フィレンツェで馬車に乗る

The very best way to see or even get around Florence. The crowds won't move an inch for cars, taxis, old people or people in wheelchairs, but they sure do move for the horses. The carriage is up high, affording a beautiful view above the throngs of visitors jamming every inch of the city. The right to operate a horse carriage has been passed down for generations, and the horses work one day on and one day off. The guides are locals and knowledgeable about the city and the carriages themselves are a work of art. A one hour tour costs slightly more than a standard Trip Advisor / Viator tour offering and it is worth every penny. It's romantic, they get you up close to the sites, it's education and it supports traditional family businesses. We liked it so much, when we were leaving town, we took the carriage to the train station (for a fraction of the tour cost). I have been to Florence at least five times, and this is the best thing I've done!!

We paid $286 for a 45 min ride. We arrived at the meeting point 15 min early as requested. Our driver and carriage was not there . After asking several other drivers where else we could go we called Viator. They tried to connect with the third party company, but no one answered. After 20 minutes of searching for our ride, the third party company, Accord S.R.L., called us saying they sent an email changing the location of meeting. I never received that email until 2 hours after the ride was supposed to happen. The owner was very rude and kept trying to tell us where to meet, even yelling at us! After 30 minutes we found the new meeting point . The driver was very nice and apologetic, however, we could not hear half of what little he did point out as sights to see, and we only got a 30 minute ride. Also the picture you see is false! They no longer have 2 horse carriage rides, nor was the carriage as nice as what you see in the picture. Very deceiving! BTW, you don't need to reserve a ride, just walk up to any driver with no passengers and they'll take you on an hour ride for half the price!

We were only in Florence for a day, arriving by high-speed train from Rome (but this is definitely worth considering as a day-trip). Booking this one hour carriage tour as our first activity was a really good way to get our bearings and spot locations like Ponte Vecchio which we returned to after the tour. It was a mixed weather day, so umbrellas were up occasionally. However, the experience was still really enjoyable. Our driver was Giacomo and his beautiful horses were Kael and Kenzo. We were accompanied by a very knowledgeable local guide, Ivan. We covered a lot of ground in one hour before having lunch at a wonderful restaurant recommended by Ivan (www.ristorantetotofirenze.it) which we’d never have found without him pointing it out when we drove past. This gave us a good lunch and time to visit Ponte Vecchio before joining a ‘David and Duomo’ tour that afternoon. Then time for a final coffee before an easy 20 minute walk back to the train station. What a great day!

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