Hello,
We are travelling to Italy next month and will be staying outside Florence at an agriturismo in Impruneta. We are traveling into Florence from Rome and were initially planning on renting a car when we get to Florence and then driving to Impruneta, but were a little worried with some of the things we have read regarding driving out of Florence with the ZTLs. I tried to research on the CAP bus system that travels between Florence and Impruneta, but did not feel like I could find much information on the days they have buses and how often they run. I had read a very old post regarding the CAP buses that said they do not run on Sundays, is this still true, because we will be arriving on Sunday to Florence? While in Tuscany, we want to travel to Siena for a day and would also like to explore the Chianti region. Basically, my question is would we be OK relying on public transportation or should we go ahead a rent a car during our stay in Tuscany.
Any information you could share would be very helpful.
Thank you!
Posted by
Firenze
500 posts
The present bus timetables are at http://www.acvbus.it/orari/366.pdf - yes, bus services are greatly reduced on Sundays and festivities as most customers are students and workers that move little on Saturday and do not move at all on Sunday. Times may appear confusing as there are three possible routes (through Bagnolo or Pozzolatico and, much longer, Strada) between Florence and Impruneta.
You may notice that in order to get to the bus to Siena you do not have to go all the way to the city center - buses en route to/from Siena stop in Galluzzo that is already half way to Impruneta.
IMHO trying to travel extensively by bus in the Chianti area is very time consuming - bus services are designed on commuter needs, not really for tourism. A car would give you many more possibilities.
You do not have to worry driving out the ZTL; what is dangerous is driving to the ZTL. The rentals at via del Gelsomino are already in the direction of Impruneta so maybe are a possible option.
Between Florence and Galluzzo and all around the Impruneta area there are several speed radars so be very careful to stick to the general limit of 50 km/h in built areas (and also between the small cemetery and the very last houses of Florence). Driving out of Florence has no problems but the speed limits.
Going direction Florence has a big traffic trap: where via del Gelsomino diverges from via Senese, remember that via Senese direction center is reserved to buses, while cars have to turn right on via del Gelsomino. Driving straight means an automatic fine at every time of the day. The ZTL is inside the walls at Porta Romana so if you manage to stay out of the walls there will be no traps (but there are speed controls inside the city, notably along the walls on viale Petrarca). Along the walls circle there are several public parkings that are ZTL safe - the easiest from Impruneta is the one accessed by a small hole in the walls at Porta Romana.
Posted by
San Francisco Bay Area (USA)
16056 posts
asps2, who I think is Florentine like me, gave you good advice.
However the Europcar rental location on via del Gelsomino, which was very convenient to go to Impruneta, was closed a few months ago, so if you rent in Florence you are stuck renting from Borgo Ognissanti or the few locations left outside the city center (Hertz on via del Sansovino, Europcar on via Forlanini in the Novoli district, or the airport).
Borgo Ognissanti is inside the ZTL, but you don't have to worry about cameras when you pick up the car and exit the city center, because the cameras are only at the entry points. The worry would apply only to return the car.
However since you are traveling from Rome to Impruneta (and having a car in Impruneta, IMO, should be a must), it would make sense to rent a car in Rome and save yourselves the train fare (45€ per person). You are going to rent a car anyway when you arrive the same day, so you might as well do so a couple of hours earlier in Rome. Gas+tolls from Rome are less than €60, so if it's 2+ of you, you save. Driving from Rome to Impruneta is easy. Less than 3 hours and you are there. The A1 freeway exit is FIRENZE-IMPRUNETA. once exited go toward Tavarnuzze (basically drive away from Florence) and not even one km later, in Tavarnuzze, you turn left to Impruneta.
Posted by
OP
2 posts
Thank you both so much for the advice. I think we will definitely go ahead and rent a car during our trip.
Roberto, with your suggestion of renting in Rome, do you have a recommendation for which rental location to use to make getting out of the city/on our way to Impruneta the easiest?