Hello friends,
We desire to go as directly as possible to Florence from Dallas, as we plan to spend this trip focusing entirely on Florence and a few areas easily reached from there.
Suggestions on route/airline, etc.?
How many days would you devote to “just Florence”?
What is “Florence-adjacent” that you consider a “must-see” or “must-do”? We are absolutely going to the Cinque Terre. Beyond that we’re open to suggestions. We’ll have a week.
Use Google flights to check flights. DFW to FLR. Also check Pisa, PSA.
I don't think you have time for much more than Florence (maybe a couple day trips from there) and CT.
I dont think you will get a direct flight. At best there are a few single connection flights. Many involve 2 connections. I'd look first at tGoogle flights for the flights with only a single connection; preferably connecting at a major European airport. As an alternative, I believe AA has a direct flight to Rome. From there you could take the high speed train to Florence.
Dig into the Explore Europe section here to see Rick's At A Glance and Plan sections for Florence. Perhaps get a copy of his Italy guidebook. Once you know what you want go see, you'll have a better idea of how many days you need. 3-4 days at least.
Common day trips are Siena, Pisa and Lucca. CT isn't a day trip if you really want to explore all 5 villages and do any of the hikes.
I just posted a review of a Florence-based wine tour elsewhere in the forum. Perhaps you’d be interested.
Q. 1
Lufthansa via Frankfurt:
DFW > FRA > FLR
Air France via Paris CDG:
DFW > CDG > FLR
Both have 4 to 6 flights daily to Florence (and also just as many back).
DFW is a hub for American Airlines (partner with British Airlines and Iberia), therefore you may have several options to both London Heathrow (LHR) and Madrid (MAD) with American or their aforementioned partners in code share, however British Airways has only one flight a day to Florence (FLR) from Heathrow and Iberia also has only one flight a day to FLR from Madrid. Therefore that may or may not work for you.
We've taken the Air France flight from Florence to DeGaulle. I've forgotten the carrier back to US. The Florence airport is really easy to use. If you fly Air France, be sure to check their carryon size which is smaller than the American legacy carriers.
Q. 2
3 nights in Florence (basically 2 full days) is the very bare minimum you should spend to see the basic sights of Florence. Add one night for each day trip you intend to make in addition to Florence.
Q. 3
Easy day trips from Florence (in order of popularity):
- Siena (by bus or train)
- San Gimignano (by train+bus or all by bus), sometimes done in conjunction with Siena when done by private tour)
- Lucca + Pisa (by train, both doable on the same day)
- Chianti Hills (by private tour or rental car), sometime done in conjunction with Siena
- Fiesole (half day trip just on a hill above Florence) by city bus.
- Pistoia
- Arezzo (by train)
- Cortona (by train, sometimes done together with Arezzo, since they are close by).
we are using swiss air through zurich to florence from nyc. it was the best fare i could find for the days we had to travel. our travel days were very locked.
we have 3 nights in florence
we are doing duomo climb (bruneschelli pass), accademia (david) and the uffizi. those are timed tickets. we will try to squeeze in the boboli. insanely doing ct day bus trip because my children are wildly interested in going -- we plan to try to visit 3 of the 5 villages and have a nice lunch. i'm skipping some definite florence must-sees, and only doing highlights.
