Most air travelers traditionally choose to travel via Rome or Milan. Tuscany itself can be reached by rental car on the E35 toll motorway or by train. Italy has a well-developed railway network, and ticket prices are low – for example, moving from Rome to Florence, the capital of Tuscany, will cost 16-55 EUR per passenger. You can check the schedule and buy tickets online at the office. Trenitalia website (in English). Budget ways to get to Tuscany also include an air flight to Rimini – in the summer, the local airport serves transfers from Russia. The prices on the page are for October 2021. See Bridgat for climate and weather information of Italy.
Florence is less popular, as there are no direct flights from Russia. However, this option may be of interest to those who enter the region from other European countries: the local airport has international status, both large airlines and low-cost airlines Ryanair, Vueling and EasyJet make regular flights there. In the latter case, it is quite possible to fly to Tuscany from Paris or Prague for only 65 EUR.
Since December 2016, a new opportunity has become available for Russian travelers to get to Tuscany – a direct flight to Pisa. Three times a week throughout the year, it is carried out by the Pobeda airline, and Es Seven flights are added during the tourist season. Prices start from 270 EUR for a round-trip ticket. It is advisable to get from Pisa to the capital of Tuscany by rental car or train – the transfer will take an hour and cost from 7-20 EUR.
Transportation
The most reliable and inexpensive way to travel around the region is by train. Unlike buses, railway trains follow the schedule, and the fare for them is comparable to buses. It is convenient to plan a trip at the office. Trenitalia website, where you can also purchase tickets online. High-speed trains (Le Frecce) connect the main cities of the region with each other, as well as with the main centers of the country. Local lines (Regionale) are better suited for moving between small settlements – trains of this network stop at almost every station, and a ticket between neighboring stations will cost from 2 EUR.
Buses are sometimes freely circulated by schedule, so it makes sense to use them not for intercity trips, but for visits to urban neighborhoods – as a rule, buses of intracity routes are orange, and those that travel outside the commune are blue.
Bicycling has become very popular lately. The length of bike paths in large cities is growing every year, and the emergence of electric bicycles has made the countryside accessible even for physically unprepared tourists. Today, even in the smallest settlements of Tuscany, you can find a rental office with humane prices, although not everywhere the employees understand English.
Taxis in Tuscany cannot simply be hailed on the street – a car can be called via the Internet, but most often it is booked in one of the special taxi companies that are concentrated around bus stops, railway stations and the main squares of any city.
Rent a Car
It is not difficult to rent a car in Tuscany, the rental rules are no different from the general Italian ones. All major international offices are represented at the region’s airports, as well as major Italian distributors such as Maggiore. You can also easily take a car in almost any city in the region, but it is better to book it online in advance. For trips in large settlements such as Pisa, Florence and Siena, it is better to take a compact inexpensive car, and buy full insurance with the money saved. To move around the countryside and “wine tourism” it is worth taking care of a car with a spacious trunk – gastronomic products of local craftsmen can take up a lot of space.
For true connoisseurs of the Italian spirit in Tuscany, there are also exotic options from small companies like Slow Hills – a trip behind the wheel of the legendary Fiat 500 will cost a lot, but it will definitely leave an unforgettable experience. Fortunately, in Tuscany, even a small road winding between lonely villas will be well paved, so that even small cars can easily pass.
In Italy, a traveler in a rented car will have to pay a lot even for a minor violation of traffic rules – for informing the police, car rental companies write off from 30 to 55 EUR from the bank card used when renting.
In large cities, there are few free parking lots, and those are most often located far from the center. The farther from the center, the cheaper, but in general prices vary between 0.60-3 EUR per hour.
Communication and Wi-Fi
In Tuscany, there are no problems with either the quality or the availability of mobile communications. In the region’s major cities, an LTE network has been deployed; in small towns and rural areas, 3G will have to be limited – although it is quite enough for voice calls and Skype communications. It is easy to buy a SIM card from local operators in any city in the region (a passport is enough to draw up a contract), but there is no particular point in such a purchase – operators have raised prices, and a minute of conversation will cost about 0.10-0.80 EUR.
An essential advantage of Italian mobile contracts is the possibility of unlimited access to WI-Fi points of the selected operator. In almost every city in the region, you can find at least one TIM, Vodafone, Wind or TRE hotspot. Owners of domestic SIM cards can count on free Wi-Fi at airports, restaurants, shopping centers and some public areas.
