Discovering Florence: Insider Travel Tips from Irish Expats Living in the Heart of Tuscany

In today’s episode we’ll be covering the wonderful city of Florence

• We'll be chatting about:
• Why we went to Florence
• Why we moved to Florence
• Transport, accommodation, food and fun
• The value for money
• and some overall tips if you're planning on visiting Florence from an Irish couple who’ve been living in the city for the last 8 months

SEASON SCOREBOARD
Salerno	98
Florence	88
Naples	88
Rome	85
Siena	84

 

Transport: Within the city: 

• Ride Movi bicycle and scooters
• Bird Scooters
• Download App Taxi
• Busses from Santa Maria Novella and St Marco’s Piazza

Easy Day Trips:

• Milan: 2 hours by train
• Bologna: 38 minutes by train
• Pisa: 1 hour by train
• Cinque Terre: 2 hours 40 mins by train
• Venice: 2 hours by train
• Rome: 2 hours by train

Other fantastic day trips include Lucca, Livorno and Siena.

Accommodation: We recommend staying in an Airbnb. Do NOT stay at the Hotel Royal. Our favourite hostel (with got a private room) was Hostel Archi Rossi.

Food:  

• Trattoria San Lorenzo
• Trattoria Sabatino
• Centrale Market foodcourt (upstairs) and downstairs for groceries
• Antica Porchetteria Granieri 1916
• Antica Trattoria da Tito
• Trattoria Zà Zà
• Crown of India
• New Dehli
• Trattoria Dell'Orto
• Wild buns bakery

 

Fun: 

• The Excelsior Hotel for coffee or sunset
• Piazze Michelangelo
• Finnegan's Pub
• Cuban bar (Antica Panineria SMN)
• Santo Spirito and market
• Fiesole
• The Irish Pub Tour
• The Florentine - Great guide to events in Florence

 Tourist Guide

• Ponte vecchio
• Sante Croce
• Uffizi
• The Academia
• Pitti palace/Boboli Gardens
• Duomo & Tower
• Wine Tours - Out of the Box (high end) and Get your Guide (cheap alternative)

 

ABOUT SEASON ONE

Irish Expats Cormac and Jane discuss their highs and lows of travel. Season one follows their journey across Italy. Topics include remote working, realistic travel budgets, top tips, and what it’s really like to work and live abroad. In season one, each episode will focus on a region or city they visited on their six-week holiday from Southern Naples to Lake Garda in the North.

 

ABOUT US

Cormac is a professional Irish bartender having worked in the hotel and bar industry for 8 years. Originally from Leitrim, he studied Hotel Management and Business at GMIT. He was working in Galway in the bar trade for 5 years before he decided to move abroad. His original plan was to work on a vineyard in Northern Italy using WWOOF. 

Worldwide Opportunities on Organic Farms (WWOOF) is a worldwide movement to link visitors with organic farmers, promote a cultural and educational exchange, and build a global community conscious of ecological farming and sustainability practices. Find out more: https://wwoof.net

Jane is a communications consultant working in the culture and energy sectors. She has previously produced and promoted international organisations including Web Summit, Edinburgh Festival Fringe and European Capital of Culture projects. After 10+ years of working in Communications & Events, Jane has transitioned to fully remote consulting work. Although regularly travelling back to Ireland for work, she is now based in Florence with Cormac.

 

DOWNLOAD OUR FREE DAY-BY-DAY GUIDE (FREE)

Here is our day by day excel sheet of our 6 week summer trip across Italy. It includes the following categories: Dates, Transport Methods, Accommodation Links, Fun (Tours, Bars & Excursions), Food and Tips for the following cities:

• Naples
• Salerno
• Sorrento
• Rome
• Siena
• Florence
• La Spezia (and Riomaggiore)
• Venice
• Desenzano del Garda
• Sirmione
• Malcesine
• Riva del Garda

Download the travel guide for free at: https://www.altlivin.com/shop

 

JOIN OUR EVENTS: The Irish Pub Tour (Florence)

Join Cormac and Jane for a tour of the best Irish pubs in Florence. Learn about the history of Irish whiskeys and gins, how to pull the perfect pint of Guinness and make new friends on a drinking adventure across the beautiful city of Florence.

The group travels to four bars across the city. 4+ Drinks included. Learn more: https://www.airbnb.ie/experiences/4177857

FOLLOW US

Website: www.altlivin.com
Instagram: @altlivin
TikTok: @altlivin
Youtube: /Altlivin