Bologna airport to Florence airport

Are you arriving at BLQ from overseas? It’s really not a good idea to drive jet-lagged, a recipe for disaster, in fact.

No not coming in from overseas, coming from Cologne.

Jim.
If you want to rent at BLQ and drive to Florence because that option is cheaper is up to you. I have not compared prices on AutoEurope or Kemwel, the rental car consolidators (now part of the same corporate group) I always use.

However I want you to know that if you land at BLQ at 20:30 you can still make it to Florence using public transportation. The last high speed Frecciarossa train to Florence departs from Bologna Centrale at 22:35. By the time you go the people mover from the BLQ airport to the station may already be in service (it’s currently being tested).

In addition there is a direct bus service from BLQ to Florence downtown called Appennino Shuttle (www.appenninoshuttle.it). The last two buses depart from BLQ at 22:00 and at 00:30.

Now, you might decide to drive regardless because of the rental car price. If you decide to drive, and your hotel is downtown, you may want to choose a parking lot that is closer. The airport parking lot is far from the city center and expensive.

I don’t know where your hotel is, and if you tell me I can better advice you, but there are a number of parking lots near the city center. The one at FORTEZZA DÁ BASSO and the one at PARTERRE are the largest, but there could be more convenient option depending on where your accommodations are.

You would be wasting time driving through the Apennines to Florence and going twice to the airport by tram. Is that ok for you? If the answer is yes... go for it. Vacation time is the scarcest resource imho, but it's a matter of personal priorities. I'd rather take the direct BLQ-Firenze bus, if not the high speed train.

The new mountain section of the A1 that mostly runs in tunnels is full of speed traps both ways, be careful.

So at around 10PM you are actually considering driving out of BLQ? Take the bus to SMN.

If planning to stay in Siena, take the bus from Florence to the town center; car rental at the train station when leaving. Car rental leaving Florence have it arranged at Via Palagio degli Spini, the complex near the airport, most easily reached by taxi. We use Autoeurope [for which we have a toll free number; the reps knowledgable and helpful], get zero-deductible collision, which covers any damage to the body of the vehicle. Read this about driving in Italy and restrictions involved [ZTLs]; do not leave anything of value in a car when parked:

http://driventoit.blogspot.com/

The best procedure is driving directly to a hotel and dropping off bags before doing any sightseeing. Because of ZTL issues auto travel is better suited to towns not easily served by public transportation than those serviced by trains.

Thanks for the replies!

Roberto - I was contemplating the direct bus from BLQ to Florence. Our flight arrives at 20:30 so the earliest bus we could get would be the 22:00 which puts us in at approx. 23:30. My thought process in getting a car at BLQ was it would save time and get us to our hotel sooner than the bus. We will have 3 adults and 2 children (10 and 6). We are staying at the Hotel Alba Palace. Saving money isn’t the deciding factor, main goal is to save time and simplifying the process is but maybe I’m overthinking it.

N_Kingdom - We are staying a couple nights in Siena and plan to do a day trip. And thank you for the comment about driving direct to the hotel to drop bags before sightseeing. We ended up revisiting our itinerary over concerns of leaving baggage in the car prior to getting to our place for the night.

I didn’t know there was a people mover tram nearly complete at BLQ. We travel at the end of March. Does anyone know the likelihood of it being operational by then?

The People Mover, named Marconi Express (after the Airport’s name) is supposed to be inaugurated within a month or so (early Feb. 2020). However it costs about €9 per person, so for 5 people, the taxi would be cheaper, and at that time not much slower (maybe 20 min instead of 10 for the mover but there are no waits for the taxicabs while the mover operates every 10 min or so)..
If you can take the 22:35 train, it is much faster (36 min to Florence). The Alba Palace is 5 min walk from the train station in a section of Via Della Scala which is not accessible by car during the day (it’s within the ZTL, so only residents can enter from 7 to 20:00). The Appennino shuttle bus stops at the Fortezza da Basso (Binario 16 Parking), about 15 min walk to the hotel still through the station).
I would try the train if you think you can make it to the Bologna station by 10pm (I.e. on a taxi at BLQ by 9:35pm).
The day you rent the car you should pick up at the rental center on Borgo Ognissanti (Garage Europa). All rental companies are there on that street and your hotel is really close to it, not even 5 min walk.

What is it like trying to return a car to the Borgo Ognissanti location if we go that route?

It’s easy. But you don’t have to return it there if you don’t want to. Hertz has 2 other facilities outside the city center, Europcar has one. That is in addition the the airport.
For sure I would pick up at Borgo Ognissanti. The return location will depend on where you are going next.

If the southbound side of the Pomte Amerigo Vespucci is still closed, driving out of Borgo Ognissanti with no ZTL worries is much more complicated. Northbound no problem, because approaching the bridge the ZTL is to the east. BO is one way going west.