Public transit in Florence is convenient and easy to use once you know how it works. If you stay in the historical center, you may rarely need a bus - but if you land at Vespucci (Peretola) Airport, you most definitely might end up taking the T2 Tram line as it is by far the easiest and cheapest route to go straight to downtown Florence.
Because city buses and the tram system are interlinked, understanding how the system works will save you money and help you avoid hefty fines if you do use public transportation.
Fares & Ticket Types
Bus service across the region is unified under Autolinee Toscane (AT), while trams in Florence are operated by GEST. Tickets are interchangeable across both systems within Florence. Here are some basic details:
- Single Urban Ticket (Urbano Capoluogo): €2.00 (valid for 90 minutes on both buses and trams). This rate applies to Florence and major provincial capitals (Lucca, Pisa, Siena, Arezzo, Carrara, Grosseto, Livorno, Massa, Pistoia and Prato) but the time only applies to Florence; time for tickets in all other major cities is only 70 minutes.
- 10-Ticket Carnet: €18.20 (saves €0.18 per ride). Available digitally via the app or on paper at official sales points.
- On-Board Paper Ticket: €3.00 (purchased directly from the bus driver with exact change; not always available).
- Non-Urban / Smaller Towns (Urbano Maggiore): €1.50, valid for 70 minutes.
Note on older tickets: Rates went up on August 1, 2026. Unused tickets purchased at former rates remain valid until January 31, 2027.
How & Where to Buy Tickets
First off, here in Italy you don't pay as you get on the bus or tram. You must possess a ticket or digital ticket BEFORE boarding and "activate" it by validating it as soon as you get on board. More on that in the next section.
- Contactless "Tap" On-Board: The fastest and easiest option for solo travelers. Tap your contactless bank card, phone, or smartwatch on the validating machine when boarding. Important: 1 device = 1 passenger. You cannot tap multiple tickets for a group on a single card/device.
- "AT Bus" App: Buy single tickets or 10-ticket carnets. Be sure to activate your ticket in the app before stepping onto the bus, as slow cellular data won't excuse you from a fine if it isn't active yet while on the bus. A controller can get on right after you and ask you right away for it, these digital tickets, depening on your connection, not be immediately activated and you could be accused of activating it only once you saw the controller get on the bus.
- B-Link System (by Email): Ideal for families or groups traveling together. Purchase multiple tickets online all at once and activate each one via an email link before boarding to generate individual QR codes. Activation sets off a countdown timer on a browser window, so that you can clearly see how much time you have left on your ticket.
- Paper Tickets: Available at automated machines (at all tram stops), authorized retailers displaying the Autolinee Toscane sticker (coffee bars, newsstands, tobacconists), and the official AT ticket office inside Santa Maria Novella (SMN) train station.
Validating Tickets & Avoiding Fines
Ticket controllers inspect buses and trams daily, and penalties start around €40–€50 if paid promptly (rising significantly if delayed). All tickets sold are "blank" and thus are "used" only when a date and time are printed on to the ticket, whether paper or digital.
- Validating Paper Tickets: Insert your paper ticket into the yellow machines near the doors upon boarding to print the date and time.
- Check the Stamp: If the machine makes a printing sound but fails to print (due to low ink), immediately notify the driver or use another machine on board. If neither works, handwrite the current date and time on the ticket in ink to demonstrate valid intent. This is the one we get often as a comment on our website - people who actually had tickets, either didn't validate them and didn't check that the machine printed the date and time and were then fined. So please double check!
- Refusing Fines: You have the legal right to refuse to pay a fine on the spot and pay it later, as well as contest it through official AT channels if you believe it was issued erroneously. If you pay the fine on the spot, you cannot contest the fine later on.
- Validating digital tickets: this is only for tickets bought on the app and through email. Activate the tickets before getting on the bus, just so you know it went through before getting on. It might make you lose a few minutes but it is better than trying to argue with a controller that you had activated it before getting on the bus and that your data connection is just slow.
Main Tram (Tramvia) Routes
Trams are quite efficient, passing by every few minutes and bypass road traffic, making them faster than buses so I highly recommend them if you need to go along the tram route.
- Line T1 (Leonardo): Runs from Villa Costanza (Scandicci) to SMN Train Station, continuing to the Fortezza and Careggi Hospital. (Operates ~5:00 AM – 12:12 AM; until ~1:40 AM on Fri/Sat).
