Where to stay in Florence

The Duomo and the Signoria are the core of the UNESCO centre: the cathedral, the Palazzo Vecchio and the Uffizi a few minutes apart, crowded by day. Santa Croce, to the east, keeps the square and the basilica with bars and restaurants around them. Santa Maria Novella and San Lorenzo are the station quarter, with the Mercato Centrale.

The Oltrarno, across the river around Santo Spirito and San Frediano, has Palazzo Pitti, the Boboli gardens and the artisans' workshops. Campo di Marte, east of the viali, is residential, with the football stadium and its own railway station.

Fiesole is the outlier: a separate town on the hill about 5 km from the Duomo, with its own tax and its own rules.

The whole centre inside the viali, the Oltrarno included, is a camera-controlled traffic zone (ZTL). It is closed to unauthorised cars Monday to Friday from 07:30 to 20:00 and on Saturday from 07:30 to 16:00. In 2026 the summer night zone runs from 2 April to 4 October on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights from 23:00 to 03:00. A fine goes to the car's owner, which for a rental is the company.

Florence has a rule for hotel guests. A hotel, pensione or B&B inside the zone puts the car's plate on the white list, for EUR 1 per entry, and the entry counts as authorised for the three hours before the hotel registers it. The car takes the shortest route, stops at most 30 minutes in a residents' bay near the door with the hotel's slip, and then leaves for a garage or outside the zone. Garages inside the zone register their customers the same way. Holiday lets are not named in the rule, so a flat's host cannot count on it. Residents' bays inside the zone are towing zones at all hours.

Outside the zone, blue bays are paid on weekdays from 08:00 to 20:00, EUR 1.00 to 3.00 an hour depending on the ring. The Villa Costanza park and ride off the A1 charges EUR 7 for 10 to 24 hours, with trams every 6 to 8 minutes, and the Parterre garage at Piazza della Libertà EUR 15 a day. GetCar's guide Driving in Florence: the Airport Shuttle and the T2 Tram, the A1 and the FI-PI-LI, the ZTL Hours and the Hotel Rule, the Scudo Verde, Park and Ride and the Garages covers the roads in full.

Florence charges an imposta di soggiorno per person per night. Since 1 February 2025 it is EUR 3.50 in a one-star hotel, EUR 6.00 in a three-star, EUR 7.00 in a four-star and EUR 8.00 in a five-star, and EUR 6.00 in B&Bs, room lets, holiday homes and holiday lets. It is charged for at most 7 consecutive nights, and children under 12 pay nothing. Fiesole sets its own: EUR 2.00 to 5.00 on the table its tax page links, for up to 10 nights.

Holiday lets of up to 30 days need a five-year authorisation from the city. Since 21 June 2026 no new ones may start in the UNESCO centre, frozen since 2024, or in the surrounding sub-zones A3 and A4; only flats already let carry on, those let in 2024 in the centre and those in use on 21 June 2026 in A3 and A4. The regional administrative court rejected 19 appeals against the rules on 14 May 2026. Each let must show its national code, the CIN, on a small plate by the doorbells and in every listing, and hosts must post emergency numbers and a 24-hour contact inside.

Italian law lets a host accept only guests with an identity document or passport, and the host registers each guest with the police within 24 hours. Florence's rules add that the reception must match the guests who stay, and a 2024 Interior Ministry circular, upheld by the Council of State in November 2025, requires identification in person or by a video link at the door.

The night traffic zone comes back every year from the first Thursday of April; in 2026 it ends on the night of 3 to 4 October. The daytime zone runs all year.

The supply of holiday lets in the centre is now fixed at the flats already in use. Those let in 2024 stay outside the new rules for three years from 31 May 2025. The freeze applies to holiday lets, not to hotels.

For a month or longer, the lease type matters more than the date; the monthly guide below covers it.

A first visit on foot: the Duomo and the Signoria.

Livelier evenings in the centre: Santa Croce.

Workshops, gardens and a quieter night: the Oltrarno.

A train in the morning or the tram from the airport: Santa Maria Novella and San Lorenzo.

A car that is easy to keep: Campo di Marte, or Fiesole on the hill.