Getting Around
Taxis now charge a fixed fare for several popular tourist routes to and from Florence, most notably the run between the airport in Peretola and the city center. It now costs €20: no more and no less. Your hotel concierge or front desk should be able to quote you the fees to other common destinations, such as San Gimignano (€90), Siena (€120), and Pisa's airport (€140). Of course, while these places aren't very easily reached by train, and not always comfortably by bus, it's usually cheaper to rent a car.
Florence
Here's a very attractive alternative to a mid-priced hotel in the centro storico: Rent a luxury apartment in the epicenter, with a balcony that brings you face-to-façade with the ornate detail of the Duomo. A company called Granduomo Suites (tel. 055-267-000; www.granduomo.com) has just opened a series of new apartments, after a long restoration, that was actually noteworthy in itself. The building, sitting squarely in Piazza del Duomo, had been vacant for some 50 years, and the restoration team had to carve out a new entrance in Piazza del Duomo where before there was just a very thick, old wall. The result is 17 apartments, four of which have windows and balconies affording a front-row seat on the cathedral, and one with an eagle-eye view over Brunelleschi's dome.
The repairs to the Biblioteca Laurenziana in the church of San Lorenzo (tel. 055/216-634), have been completed, and visitors can tour that part of the library that has been closed since 1999.
Have you ever wondered what it would be like to oversee one of the restorations in Rennaissance Florence? Or how exactly these artists ply their trade? Context Travel (www.contexttravel.com) now offers a visit to the Opificio Pietra Dura with restorer Bettina Schndler as well as an egg tempura/gold leafing workshop with local artist Alan Pascuzzi. Context, whose lectures and specialized walking tours have been featured in Frommer's guides to Rome in the past, is now launching at least two walking tours of Florence this spring: one of the Santa Croce neighborhood, and one called the "Daily Life of a Rennaissance Florentine."
Chianti
For the first time in its history, the Rocca di Castellina in Chianti is opening its doors to the public. The medieval fortress (in the town of the same name), which for years added a nice visual touch to the landscape but was closed to visitors, has undergone a year-long restoration that even gave the place a retractable roof, in order for visitors to access the tower.
I've often noted that there seems to be a new agriturismo opening almost every day in Tuscany, and in Chianti in particular. In November, the province of Siena (where the southern half of Chianti lies) announced an exact figure: Between 2003 and 2006, the number of farm B&Bs grew from 813 to 1,010 in the province, and from 2,923 to 3,798 in Tuscany as a whole.
As for the cheaper side of Chianti accommodation, there is one correction to note: the guide states that a double at the Bar Lucarelli costs €40. That, in fact, is the price for single occupancy. Double occupancy of the same room costs €60.
Pisa
Although the Museo Navi Antiche di Pisa (www.navipisa.it) -- the remarkable collection of sunken Roman ships found in Pisa's once-harbor in 1998 -- has remained closed to the general public since 2004, visitors may take guided tours of the restoration work. Tours include all on-site laboratories (for wood restoration, ceramic restoration, etc.) and are run by the company in charge of the works, called Coidra (tel. 055-512-1919; www.coidra.it). There is yet no definitive date for the museum's reopening, tentatively slated for 2009, but there have been some unreliable rumors that this could happen as early as this summer.
Montepulciano
The Affitacamere Bellavista (tel. 0578-716-341) in Montepulciano has slightly upped its rates for the 2008 season to €55-€70.
Arezzo
The city has temporarily closed the publicly run Ostello Villa Severi youth hostel (tel. 0575-299-047), which is most unwelcome news in an area with precious few downtown accommodations. It is supposed to open when the city finds new managers.
Talk with other Frommers.com readers on our Italy Message Boards.