Rome is called the heart of Italy, but Florence is its soul. This main city of Tuscany has not in vain attracted many centuries painters, sculptors, poets, writers and musicians. One has only to step on the pavements of the Arno embankments - and inspiration comes upon you. Medieval bridges, magnificent cathedrals, museums, which are considered the most visited in the world, all this fills the heart with delight (and the memory card of the camera with thousands of excellent pictures).
In this article we will look at how to get to this wonderful city, Florence. Independent travel requires a lot of energy, because you need to book a hotel, get tickets. And where to go in an unfamiliar city? An alternative to independent voyage will be a tour organized by the agency in Florence. What does he happen to be? How much does it cost? What cities does it cover? Read the article further!
How to get to Italy
If you live in the Asian part of Russia, then only one mode of transport will deliver you to Florence - an airplane. Aviation will help to get to other cities in Italy. But if you are a resident of the western regions of the Russian Federation, you have a certain alternative to air transport, moreover, it is tempting.
In the last decade, bus tours to Italy / Florence and beyond have become extremely popular in neighboring Ukraine. The groups leave both Kiev and the western cities of the country - Lviv, Lutsk and Uzhgorod. At first glance, it seems that it is unprofitable. After all, you have to independently get to the start of such a tour. And the ticket should be purchased "remotely", transferring funds to the account of a travel agency. In addition, you should be most concerned about the opening of a Schengen visa. But the price !!! From one hundred and thirty euros for a five-day voyage (about 9,000 rubles)! And along the way you will see not only Italy, but also Hungary, Austria or Slovenia.
Ukrainian bus tours are divided into two categories - with and without night crossings. The latter are more expensive, because they contain prices for hotels. For independent travelers, note: from Ukraine regular buses and private minibuses run to Italian cities, including to Florence. The issue price is about one hundred euros (7000 rubles).
What are the tours to Florence
Do you want to visit only this city? There is nothing easier. You can walk the streets of Dante, Petrarch and Michelangelo for three days. During this time, you can thoroughly visit all museums, including the Uffizi Gallery, as well as most temples. But if one gets out of Russia so far to Italy, how can one resist the temptation to see other cities? The classic tour "Rome - Florence - Venice - Milan" is very popular. It includes flight, hotel accommodation with breakfast and several excursions, most often sightseeing.
Along with the classic "excursions", agencies offer so-called "combined" tours. They provide a familiarization trip to Florence and plus beach holidays in the sea (summer) or ski (winter) resorts in Italy. There are also tours for events. So, you can watch Florence, and at the same time take part in the Venice Carnival or get to "Black Friday" in Milan. You can order themed tours - gastronomic, wine, medical, in the towns of Tuscany and others.
Typical Package Program
What services does a traveler who buys a ticket to the City of Dreams, Florence get? Russian and Ukrainian operators provide flight and group transfer from the airport to the hotel. By the way, the price of the tour (Florence) depends not only on the number of days spent in Italy and sightseeing, but also on the level of the hotel. You can book a hotel for three or four stars, as well as different categories of rooms. True, all hotels in this case only offer breakfast.
A classic tour to Florence provides a bus-pedestrian city tour. Entrance to museums is usually paid separately. Each package also provides for the so-called "optional" excursions - within Florence or to nearby towns - Luca, Siena. But they also have to pay separately. The Russian tour operator, which is important, provides visa support.
The program of the bus tour from Ukraine
We will not turn rest into torture and book a trip without night crossings. It will cost more, 170-180 euros (approximately 9,000-12,000 rubles) per person for seven days. But compared to air travel, itās still mere trifles.
Take a typical bus tour to Florence from Lviv, which is called "Chao, Italy!" The first day, travelers travel through Hungary. After spending the night in a transit hotel, they continue their journey through Slovenia. There the program provides a tour of Ljubljana. For an additional 38 euros, everyone can go to the picturesque Lake Bled. By the evening of the second day, the bus crosses the Italian border. On the third day, travelers briefly explore the sights of Padua. Arriving in Florence, they check into a hotel. We will talk about how they will spend time in the capital of Tuscany (36 hours). In the meantime, we briefly describe the whole tour. On the fifth day, a bus drives a group of travelers to Venice. There they will have a sightseeing tour by public transport, as well as optional visits to the iconic museums āthe pearls of the Adriaticā. On the sixth day of the tour, Budapest meets travelers. You can optionally ride along the Danube and see the residence of the Hungarian kings Vysehrad.
And a week after departure, the bus returns to Lviv.
What services are provided for tourists in Florence?
It should be said that operators can offer their customers similar programs where more days will be allocated to the city of interest to you (for example, two days in Venice). There are also tours in which routes to and from Tuscany have been changed. For example, people go there through Bratislava, Vienna, Innsbruck and even Munich.
But if you are interested in just an inexpensive tour to Florence, then the best option is by bus through Hungary and Slovenia. What do travelers in the main city of Tuscany have to do? The program includes a tour of the "Flower of Stone". The group will move around by public transport, so every tourist should buy a day pass. The tour begins from Signoria Square. Tourists will visit the famous cathedral of Santa Maria del Fieri, the bell tower of Giotto, the Baptistery with beautiful frescoes and the āGates of Paradiseā, as well as the medieval bridge Ponte Vecchio - a visiting card of Florence.
