Husband and I took the nonstop high speed train from Florence to La Spezia in August for a day trip…read moreto Cinque Terre. Our hotel was situated a few blocks from the main train station in Florence...the Santa Maria Novella train station. However, the only trains available from SMN to CT were all regional trains, which means it would take twice as long and stop at all the smaller towns. Plus the regional train would require a change of trains at Pisa with only 5 minutes to do so. To me, that just sounded like a disaster waiting to happen. So naturally, booking train tickets from Campo di Marte was a no brainer. We asked our hotel to assist us in getting a taxi to the train station since it's situated a few miles from the center of Florence. No problem in getting transported there. The train station is small and once you locate your platform, you will need to climb stairs to the upper level. Boarding was smooth and we were served snacks and coffee on the train. We also booked the nonstop high speed train back to Campo di Marte, which arrived at 10:00 pm. Unlike busier train stations, there are no taxis waiting at arrivals. It was dark, quiet and outside of the city center. I tried getting an Uber, but after 30 minutes of waiting, I gave up. Luckily I saved the taxi service's business card. I gave them a call and within 10 minutes, we had a cab pick us up. Whew! Keep that in mind if you decide to book this train station. What can I say? It's a train station. A plain one. No fluff, no restaurants, just good ole train service. I would do it again just to avoid a lengthy, uncomfortable, jam packed regional train any day. Our train ride was comfortable, clean, and fast!

A very "honest" restaurant, not located in the center of Florence but in the suburbs of Campo di…read moreMarte. The menu is not overly fancy, pizzas are well cooked and have also interesting variations for toppings, loved the cakes which in my opinion were probably the top spot of the food offer. Relaxed atmosphere, easy going service make the rest. All in all a good place, solid offer and average prices. Will come back for a casual dinner/lunch when the occasion arises!

This was a quaint little café right down the street from our bed-and-breakfast in Florence. We both…read moreordered cappuccinos that were decorated with cute little designs. That was a very unexpected treat. They had a deli counter there as well follow different sandwiches that you could have hot or cold. I ordered a three and ham sandwich. The guy warmed it up for me and it was really good. This ended up being a great place to stop for a morning starter. I was able to get something substantial to eat is important to me on a trip like this where you do so much walking.

I recently came across this bistro / bar in the Campo di Marte zona. In these hot days I have been…read moresearching for a very particular bar to come and do work on my computer ..... first in mind was a place with Air Conditioning! Given this past week of June has been in particularly hot, so this was important, second on my list is FREE wifi, and third is an electrical outlet to plug my computer into, as my computer's battery is pretty much lifeless and can't hold a charge for more than 5 minutes ... I am a slave to my computer charger : ( Well this bar has all of my requirements and MORE. First there is air con and during the day during the lunch rush hours it is on and comfortable, but even when the doors and windows are open the tempurature it is very comfortable inside. The wifi is free and there are many tables and places to plug in my computer!! yay! Lunch time is really busy here, around 12:30 -2pm, but after that you can usually have the whole place to yourself. Lunch is really good, with daily specials, panini, salads to choose from. The coffee is excellent, what else can I say. The interior decor is very modern/bistro with a giant blackboard on the left side of the bar with all the panini / salad specials. The walls are painted a light delightful shade of pink, This is the kind of bar that is super tranquillo, so it's perfect as a place to come and work. The staff is very friendly and helpful... and gelateria badiani is just around the corner, it doesn't get any better !