to find the room marked by a Post-it with your name on it. Although the owner, Antonella, only comes round to prepare breakfast, you won’t be lacking for anything in
the six airy, comfortable doubles.
From P. Matteotti, take V. dei Termini and turn right onto V. delle Terme. Doubles €50-60.
SIENA IN CENTRO
V. di Stalloreggi 14-16
B AND B
0577 43 041 www.bbsienaincentro.com
Three B and B properties are bundled together as Siena in Centro. All boast similar decoration and amenities. Casa del Giglio, with ornate headboards and fancy curtains, is the nicest, but Casa del Conte and B and B dei Rossi are lovely as well.
For reception, follow signs from the Duomo to the Pinacoteca but bear right onto V. di Stalloreggi. Singles €40-80; doubles €60-120; triples €90-150.
PICCOLO HOTEL ETRUSIA
V. delle Donzelle 3
HOTEL
0577 28 80 88 www.hoteletruria.com
Look for an ivy-covered entryway to find this pleasant little hotel with a comfortable sitting area. The hotel keeps a 1am curfew, but a few of the rather straight-forward rooms have a separate entrance from the street.
North of V. Banchi di Sotto. In the area north of Il Campo, there are signs directing you here. Singles €40-55; doubles €80-110; triples €90-138. Extra bed €10-28.
YHA OSTELLO DI SIENA
V. Fiorentina 89
HOSTEL
0577 52 212 www.ostellosiena.com
Sadly, Siena’s one hostel barely counts as a hostel and it’s barely in Siena. Offering mostly double rooms and a single eight-bed dormitory, the place is a 15min. bus ride from the centro. What it lacks in location it also lacks in character.
From train station, take bus #77 or 4. From the centro take #10, 15, or 77. Ask the driver to let you off at the ostello. Dorms €20; doubles €40.
TRE DONZELLE
V. delle Donzelle 5
HOTEL
0577 28 03 58 www.tredonzelle.com
Rooms are bare-bones but spacious, and a nice lounge sits off the lobby. Hope you’re planning to party with the crowds in Il Campo at night, because you’ll be hearing them all evening anyway.
North of V. Banchi di Sotto. In the area north of Il Campo; look for the signs. Singles with shared bath €38; doubles €49, with bath €60; triples €70/€85; quads with bath €105.
SIGHTS
You’ll find a wealth of things to see in Siena, but the biggest attractions are Il Campo and the area around the Duomo. The six sights of the Duomo complex—Duomo, Baptistery, Crypt, Museo dell’Opera, Santa Maria della Scala, and Museo Diocesano—can be visited with a single cumulative ticket, available at the ticket booth to the right of the cathedral up until 30min. before the sights close. The ticket is valid for 48hr. from first use, so you don’t even have to cram all the sights into one day, and with the exception of the Museo Diocesano, they are all helpfully clustered in the same piazza. At €12 regular and €5 for students, this is one of the best cumulative ticket deals in the region. The cathedral, crypt, and Santa Maria della Scala are particularly worth visiting. Call ahead for specific accessibility information for the different venues.
IL CAMPO
P. del Campo
PIAZZA
Originally conceived as a space for large civic events, Il Campo continues to be the heart of the centro. During the twice-annual Pallo, this shell-shaped piazza is crammed with as many bodies as can be packed into its boundaries when the famous horse race tears around the square’s outer edge. Even without the Palio, the piazza hums with the life of the town. By day, Il Campo is a restaurant-lined expanse of gently slanted, sun-warmed brick. In the evenings, Il Campo is transformed into a communal patio, as the students of Siena plop themselves on the brick in small clusters to drink and hang out until the early hours.
Follow the ubiquitous signs pointing you to Il Campo.
DUOMO
P. Duomo 8
CHURCH
0577 28 30 48 www.operaduomo.siena.it
Of the many impressive cathedrals in Tuscany, Siena’s Duomo might be the best. The first thing you notice is the floor—or rather, the abundant metal posts cordoning off chunks of the floor to stop distracted tourists from trampling over the large marble cartoons underfoot. The earlier examples from the 14th century use a technique called graffito—thin grooves were chiseled out of slabs of white marble and then filled in with black stucco, creating an image worthy of a coloring book. The later examples also use marble inlay to create richly colored designs that almost look as if they had been painted. Overhead, carved busts of centuries of popes look down on visitors. Imagine what they talk about at night. Turn around to check out the beautiful stained-glass representation of the Last Supper. Off the left aisle, the small, richly adorned Piccolomini Library displays an excellent collection of graduals and illuminated manuscripts. And don’t skip the gift shop, which has a rather nice selection of stationery modeled on the library’s illuminated manuscript collection. Sadly, no one has yet been clever enough to turn those graffito designs into a proper coloring book.