Optional excursions within the framework of popular āpackagesā
The operators themselves call such a tour "Rome - Florence - Venice", because in their free time on the fourth day, travelers are invited to go to the Eternal City. Two options are offered here: with or without a visit to the Vatican. The first tour costs 68 ā¬ (from children - 30 ā¬), the second - thirty euros more expensive (plus the entrance fee is paid independently). In addition, in Rome, an orientation tour of the city is carried out by public transport. As you can see, in a cheap tour there are many hidden costs. Another optional excursion is a trip to Pisa, where travelers examine the leaning tower, Miracles Square, the house of Galileo Galilei and the moorings of Lungarno. Such a pleasure is worth 38 euros.
Cons and pros of bus tours
Their main advantage is the price. If you have not seen the world, then in one trip and with a rather modest budget, you can see several countries at once, and in Italy - several cities. But it is possible that after such a tour you will remember a whirlpool of different museums, cathedrals, streets, monuments ... And even if you choose a trip with an overnight stay in hotels, not many people like the ānomadic type of lifeā. Therefore, the bus tour "Rome - Florence", the price of which ranges from 130 to 180 euros (9 000-13 000 rubles), has its aviation counterpart. You no longer look at Hungary, the Czech Republic and Slovenia on the road (unless you look out of the window of the airplane window), but you will have immeasurably more time in Italy.
Let's look at what constitutes a classic tour to Italy for wealthy clients. Let's start with cheap offers - from Ukrainian operators.
Italy Tour āRome + Florenceā
Even without the cost of an air ticket, the price of the entire trip immediately jumps from 150 to 460 euros (10,000-32,000 rubles, per person per week). And this is subject to accommodation in a standard double room of a three-star hotel. If you want to reserve the whole room for yourself alone, you will have to pay another 160 euros / 11,000 rubles. Want to upgrade your hotel? A four-star hotel accommodation will increase the total cost of the tour to six hundred euros (42,000 rubles). Moreover, meals are provided everywhere by āBBā (breakfast only).
What is included in the package? Transfer from the airport to the hotel and back, hotel accommodation in the selected category, breakfast, three-hour excursions in Rome and the Vatican, and another two-hour excursion in Florence. That is, the saturation of such a tour is the same as in the bus. And while the price of the ticket is not included in the ticket. Why is there such a difference? Hotels in Italy are very expensive. Customers of bus tours spend the night in this country three to four nights a week. Hotel operators are selected on the outskirts. And tourists who arrived in Italy by plane live in the city center. And this is a big plus. Now letās explain why.
Typical Air Tour Program
The journey begins with the passengers meeting the Russian-speaking guide at the airport of the capital of Italy Fiumicino . On the Milan-Florence-Rome tour, the starting point is the air harbor of Malpensa, the capital of Lombardy. Tourists are immediately transported to their hotels. On the way they are once again introduced to the tour program and invited to visit the optional excursion "Night Rome".
In the morning of the second day, everyone will have a free visit to the Vatican, and after lunch - the Eternal City itself. Those who have already visited such excursions are offered additional ones - āCastlesā with tasting of wine and local delicacies and āChristian Romeā. On the third day, tourists are transported to Florence, where they live two nights. On the first day they are given a āfreeā bus tour of the city. All other outings - trips to the Uffizi Gallery, Pitti Palace, trips to Pisa, Siena, etc. - for a fee. Then the whole group returns to Rome again, making a stop on the way to Chianti for tasting the wine of the same name. In the Eternal City, tourists are left on their own for three days. All excursions to Pompeii and Naples, to the Borghese and Tivoli Gallery are optional.
Travelers leave Italy on the morning of the eighth day.
What are the advantages of flights tours
As you can see, the excursion filling of such vouchers is the same as for cheaper bus trips. But the travelers who chose a tour of Italy (Rome, Venice, Florence) with a flight did not lose at all. Firstly, they live in better conditions and in the very center of the selected cities. They have the opportunity to explore the sights on foot. But the most important thing is not this. Tourists "aviation" (let's call them that) have a lot of free time. And even if people donāt go on optional excursions, they can spend it on what they like most: leisurely walks around the city, trips to museums, shopping and even sorties to other cities. Public transport in Italy is quite cheap, and you can go to Milan, Siena, Genoa and other interesting places while living in Florence.
The specifics of rest in Italy from Russian tour operators
Agencies in the Russian Federation offer their services in accordance with the aspirations of most customers. But a Russian tourist does not think vacation without "all inclusive". Well, anything for your money. And although in Europe hotels offer guests breakfast, sometimes half board, they make an exception for Russian tourists. But the All Inclusive service program automatically inflates the price of a tour of Italy. Rome, Florence, Venice are available to Russian tourists only when they are ready to pay the operator from 115 to 135 thousand rubles. True, this price includes the cost of the flight. But if you really want to see Italy, and not spend a week in the hotel bar, the All Inclusive food concept looks unprofitable.
Reviews
According to travelers, they often choose tours to Florence and Milan, as this makes it possible to combine sightseeing vacations with beach, skiing or shopping. And agency mediation helps put the first visa in a new foreign passport. Reviews about these walks are mostly positive. Comfortable, interesting, a great opportunity to penetrate the spirit of ancient cities ... What else does a tourist need?