- Line T2 (Vespucci): Connects Florence Airport to SMN Station, extending through Fortezza da Basso, Piazza della Libertà, and ending at Piazza San Marco near the Accademia museum. (Operates ~5:00 AM – 12:20 AM; until ~1:50 AM on Fri/Sat).
- ATTENTION:
- Line T3 (Under Construction): Currently being built to connect Piazza della Libertà to Bagno a Ripoli and Campo di Marte (Stadium area). Expect ongoing roadwork in these areas through 2027 for the first part, likely to 2029 for the second one.
Useful Buses for Visitors:
- Bus 7: Runs from SMN Station / Piazza San Marco up to Fiesole for Etruscan/Roman ruins and panoramic city views.
- Bus 12/13: Runs to Piazzale Michelangelo, a hilltop terrace with a wonderful view of Florence. The 12 and 13 run the same route in opposite directions so depending on where you are, one or the other make it easy to get to and from the Piazzale, especially if you hike up the hill to get there and are tired and want to take the bus to get back to the center of town.
- C1, C2, C3, C4: Small electric buses navigating the narrow historic center streets (Note: central areas like the Duomo and Pitti are fully pedestrianized).
The easiest way to see which buses can take you where you need to go once you are in Florence is to download the official AT bus app and use that to see what bus lines are near your location using your location. Before travel, I suggest you check the official bus website AT Bus (chance to English version at the bottom of the page) to use their travel planner and map out your location and see whether there are buses near you.
Driving to Florence? Use Park & Ride
Avoid driving into Florence’s restricted traffic zone (ZTL), navigating narrow streets many of which are one-way, and expensive garages.
- Villa Costanza (T1 Tram): Located directly off the A1 Highway (you do not need to exit the toll system). Park for €0.50/hour or €7.00/day and ride the T1 tram straight into downtown in 20 minutes. (This is also the drop-off point for FlixBus). Check out the parking lot website here for more details.
- T2 Guidoni (T2 Tram): Located near the airport. Ideal for short visits (€1.50 for up to 5 hours; €4.00 for up to 12 hours). Rates increase significantly after 12 hours so this most convenient if you know you will take less time. Check out the T2 Guidoni scambiatore parking lot page for more details.
The new T3 line will also have a large parking lot in Bagno a Ripoli, it is under construction at the moment.
More tips to avoid fines!
I want to highlight once again some tips on avoding fines on the bus/tram sytem here in Florence:
- If you get on and need to ask the driver for information, first go validate your ticket, then return to ask the driver! An "I didn't know" will not get you off the hook if you get caught without a stamped ticket if the controller gets on while you were asking for info.
- Buy several tickets (either paper or digital) beforehand and use them as you need them. Paper tickets don't expire while digital ones expire after 12 months of purchase, even if not used.
- Bus drivers can also ask to see if you have a ticket when you get on the bus. This is more likely in the off hours when there aren't many people on the bus, I've never seen them ask anyone.
Downtown City Bus Maps
The AT website has no maps, it relies on its "trip planner" to show you which buses to take. But this old map shows the 4 lines that cross the center.... they are NOT up to date, as the lines have changed names. But the colored routes of the old C1, C2, C3 and D (now C4) lines still generally match the current ones.
Since the Duomo area, Via Tornabuoni and Piazza Pitti are all now pedestrian-only areas, most of the buses going outside of the center either can be picked up outside the SMN train station or in Piazza San Marco but if you need to move from one end of the center to the other, these are the lines you will need to take and that is why I want to highlight them here. Just for informational and visual help in seeing them mapped out over the historical center, not for definite stop info.
Sightseeing Tours within Florence
They've only been in Florence for a few years, but the open top, two story sightseeing buses seen in other cities of the world offer an interesting way to view the city. The buses follow a route to take you by all of the main sights as well as passing by the more panoramic points that you might otherwise not visit if you're going through Florence quickly (meaning limited time like a day in Florence). View details and book your tour of Florence now ».
Visiting nearby areas outside Florence
Tourists interested in seeing areas outside of Florence by bus will find the new company a boon! All of the main cities are now run by AT bus company across the region! The BusItalia company offers "The Mall" bus service between Florence and The Mall shopping center in the Valdarno, you should look at their schedule here. If you'd prefer a private tour, take a look at the offerings available through Viator that take you to The Mall.
Questions?
If you have any specific questions about how to move around Florence - how to get to a specific landmark or which buses to take, feel free to post your questions on our Florence section of our Forum! We will gladly offer any assistance we can :)!
Last update: August 2026
