City: Empoli    Province: Firenze

Location

Florence is a 25 min drive but it is better to leave your car at Empoli station and get the train into Florence to avoid parking stress in the busy and chaotic city centre.The train ride goes along the river Arno and there are some beautiful views of little hilltop towns.The train goes right into Florence centre and takes 25mins. From Florence station it is a five minute walk to the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio. The train costs 5 EURO return.

Nearby, fifteen minutes by car, is the beautiful little town of Vinci, birthplace of Leonado di Vinci, the famous genius, the Vinci museum displays innumerable working examples of his inventions.

The area of Montelupo Fiorentino, four miles away is an historical town famous for its terracotta and ceramics, in its little back streets it is possible to buy beautiful hand painted pottery. Every June there is the Ceramics festival and the local artisans show examples of their work. There are demonstrations revealing age old secrets of hand painting and glass blowing .

Throughout the summer months there are various Sagras where you can sample the local dishes in a typical festive Italian atmosphere, good food, good value and good fun. Sagras are local festivals which small towns organize to raise money for either a local charity or perhaps, for example a new sports facility for the village, usually a new football pitch.!!
We have a very nice local trattoria five minutes away where for a very reasonable price you can taste typical dishes.

During the month of July the shops in Empoli are open two evenings a week until midnight. There is a wonderful atmosphere with music and performance art.

There is an endless list of things to see and places to visit, from the Art Cities such as Florence to the July Jazz festival in Pistoia (one hour away).

How to reach Us

A car is recommended as it allows unparalleled freedom on your trip and lets you see (and dawdle around in) the smaller villages and hill towns of Tuscany. The streets in some little towns are narrow, and parking spots are tight with limited time limits so make sure you always have small change ready for a metre.If you are not used to lots of traffic and fast speed limits it is advisable to take the train to the bigger towns.The trains are very frequent from Empoli and the train service is reliable, cheap and frequent

For those who dont drive or simply prefer a car free holiday I Melograni is an ideal base. You can experience the Tuscany countryside, away from the tourists, but still within easy reach of all the major towns by train or bus. Public transport in Italy is very cheap, clean and nearly always on time.
We shuttle guests to the station after breakfast ready to buy tickets and catch trains from Empoli Station to go to Florence, Siena, Pisa, Lucca or San Gimignano
The ride to the station is less than 10 mins in the car. Guests get a taxi back in the evening. A taxi back costs about 11 Euro

Please write for detailed information and map on how to arrive at I Melograni  in your language