Cycling through Florence

Florentine bicycle tours for amateur cyclists and enthusiasts

Explore more, using the cycle paths winding their way around central Florence and crossing Via Cavour. You can leave your car at the car park affiliated to your hotel, or arrive by train or tram from the airport. Tour the city centre by bike through the parks and along the banks of the Arno at a gentle pace using pedal power.

Bicycle hire and how to explore

Let’s start with a bike. You can hire one using the convenient municipal App, Movi by Mobike, which offers a free-flow bike sharing service. The App requires a credit card deposit and you pay per use. It will show you the closest bike on the integrated map. You can then leave the bike at one of the “bici” points indicated on the map.

Firenzeinbici offers downloadable up-to-date maps of the cycle paths using the Apps IF and FeelFlorence and you can follow the tours on your smartphone.  Thanks to funding from the cycling and environmental federation FIAB, the Florentine Bicipolitana is nearing completion. This comprises eight lines linking Florence with the surrounding municipalities. The cycle paths are protected, georeferenced and digitalised, and cover 90 kilometres of roads for cycling in the city and the province. The easiest routes are in the Campo di Marte area.

There are many different routes for all legs, from a prepped and trained touring cyclist to families enjoying a cycle ride along the River Arno. To give you an idea, we propose a couple of route combinations, while you can use the maps we have mentioned to put together your own made-to-measure tour, based on how much time and energy you have.

ALONG THE ARNO ON TWO WHEELS

The right and left banks of the Arno offer two different types of route. The right bank has a section with a clay surface and a panoramic tour along the Arno and into the “Cascine” park, a relatively rural route. The cycle path on the left bank starts from Rovezzano and is city-based with a tarmac surface leading to the Ponte delle Grazie bridge through the Albereta park, so it also has a nature-based section. Both banks of the River Arno can be cycled along, paying attention at intersections and breaks connecting with the city cycle paths.

It is worth cycling as far as the Ponte Vecchio and pushing your bicycle over it as you walk, among the tourists crossing it on foot. When you enter the “Cascine” park there are two possible routes. One goes towards the Arno to the “Rena” park, another nature park in the municipality of Signa containing sports facilities, a small artificial lake and even a swimming area. The other goes towards the left bank of the Arno through the public park and Argingrosso gardens to the Lungarno Pioppi, a cycle ride through Florence’s green spaces. Remaining on the theme of green spaces, we can park our bikes near the Ponte Vecchio and walk past Palazzo Pitti to the finest gardens in Florence, the Boboli Gardens and the Rose Gardens, without forgetting the Piazzale di Michelangelo, perhaps at sunset, and if there is time, the Bardini Gardens near the house of Galileo Galilei.

OUTSIDE THE GATES OF FLORENCE - FIESOLE

For those who love long and “highly” panoramic cycle routes, the 20 kilometres between central Florence and Fiesole is linked by a road which was the venue for the 2013 UCI Road World Championships. You can stop to catch your breath along the way on the ancient stone benches and hold your breath at the view of Florence from above. With a little imagination you can visualise Leonardo da Vinci trying out his flying machines as you cycle up Monte Ceceri. Newcomers to cycling or those preferring views to effort might prefer to use an electric bike.