Verona or Florence for solo female traveler

The Florence train station is close to all the sights, very easy walking. Florence is very compact and makes a good base for a lot of day trips.
It’s barely a 10 min flat walk from station to Duomo, lots of good options for lodging not “at” train station

Verona station is further from the center and I don’t think you’ll want to stay in that area
Verona is also a good base for several day trips

Either place is safe enough

It might be best to decide what exactly you want to see and do before deciding on a base.

Both cities have a lot to offer, just different
I’d say Florence certainly has more

Carrie, a short 10 min walk to nice, safe hotel area by Duomo in Florence and a lot to see in this city inside and out…day trip to Venice is also possible if you have not been there.

I recommend Florence but don’t stay near train stations. A little farther away will be much better and safer.

Hi Carrie,

We were just in Florence is it seemed very safe. There are a lot of people around; lots of American students. We were in Provence, Paris and Florence and heard the most English there.

Day trips may determine where you stay. From Florence, there are easy day trips to Bologna, Lucca, Pisa, Orvieto, Siena, San Gimigano. From Verona, the day trips might be places like Venice, Lake Garda, Padua, Ravenna.

I’ve been to both Verona and Florence. It is not a horribly long walk from the train station into Verona. There is also a local bus that will take you from the station into the city. From the train station in Florence, it is a much shorter walk into the city and hotels. Having visited both cities, I would choose Florence for your first visit as there are more major sites to see than in Verona. I would feel safe in both cities.

Florence. Get the RS Florence book. Very helpful. Excellent and practical advice. Will make your solo adventure easier. Or even better take the 7 day RS tour. That way you’ll have the privilege of seeing Michelangelo’s David without the hordes. I found the statue breath taking and throughly enjoyed the young art historian’s narrative about its creator.

If still occurring the chanting of the monks at San Miniato al Monte is special. The Chapel of the Magi is beautiful. IMHO Stibbert Museum and Gardens is a “ hidden gem.”

Lots to keep you busy in Florence. Museums, churches, art, architecture, markets, cafes, green space, walking along the Arno….

Safe travels.

Hi Carrie,

If you’re planning to end your trip in Italy, you may consider flying home from a city near your destination. ( Choose the “multi-city” option when booking your flights)
If you’ll be focusing on Northern Italy, choose Milan as your departure airport (Malpensa). If you plan to travel to Florence or further South then you may choose Rome as your departure airport. By doing this you will avoid backtracking to Zurich.

How many days do you plan to stay in Italy? The only reason I ask is because day trips can be tiring, and thus you may want to consider a couple of bases instead.

My first solo trip was to Italy, and I felt safe in most places I visited.
If you’re interested in reading my trip reports please send me a PM

Happy planning!

Thanks for the responses so far!! I really appreciate it. It sounds like I should take a closer look at the hotels in Florence. My one hesitation about Florence is the crowds, but I guess they will be hard to avoid anywhere. When I was searching for hotels earlier near the train station, I came across Hotel Rivoli, which is near Santa Maria Novella. Should I avoid that one as it’s too near the train station? I will definitely take a look at hotels closer to the Duomo.

I’m definitely firm on flying in and out of Zurich as those are nonstop flights. I am not interested in having connecting flights—there’s no nonstops from Chicago to/from Italy during the offseason. I had originally planned to go to Italy in early 2020 with my sister and bro in law, so I do have many Italy guidebooks. I will start focusing in on Florence and the surrounding area. Some potential day trips from Florence would be Arezzo, Lucca, Bologna, Verona, and Venice. I know, day trips to Venice are bad. But I’d rather see it for a short time (trying to avoid the main areas), than not see it. And I do intend to return to Italy with my sister and bro in law.

No set time limit for the trip. In the 2-3 week range depending on what I want to see in both Ticino and Italy. When I was in Switzerland, we did a bunch of day trips and I didn’t mind them. I’m up and out early, by 6 or 7. If I was traveling with others, we would move around more. But since this will be a solo trip, it just seems easier to have one base in Italy. Once I get a little more travel experience, I’m hoping I’ll have more confidence to move around a bit.

Thanks again everyone!!

