Florence Car Hire tailored for you

Florence is one of the best known and most visited cities in the world. Its extraordinary historical and artistic heritage makes it one giant open-air museum.

Cradle of the Renaissance and “home” of the Italian language, every street and square in Florence are enduring reminders of its splendid past, thanks to the works left by important artists, architects and writers such as Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Brunelleschi, Dante and Donatello.

Visiting Florence, the capital of Tuscany, means immersing yourself in a place with a unique history and atmos-phere, where you can discover not only its most famous landmarks and attractions but al-so the not-so-famous and surprising ones, which are just as evocative.

Things to see in Florence: the most beautiful places in the his-toric centre

While it is true that you can visit the historic centre of Florence on foot, a car will be very useful to reach the many enchanting places surrounding the city.

Moreover, by opting to rent a car in Florence you can arrive in the Tuscan capital com-fortably by plane or train and then rent the car directly in the city.

To rent a car in Florence you can turn to Maggiore, an experienced company with an office at the Amerigo Ves-pucci Airport and three offices in the city centre.

In order to guarantee the maximum safety of its customers, Maggiore carries out constant and scrupulous checks of its rental cars, ensuring that they are clean and disinfected pri-or to delivery.

Once you have parked your car near the centre, your itinerary of Florence can start from the magnificent Piazza del Duomo, where you will be immediately struck by the extreme beauty of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, Brunelleschi’s Dome, the Baptistery of San Giovanni, Giotto’s Bell tower and the Crypt of Santa Reparata, a collection of unique architecture that makes the centre of Florence a veritable open-air museum.

From the centre, in just a few minutes you can reach Ponte Vecchio, characterised by the presence of numerous goldsmith’s workshops, and after walking another kilometre you will reach Palazzo Vecchio, a stupendous example of 14th century civil architecture dominated by the 94-metre-high Torre di Arnolfo.

Among the things to see in Florence, you cannot miss the Uffizi, one of the most visited museums in the world, which houses paintings of enormous value such as Botticelli’s “Venus” and Caravaggio’s “Shield with the Head of Medusa”, the Galleria dell’Accademia, which houses works by Pontorno, Botticelli and Ghirlandaio, and the House of Dante, a three-storey museum that traces not only the artistic and political history of the Supreme Poet but also that of medieval Florence.

What would a visit to the Tuscan capital be without immersing yourself in the charm of Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens, in the allure of the Brancacci Chapel, in the eternal history of the Basilica of Santa Croce, the place that preserves the “Urns of the Strong” as Ugo Foscolo called it, in the silence and peace of the Rose Garden, and in the en-chantment of the Medici Chapels, the burial place of the De’ Medici family.

About a 15-minute drive away is the Abbey of San Miniato al Monte, a masterpiece of Florentine Romanesque architecture on top of a hill with a panoramic view of the city, the nearby Piazzale Michelangelo, a magnificent work of art by the architect Giuseppe Poggi, built as part of a larger urban restructuring project known as the “Risanamento fiorentino” (Florentine Restoration).

Before leaving the city centre, recharge your batteries with a lunch of typical Florentine dishes such as ribollita, pappa al pomodoro and the legendary Fiorentina steak.

Trips from Florence: what to see

Often overshadowed by the magnificence of the capital city, the numerous villages around Florence are really worth seeing and will not make you regret having to travel a few kilometres to visit them.

Your itinerary can begin by travelling the 50 km or so that separate you from Certaldo, a medieval village nestled in the green Tuscan hills where you can visit the house-museum of Boccaccio, and then reach San Gimignano, a picturesque medieval village dominated by 14 majestic towers that have survived to this day.

Once back on the road, stop in Barberino Val d’Elsa, a beautiful small village of the Chianti region, before reaching the Etruscan town of Fiesole, which will surprise you with the beauty of its Etruscan-Roman archaeological area, and Sesto Fiorentino, a town re-nowned, above all, for its handicraft production of ceramics and fine porcelain.

Other places to visit near Florence are Vinci, Leonardo’s birthplace on the slopes of Montalbano, Carmignano, where you can see the archaeological park comprising the Artimino museum and four Etruscan sites. Also worth seeing are the towns of Scarperia, a medieval town known above all for its production of knives, and Montaione and Montefioralle, both included in the list of the “Most Beautiful Villages in Italy”.

Finally, if you’re travelling with children, you can’t miss Collodi, a small village in the municipality of Pescia about an hour from Florence where you can take a tour of Pinoc-chio’s Park. If you’re travelling as a couple, head to the Impruneta Thermal Baths and enjoy a relaxing afternoon, or to Passignano, in the municipality of Barberino Tavarnelle and visit the beautiful Abbey of San Michele Arcangelo, a monastic complex enclosed by walls.

There are so many things to see in and around Florence and with a rental car you can create the perfect itinerary, with the freedom to include as many stops as you wish during your trip.