Comments on: How to Get Around Florence on the Cheap

on 9/17/2007 I had lots of headaches to find a good and cheap internet cafè (they had lousy connections and old hardware). Does anybody know where to find an all inclusive UMTS package?

on 11/22/2005 Be warned: Florentines take 3 or even 4 hour lunches every day, and often work only 4 days a week.

So, as a tourist, it pays double to plan ahead with your sight-seeing. Museums and galleries especially are given to quirky hours; some don't open on Monday, others close every other Tuesday. It's utterly unpredictable. Sometimes various parts of an exhibit that you came to see will be closed while everything else is open.

What is more, although Florence has a tremendous amount of beauty in its gardens, galleries, churches, and museums, you often have to stand in line and pay an admission fee. Hence, it is even more important to check times for the big tourist attractions, such as Galleria degli Uffizi (home of Botticelli's famous works) or the Galleria dell'Accademia (home of Michelangelo's David). My advice is to arrive EARLY.

Trust me, once you see the lines as you approach these tourist locations at midday, you will regret not checking the opening times. Get there 45 minutes before opening. It's much better to be first in line and walk through these gorgeous places before the other tourists pack in.

So, make sure you know the hours before you walk (or worse, take a bus) to your destination because you can never be sure if your destination will have its gates closed.

One last thing - don't plan anything but a long lunch during the middle of the day. Trattorias and Ristorantes are about all that are open from noon 'till four. And who can blame them? It gets bloody roasting in July when that famous Tuscan sun is high in the sky.