where to stay for one night before departing florence

Posted by A. (chicago, il, usa) on 07/22/12 09:18 AM

We are finishing up a two week trip (our anniversary vacation) thinking we need to leave the cinque terre and spend the last night in a hotel near the airport in Florence for a very early flight home the next day. So, does it make sense to do what we've tentatively planned: 1. drop off our car at the florence airport the night before we depart 2. get a shuttle or taxi to a hotel near the airport,
3. get a shuttle or taxi to the airport early the next morning to depart Italy.

Posted by Harold

New York, NY, USA

07/22/12 10:44 AM

11294 posts

Sounds good to me. I see you've read about how to avoid the Florence ZTL's by not driving anywhere near the center, but instead, dropping the car at the airport.

Posted by Ellen

Centennial, CO, USA

07/22/12 09:04 PM

1883 posts

I had to decide the same thing. Our flight leaves at 6AM. Thought about getting a hotel by the airport, but then we'd sacrifice our last night in Florence. Decided to get a hotel in the center of town. I'm told there is no problem getting a taxi at 4AM to get us to the airport. We want to enjoy walking around and getting our last gelato, enjoying the few views of the city at night.

Posted by Larry

Elk Grove, CA, USA

07/22/12 10:01 PM

6898 posts

Note that the Florence airport does not open until 5:00am. Interesting, the check-in counters don't open until shortly after. All of this is on the airport webpage. http://www.aeroporto.firenze.it/EN/ First flights out usually begin at 6:35am. I'm curious to see which flight Ellen is on. A 6:00am flight does not show on the Florence airport webpage under departures. Of course, I'm looking at tomorrow and perhaps, her flight departs on a day that I can't see. Aside from that, your plan to turn your car in at the airport the day before is excellent. Just make sure that you have the office hours for the rental car comany. At that point, you can taxi back to Florence for the night and take an early taxi the next morning or spend the night near the airport. There is an IBIS nord about 2.5km from the airport. I don't know if it has a shuttle to the airport. Staying in Florence sounds a lot better. Cab fares in and out will be about 25Euro each way.