Florence boat tour
Why choose this experience? |
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1 | to see Florence from an original perspective |
2 | to cruise the Arno River with a typical 'barchetto’ accompanied by an experienced local guide |
3 | to enjoy a glass of prosecco cruising the calm waters of the river |
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- € 0.00
This tour has been already booked by 8 people
Important information
from 1 May to 30 September
Departure point:Florence, Piazza della Repubblica (next to the Apple Store under the loggias, corner with via Pellicceria)
Daily
5.00 pm and 6.00 pm
English
Full price: €45.00
Concessions:
Children up to 5 years: free
Children 6 to 12 years: € 22.50
approx. 1 hour and 15 minutes
- Guided walk from the town centre to the embarking spot
- Small cruise on the Arno
- Aperitif (glass of Prosecco)
- Professional guide
- Travel book
- What is not specified under "Inclusions"
To join the tour, you must show up at the meeting point 30 minutes before the departure time indicated and submit a copy of the voucher (in electronic or paper format).
The tour includes a small part on foot: please inform us in advance of the presence of disabled participants or with other special needs.
In case of bad weather you must still reach the meeting point at the scheduled time or contact our office in advance. If the weather were to force us to cancel the tour, you will have two options:
- accept a ‘voucher’ to participate in the tour the next day or another day of your choice, depending on availability. The ‘voucher’ is valid for 12 months, it can be used for any other regular tours provided by us and can be sold to third parties
- get a refund equal to 100% of expenses incurred
No repayment is expected: in case of NO-SHOW (no show at the start of the tour at the time and the meeting point indicated on the voucher) and / or rejection of the on-site service; if customers get lost during the tour; in case customers decide to leave the tour before the end of the service.
The departure is guaranteed with a minimum of 2 persons.
Reservations can be made up to 48 working hours before the service.
In case of any problems at the site, you can contact the emergency number indicated on the voucher.
In exceptional cases and/or reasons of force majeure (i.e. acts of nature, strikes, exceptional closures,serious unexpected events or health problems experienced by the person in charge with the service after which it is really impossible to find a substitute) the service you booked might be cancelled. If this should happen, you will be informed as soon as possible and, according to the type of service you booked, you will have the possibility to choose between postponing the service on the first date available or receiving a total refund of the price paid, if the cancellation policy of the service itself allows a refund.
Full description
If you are looking for a tour that will enable you to discover Florence from a unique and privileged point of view, this is the option for you! Thanks to our boat tour in Florence on the Arno river you can glide silently on the river and admire the beauties of the Tuscan city escorted by a prepared local guide who will talk about the history and the curiosities of this beautiful Tuscan city.
On board a 'Barchetto', a gracious characteristic boat, you will pass under the famous Ponte Vecchio and you will see the alternation of monuments and palaces known throughout the world. During your small Arno river cruise you can taste a good glass of prosecco and enjoy the splendour and romanticism of Florence at dusk, when the landscape is coloured of ochre, red and pink light.
Let's look at how this unmissable Florence river cruise takes place - one of the most original excursions in Florence offered by toscanainside.com.
At the planned meeting point you will meet the guide who will accompany you to the embarkation spot walking through the streets of the historic centre. During this short but pleasant walk you can admire Piazza della Signoria, since centuries the social and political centre of Florence; pass beside the Uffizi Gallery, which boasts one of the most important art collections in the world and, from the shore, admire the spectacular Ponte Vecchio which, in its upper part, is home to the Vasari Corridor, a treasure chest of precious paintings from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries and portraits of great artists.
After having reached the boarding area, you will board the 'Barchetto' ... and from this moment you will step into the heart of this fascinating boat tour of Florence!
Before proceeding with the description of the itinerary, it is worthwhile to say a few words on the boat, used because it is part of the true Florentine tradition. The 'Barchetto' is a wooden boat - the shape of which is reminiscent of the Venetian gondola - that, in ancient times, was used for the transport of material used for the construction of the city walls along the river: today there are only four original ‘Barchetti' that sail the Arno in Florence! The boatman, an experienced local seaman, will expertly guide your boat using a long wooden oar: this ancient navigation system, called ‘a stanga', will enable you to gently float on the waters in a silence broken only by the lapping of the oar... in summary: a genuinely evocative guided river boat tour of Florence!
Curiosities: do you know why the sailors of 'Barchetti' are called 'renaioli'? In the past, the terms 'renaioli' or 'bucaioli' designated those involved in the collection of sands on the river bottom that were used for the construction of Florentine buildings- mostly poor people who worked very hard. In order to resume the navigation along the Arno river, the 'renaioli' have now renovated some of their ancient boats and, helped by their inseparable wooden rod, they have become the river ferrymen of the city!
During your boat trip of Florence by 'Barchetto', the guide will reveal the secrets of the beautiful buildings that adorn its banks and tell you about the history of Florence and how the bridges and ‘lungarni' (embankments along the Arno river) have changed over the years… passing under the renowned Ponte Vecchio, he will talk about the Vasari Corridor and other wonders enclosed in the Tuscan city.
Among other things, you can admire the Ponte di Santa Trinità, esteemed as one of the most elegant bridges in Europe, that connects the homonymous square to the Piazza de' Frescobaldi. There are two important buildings at the bottom of the bridge: Palazzo Spini Feroni at the north end and Palazzo della Missione at the southern end.
Sitting comfortably on board your 'Barchetto' Arno, you'll also see Palazzo Corsini al 'Parione', a splendid example of baroque architecture that belonged to the Corsini family from which it took its name. Inside the building there is the homonymous Gallery, the most important private collection in Florence and the only eighteenth-century collection of paintings still complete today.
And if all this weren't enough... how about a glass of cool prosecco served on board? An opportunity to contemplate splendid palaces and picturesque views of Florence at sunset, enjoying one of the most popular white wines of Italy!
At the end of the Florence Arno boat trip you will be given a pleasant booklet to take home on the mini-cruise and on Florence... a little souvenir to remember this wonderful experience.
Rely on toscanainside.com to visit Florence: boat trips, guided tours through the historic centre, the Galleria degli Uffizi, the Accademia, the Vasari Corridor and many other destinations are waiting for you!