Follow the ever-present signs. Ticket booth is on the right of the cathedral. €3. Combined ticket with other Duomo sights €12, students €5. Open June-Aug M-Sa 10:30am-8pm, Su 1:30-6pm; Sept-Nov M-Sa 10:30am-7:30pm, Su 1:30-5:30pm; Nov-Feb M-Sa 10:30am-6:30pm, Su 1:30-5:30pm; Mar-May M-Sa 10:30am-7:30pm, Su 1:30-5:30pm.
SANTA MARIA DELLA SCALA
P. Duomo 1
MUSEUM
0577 53 45 11 www.santamariadellascala.com
Actively tending to pilgrims, the poor, and the orphaned for over a millennium, the Santa Maria della Scala complex is one of the oldest hospitals in Europe. It was also a mighty and wealthy institution, the city’s third-biggest site for artistic installations after the Duomo and Palazzo Pubblico. Today, the building is no longer in use as a hospital—instead, it is currently under renovation to become the new home of the city’s Pinacoteca in 2013. Sadly, you’ll find little on display relating to the building’s fascinating history. One brilliantly frescoed ward displays a photograph of the same ward in the early part of the century, when a row of cots stood under the same frescoes. For even more reductiveness, check out the second-to-last fresco on the right, which illustrates a scene in this very ward from many centuries before. Another notable section of the complex is the church of Santissima Annunziata—an enormous 1730 painting of a scene from the Gospel of John fills the church’s entire apse. Unlike much 18th-century work in the region, this one actually looks like it’s from 1730. The complex’s many other galleries are filled with the permanent collection from the hospital’s history as well as rotating exhibits from the Pinacoteca and elsewhere. If you want to learn more about the Palio, check out the small exhibit of contrada flags and other ephemera related to the famous race in the lower level.
Across from the entrance to the Duomo. Individual tickets available at the museum, combined tickets at the general Duomo ticket booth. €5.50, students €3. Combined ticket with other Duomo sights €12, students €5. Open daily 10:30am-6:30pm.
CRYPT
P. Duomo
CHURCH
0577 28 30 48 www.operaduomo.siena.it
The crypt is not actually a crypt, but you can see why they thought it was when they discovered the space during a 1999 excavation. Imagine digging along the outer edge of a cathedral to lay some new pipes and suddenly breaking into an underground cavern lined with 13th-century frescoes, still brightly colored thanks to centuries of being sealed off. That’s a tale to tell at your next dinner party. Visiting the discovery today, you walk through the crypt on a false floor several feet above the real one, with windows underfoot allowing you to see the brickwork and floor of the cavern as it was found. It’s quite a nifty space.
Just past the ticket booth, on the left. €6. Combined ticket with other Duomo sights €12, students €5. Open daily June-Aug 9am-8pm; Sept-Oct 9:30am-7pm; Nov-Feb 10am-5pm; Mar-May 9:30am-7pm.
MUSEO DELL’OPERA
P. Duomo
MUSEUM
0577 28 30 48 www.operaduomo.siena.it
The Duomo’s m
useum houses Sienese masterpieces that were once displayed in the cathedral, including an excellent collection of statues of prophets by Pisano. On the upper floors, check out a beautiful silver rosebush and a jumble of reliquaries that hold bits of saints. Follow the signs to the Facciatone, at the end of the Hall of Vestments. A staircase inside the wall leads to what would have been the top of the facade of the New Cathedral had construction not been halted by the Black Death in 1348. From here, enjoy a splendid view of the city and the surrounding mountains. It’s also enjoyable to look down on Il Campo and watch all the little tourists scurrying about.
Opposite the Duomo, on the left. €6. Combined ticket with other Duomo sights €12, students €5. Open daily June-Aug 9am-8pm; Sept-Oct 9:30am-7pm; Nov-Feb 10am-5pm; Mar-May 9:30am-7pm.
BAPTISTERY
P. San Giovanni
CHURCH
0577 28 30 48 www.operaduomo.siena.it
This building where, for centuries, Sienese children were baptized is small but sumptuously decorated, with a ceiling fresco illustrating the Apostles’ Creed and a 15th-century marble, bronze, and enamel baptismal font. The polychrome marble exterior is quite grand and a worthwhile pairing with the Duomo.
Let's Go Europe 2011: The Student Travel Guide Page 155