I was just watching a program about finding your relatives with Susan Sarandon and they did an aerial shot of Florence. Wow - I don't know what I was expecting but it's a lot larger than I thought it was!
Posted by
Vernon, Canada
32353 posts
Laura,
It doesn't really feel "large" when there. I found the city to be quite "walkable", at least to all the major sights.
The show with Susan Sarandon will be airing here in about half an hour. It sounds interesting, so I'll have a look.
Posted by
OP
Minneapolis, MN, USA
90 posts
Thanks for the perspective.... I was feeling a little overwhelmed :-)
Posted by
Seattle, WA
1317 posts
I've always found Florence to be fairly compact. Most tourists to Italy tend to stick to a smaller geographical area than the entire city. Since most of the sights of interests are 500+ years old, and predate buses and subways, the folks who built them didn't spread out very far ;-) Works out well for those of us who like walking.
Posted by
Florence
362 posts
Florence is definitely not a "large" city - there is some sprawl into the valley, but as mentioned, most everything is inside the ring road (the old walls). There is a stone marker in the porta at Pizza Beccaria - from there to Piazza Signoria is 1.2 kilometers. I walk at least half way across this city (or more) almost every day between school pick ups, lunch, ,errands, etc. It is very doable -