My wife and I each with a check-size baggage and each with shoulder bags will be dropped off at Florences SMN by taxi. Someone wrote of the difficulty getting from one of the station levels and having to drag bags up many stairs to get to the train departure level. I have been unable to locate a description of the station. Can someone please clarify this issue for a couple of struggling veterans. It would also be helpful to see a clear map of the station.
Thank you,
Richard
Posted by
lexington, il
4105 posts
Posted by
Idaho, USA
7674 posts
Hi Richard,
If I remember correctly from last September, the side of the station on the right side of this map - Piazza Adua, is flat. It’s the location where taxis will be queuing. The opposite side - Altmanni, has a steep set of outdoor steps to reach the curb. Inside the station, the lines I was traveling were all on the main level; in fact, I don’t remember multi-levels except for the shops.
Was the person possibly referring to Bologna’s station? Or many of the smaller stations have stairs up to each of the lines. Milan & Florence have the “trains pull into the station and back out” vs, the “drive through” which requires the stairways between lines.
Posted by
Tampa, FL
607 posts
Here is the station website in English. I believe the taxi will let you off at street level, which is the same level for all the departing trains. You may have to cross the street, but I don't remember navigating stairs when I was there last year. The website has a map, but it's not great.
Posted by
Firenze, Italy
1653 posts
Taxis usually leave travelers in the front gallery (but in cases of traffic jams). From there the path to train departures is flat.
Posted by
Italy
3812 posts
There are more levels at SMN? Since when?
It's a terminal station, you don't actually need anything else since all terminal stations follow the same layout.
Posted by
New Orleans
1215 posts
That's a great map link that Gerri posted. The taxis usually drop off and pick up on the "Piazza Adua" side... actually more in front of the station, but closer to the Piazza Adua side. From where the taxi should drop you off it's a flat walk all the way in to the terminal, and to the train platforms. (On the OTHER side of the front of the station, there are the outdoor steps that another poster described.) The only steps you should have to encounter from Piazza Adua will be the three steps up from the train platform onto the train cars themselves. With the luggage you describe, you might want one person to board first and the other person to help lift the luggage up to the person on the train.