Hey all, normally I would try to figure this out, but I want to be exact on this part of my travel, so here it goes. We will be driving from Venice to Siena in June next year. Somewhere north of Florence, I will be dropping off a couple of "tourists", so they can train into Florence and daytrip. It appears that the A1 is the road we will be heading south on. Does anyone know the area well enough to tell me a great suburban Florence train station, close to the A1, that will work as a drop off point. FYI, I will continue to Siena and meet up with them later in the evening. Sounds crazy I know.
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32219 posts
Rob, The only station that comes to mind is Firenze Rifredi which is "somewhat" close to the A1. However, I'm not sure if you'll have to pass through any ZTL areas to reach that particular station? In the same circumstances, I'd probably try to drop your "tourists" in Padua or other nearby smaller location, and have them take the train to Firenze S.M.N. so that you don't have to deal with traffic or other "issues" in the Florence area. Taking the ES / AV train directly from Venice to Florence is another option, as they'd be there faster than going by car and therefore would have more time for touring in Florence. One point to note regarding driving in Italy is that each driver must have the compulsory International Driver's Permit, which is used in conjunction with your home D.L. These are valid for one year and easily obtained at any AAA office. If you decide to use the original plan, be especially careful driving in the Florence area, as if you pass through any ZTL areas, each pass will produce a €100+ violation ticket! Happy travels!
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32897 posts
There's an exit just north of Florence, marked for the airport. That area is called Sesto Fiorentino. Just north of there on the side roads is an area called Campi Bisenzio. Its been a few years from a time that we stayed at the Sesto Novotel and explored the area but my memory is that either Sesto (I think) or C Bisenzio (maybe) had a station one or two stops from F. SMN on the line from Pisa. I was sorely tempted to try it, investigated it and the area and decided because of bus schedules not to. It might work for you though. Sorry I can't remember more.
Posted by
OP
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
425 posts
Thanks for the input so far. I was hoping to find a town just like Padua, only a little closer. As long as we are all heading the same direction, I wouldn't want them to have to pay too much for a ticket into Florence. We are planning to leave Venice at sunup, so I think we can reach Florence by mid-morning. Should give them plenty of time before catching the 5pm train to the Cuna area.
Posted by
OP
Atlanta, Georgia, USA
425 posts
Nigel, thanks for the input. While researching this, I have already looked at the Pratignone stop, which appears to be near Calenzano, and looks to be closer to the A1. If the map is correct, it is just a couple of stops north of Sesto Fiorentino. Can I assume that if someone got on the train at Pratignone, heading south, they could get to the Florence main station easily?
Posted by
Northamptonshire, England
32897 posts
Rob, I had never heard of Pratignone. What I did was go to www.bahn.co.uk which is the British branch of Deutsche Bahn, the best folks for finding train schedules all over Europe. I use the British one because it goes straight into English, and is easier for me than typing reiseankunft.bahn.de and clicling English. Well I went there and put Pratignone in origin and Firenze SMN in destination and picked today. I see that there is one train every hour at xx:51 and arrives at x+1:18, 27 minutes later: Pratignone Sa, 08.01.11 dep 09:51 R 6613 Regionalzug Number of bicycles conveyed limited, 2nd class only Il Neto dep 09:55 Sesto Fiorentino dep 09:59 Zambra dep 10:03 Firenze Castello dep 10:06 Firenze Rifredi dep 10:11
Firenze S.M.N. Sa, 08.01.11 arr 10:18 it looked like it is €3.82. If that's wrong it won't be off by much. There's also another train at xx:20 which gets in at xx:52 with a 10 minute connection at Sesto Fiorintino. Have a look at the website - its full of gems.