Off to Florence / Pisa - general fabness please!

[bramblebooks]

Any recommendations for places to eat (see!!!) in Florence and Pisa? Off with the kids in a week or so.

Will I need more than a day in Pisa - got some flexibility on times.

Youngest ds is registered disabled, anyone know anything about disabilities and tourism in Italy? ( ie 'fastpass' tickets).

bump a da bump

I promise to get the max out of looking at tight buns respected Italian policemen and soldiers.

We spent a day in Pisa and it was long enough, there isn't a huge amount there. Florence with children might be worth paying to book art galleries in advance. The statue of David in the park above the town is a nice if not steep walk.

Thanks. I've got two nights booked in Pisa so will leave Florence later on in the afternoon to give us more time in Florence.

Will have to search online about booking galleries - Uffizzi of course, where else do people suggest (I was last there 15 years ago so am blank).

Can't wait to take in the atmosphere again.

You MUST book tickets in advance if you want to visit the Uffizi as there are massive queues otherwise. Website is detailed below:-

www.uffizi.com

Thanks - I recall queueing for 3 hours last time - not good in the heat with a diabetic child this time.

Book your uffizi tickets on advance. You can do Pisa in an hour or two. Nowt there but the leaning tower really.

Florence is just one of those places where you wander, stop for a coffee or glass of wine, wander some more, icecream etc etc!

The open top bus tour in Florence is very informative too.

Yes Pisa is average.

you can book leaning tower tickets in advance as well. children under 8 aren't allowed up the tower though.

Ok, I've booked an extra night in Florence and cancelled one of the two nights in Pisa, seems that we should be able to cover Pisa in a day or so! Thank you.

Are prices horrific for food/drink in Florence (partly due to euro?)

Food and drink can be a bit expensive buy water / drinks in supermarkets and store in hotel fridge - fill up water bottles in the drinking fountains you will see round the city. Watch out for bars in the most centtral places that charge youa fortune for sitting down and drinking - head down teh back streets.Its ages since I ate in Florence but there used to be some great snack places in the centre just off tehbeaten track. Look out for a book Florence for kids - makes sightseeing sooo much easier !

grazie molto

Be careful if you order a beer at some places in Florence. We ordered 2 beers on afternoon and out came these huge boot shaped glasses filled with lager. Was flat about 1/4 of the way in and we were charged £15 each.

Just make sure you ask for the sizes of these things. The waiters will see you coming. In the back streets of Florence there are lots of little deli type shops which are not as expensive as the main areas.

P.S. you made the right decision cancelling one night in Pisa.

still making notes on all of this - keep the tips coming!!!

Same with icecream. If you're not careful, they'll give you a bigger cone and more icecream than you can possibly eat. Really. Then the locals laugh at you as it dribbles down your arm forming the word "tourist". "Piccolo" means small I think. Got us what we wanted icecream-wise.

Are you just doing Pisa and Florence? What about the bits in between?

Drinks prices in the centre of Florence are HORRENDOUS! Try walking down little side streets to find better deals. One place I saw was 10 Euros for a coffee, eek!

Am really jealous though . Haven't been into Pisa (just drove past), but Florence is stunning and beautiful to walk around at night.

We done an informal opera thing with a meal beforehand, 'think' it was booked on lastminute as a package. Don't know if that's the type of thing you'd be interested in but it was a lovely experience

When in Florence you must absolutely must play Pooh sticks off the Ponte Vecchio. Also David is easier and cheaper to see at the Piazzale Michelangelo and the views are amazing!!

And yes, Piza is just the tower. Some fab Roman graffiti though!

I think Pisa is being underrated here: yes, there is the tower and all the buildings in the main square but it has a nice botanical garden, and an archaeological dig where they have found a whole bunch of Roman boats which are being excavated and pickled (like the Mary Rose in Portsmouth). And if you move away from the Tower area, it is a really nice, quietish little Italian university city. There are good restaurants around the market. And the evening promenade of everyone in their bella figura is entertaining. At its best once the daytrippers have gone away, I'd say.

Florence is heaving with tourists throughout, day and night. I would definitely seek out recommendations for eating - the few random places we tried were mostly rip-offs and very poor quality. And don't expect to be able to eat anything in the evening before 8pm...

If you go up to Piazzale Michalangelo you get a great view of the whole of Florence. All the hippy kids go there before sunset and watch the sun go down, its really amazing. Theres a couple of little cafes there. You can get a bus back to the town centre if you want.

there's a fab flea market in Florence - clothes, tat, jewellery etc, down one of the streets off the duomo. Wouldn't bother with the glaaeries with the kids tbh, really boring for them. Try the Boboli Gardens nr Pitti Palace - really cool and big enough to run off in. Over the Ponte Vecchio, and straight on, somewhere on the left.

I'm really sorry this I'd going to be quite vague and probably very unhelpful but here goes. In Florence there is an Egyptian kebab shop that itself sells good cheap food (but not very Italian) and just beyond it in a little round area square thing are a bunch of cheap but very yummy restaurants. The usual fare pizza pasta nice house wine but nicer and cheaper than the main part. I cannot tell you how to find it it's about 5-10mins walk from the Doumo in the opposite direction to where the train station is (sorry don't know whether north south east or west). I know that's vague but there aren't many egyptian kebab places we found it from a guidebook so if you hear of one or read about one in a guidebook have a look for it and around it.

Will you have a car? If you go to Siena at all drive a little further out from Siena about 20 mins there is a farm called Spannochia near the town of Rosia. It's an 800 year old organic farm which you can wander around and they have loads of animals. It's beautiful and great if you need to get your kids out and about for some fresh air and a run and if they love animals, even better. There is a website for it. We got married in Certaldo near there and spent a week there with some friends as a kind of long reception.