Hi Carrie, I'm a frequent solo traveler who has been in your shoes. I often stay near the train station for the reasons you listed. I don't tend to be out late at night, so I've usually felt quite safe even in the "seedy" areas. You say that you're from Chicago so I'd say applying the awareness techniques you use walking around in your home city after hours are going to work for you in any city in Europe.

Here are a couple things I do to establish comfort with a hotel location. I look at reviews on Booking.com because they only allow reviews by people who have actually stayed at the location. You can sort reviews for those given by solo travelers. Read through them, if safety topic is raised frequently, move along. I sometimes check reviews on TripAdvisor too just as a second opinion. I also make use of Google street view to "walk" from the train station to the hotel. Though not always current day images, you can get a very good feel for the neighborhood.

As for your base selection, just a note that Florence is a solid 6 hour travel day by train from Zurich, so you'll lose chunks of two days to travel. Unless you're really excited about train travel, I'd consider flying at least on the return leg so you can return to Zurich via air (just stay near airport on night before you return home). Use rome2rio.com to plot out your options - it includes a realistic calculation of travel time.

It is hard to avoid crowds. I have been to Florence dozens of times and the only hotel that I didn't like was near Santa Maria Novella. It was too noisy outside for me late in the evening. Just be aware of your surroundings. Things can happen anywhere. There are a few hotels not far from the train station in Verona and they are an easy walk. In my opinion nothing is really far in Florence unless you go up to San Marco.

I wouldn't use Rome2Rio to calculate travel times. I've found the specific information (fares, travel times and frequencies) shown on that website to be very unreliable. It's good for telling you whether you'll be able to reach your destination by train or will need a bus (or some combination), but for the nitty-gritty I recommend going to the website of the company running the trains/buses. Usually if you keep clicking through Rome2Rio.com you'll find a link to the website you need.

Like you, my first goal upon arriving in a new base city is to drop off my luggage, so I try to find a hotel near the train station. However, I have on a few occasions ended up in areas that had very few restaurant options, which I found to be a real drag. I'm not saying you'd encounter than in either Florence or Verona, but in the future I'm going to go to Google Maps and check out the restaurant situation around the hotel I'm considering. Walking the streets via Google Maps is also a good idea.

Note that most people recommend taking a bus rather than the train from Florence to Siena.

Thanks for the great tips!! I didn’t realize reviews could be sorted based on solo travel. But, I looked and see how to do it. And great tip about checking google maps. I’ll be sure to do that.

Regarding trains, I have the SBB (Switzerland) and DB (Germany) apps on my phone and used them both in Switzerland last month. I guess I need to look into an app for Italy. And figure out how to buy train tickets. We had a pass in Switzerland and didn’t have to buy tickets. That's one thing I'm a little nervous about.

I’ll stop somewhere in Switzerland to break up the train rides. I’m excited to have an excuse to stay in Switzerland again. 😊

I haven't been to either, although I will be going to both in November. However, my daughter went to school in England and travelled all over Europe on school holidays (they'd get a month at a time), and she said Florence was her favourite city. My massage therapist says the same. It seems Florence is quite special. :)

That's one thing I'm a little nervous about.

No need.
https://www.trenitalia.com/content/tcom/en.html
https://www.italotreno.it/en

Both have apps. Super easy to use.

Hotel Pendini in Florence is always highly recommended here (have not stayed myself) but the location is perfect.
Don't know what your budget is.

I know, day trips to Venice are bad. But I’d rather see it for a short
time

If you have 2-3 weeks you really should STAY in Venice- give it the 3 nights it deserves.
It's doable as a long day trip but probably not enjoyable as a day trip.

I've stayed in Florence eight times, and I don't feel that the area near the train station is unsafe.
I think three times I've stayed within spitting distance of it as a solo female traveler.
It's very convenient if you want to take a train for a day trip out of town.
However, it is a bit quieter across the river, and away from the immediate Ponte Vecchio area if you need a quiet sleep.
Florence is very easy to walk around to all the sites you would want to see as a first time visitor.
How long do you plan to stay in Verona or Florence?
I vote Florence for your trip!