IMPORTANT NOTICE: In November 2021, the bus service in Florence changed name from ATAF to Autolinee Toscane, a new company in charge of bus service throughout all of Tuscany, including all of its major cities and for both urban and rural transport. Travelers can purchase tickets from official ticket offices, machines and authorized retailers that display the Autolinee Toscane sticker but also digital tickets by downloading the AT Bus APP, registering your credit card or PayPal account and then purchasing tickets to use each time or several and activate as you need them. Many buses now also have TAP machines which makes it possible to use a credit card or Apple Pay/Google Wallet from your phone or smartwatch.
The important thing to note: bus tickets you buy to use in Florence can also be used in Lucca, Pisa, Siena, Arezzo and main cities in each province! Smaller towns have their own bus tickets that cost €0,20 less than the ones used in Florence. Keep reading for more info on using the bus in Florence!
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Public transportation in Florence is widely used so it makes perfect sense to make use of it while visiting the city. You do have to understand how it works - it is easy - so that you don't run the risk of incurring fines!
While city buses (newer models are white/blue) are run by Autolinee Toscane and the tram system is managed by GEST, bus tickets can be used on the tram and tram tickets on the buses! Ordinary (a single use ticket is valid for 90 minutes) and a "carnet" of 10 tickets can be purchased from authorized sales points (coffee shops, called "bar" here, tobacconists, newsagents: anyone with the "Autolinee Toscane" stickers on their shop windows) and from the bus ticket booth within the SMN train station. Tram tickets can be bought at every single stop of the tram stop as their are automatic machines at every stop. Since both tickets can be used interchangeably on trams and buses, you can start your journey on a bus and change over to the tram with the same ticket while your 90 minutes are still going or vice-versa.
How the system works on city buses and trams
If you want the simplest method, you should first BUY TICKETS BEFORE you get on the bus or tram. Across Italy this system is used, an honor system, where tickets are sold "clean" with no date or time on them: you "use" them by "validating" them in a ticket machine on the bus or tram (trains essentially work the same but the machines are on the platforms before you get on the train). The machine essentially stamps onto the ticket the date and time and your 90 minutes start from there. No one checks that you do this, no one reminds you to do it. Controllers get on the buses and trams throughout the day and request to see your ticket. If you're caught without one, you are fined! The fine is hefty, from 40 euros to be paid on the spot to more if you choose to pay it within 5 days and the amount goes up if you pay within 30 days.
There are two doors on the newer city buses, while older ones had three doors. You generally get on the bus using the front doors and get off from the back or middle door. If you still find a 3-door bus in use, you can get on from the front or last door, then use the middle door solely to get off.
Validate your ticket!
After you get on, the "ticket validating" machine is near the entrance or right around to the left as you start to walk down the aisle. As written above, You put your bus ticket in and the date and time is printed on the ticket, starting the validity of your ticket. You now have 90 minutes to travel with that ticket, so you can get on and off onto a different bus or tram with the same ticket. If your 90 minutes run out while you're riding the bus or tram, you do need to use another ticket.
PLEASE CHECK THAT THE MACHINE PRINTS OUT THE TIME AND DATE! They can run out of ink and you hear the printing sound but see no date or time. Check and tell the bus driver about the machine not working and check if there is another machine toward the end of the bus, many times there are two machines on buses. There are many machines on the trams, so move on to a different one and get the ticket stamped. If there isn't another machine, stay near the bus driver. If controllers get on the bus, the bus driver usually will tell them about it. Otherwise, a ticket with no date or time on it will GET YOU FINED!! They will assume you were trying to cheat the system, fine you and ask you to pay on the spot. In this case, you definitely have to show them the machine was not working BEFORE they fine you. They ask for ID to write out the fine, I would suggest to not provide it if you feel you are in the right.
It is your right to REFUSE TO PAY ANY FINE ON THE SPOT! Many visitors write to us saying they bought tickets and validated them but the machine was not working, or they simply forgot to validate their tickets. I hope you read this information before coming to Florence and avoid ruining your vacation with a fine: always validate your ticket and then CHECK your ticket has time and date on it! If the machine is out of ink, tell the bus driver and then go to the second machine on the bus and get it validated there.
The "tramvia" or tram
Florence got its first tram line, the T1, in 2010 and this line runs from Scandicci to SMN train station and then continues along the Fortezza to finally reach the Careggi teaching hospital in the north-western part of the city. The T2 line to the Florence airport opened in February 2019 and goes from the Vespucci airport to the SMN train station making it the easiest and cheapest way to travel from the airport to the center of Florence. On January 25, 2025, this T2 line will continue after the SMN station and head toward the Fortezza, then on to Piazza della Libertà and then to Piazza San Marco. It is the "extension" of the line and is the latest part of the tram system that is in use. Plans are for another line that will connect Piazza della Libertà to Bagno di Ripoli by the end of 2026, work is starting in early 2025, and then another that heads toward the soccer stadium in Campo di Marte. This accounts for a large amount of traffic in Florence at the moment but we look forward to the time when they will all be active, reducing traffic and cars in Florence.
As written above, the same tickets for the bus work on the tram and vice-versa. You can buy tickets for the tram at the ticket machines available at all tram stops - again, buy your ticket BEFORE you get on, then stamp your ticket after you get on and, from that moment, your 90 minutes begin.
Trams for the T1 line starting from Careggi Hospital run from 4:44am and from Villa Costanza at 5:36am. They start from the De Andrè stop at 4:35am. Trams from Villa Costanza end at 12:12am everyday except for Friday and Saturday, when they run longer until 1:38am. In the opposite direction, from Careggi, the last tram is at 12:13am everyday, and until 1:41am on Fridays and Saturdays.
For the T2 line, trams start at 5am from the Unità stop (SMN area) and run until 12:29am (until 2am on Fridays and Saturdays). From the airport, the trams run from 5am until 12:02am weekdays, until 12:12am on Sundays and until 1:32am on Fridays and Saturdays.
Buy tickets ahead of time. Avoid fines!
You should buy tickets before getting on the bus and really SHOULD validate the ticket: don't be tempted to not do it and "reuse" the ticket on another ride. Even if the system still works on an "honor" system, there are many who abuse the system to everyone's detriment. For this reason, there are many controllers continuously getting on buses and checking tickets. We've seen many tourists get a fine for not having a ticket or not having validated their ticket, often because they didn't realize how the system works. I am trying to explain that is easy to avoid you getting a fine: so buy ticket before you get on the bus, get on and stamp it right away, then ride the bus without worries!
Once controllers get on the bus, the driver will NOT sell you a ticket. Fines go up to 240 euro, but average is around 45-50 euro as far as I've heard of.
If you get on and need to ask the driver for information (for example, to ask if you are on the right bus), 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. The fine is minimum 40 euros if you pay on the spot or within 5 days of getting the fine (payable at the bus office at the SMN train station), then it goes up. Don't risk a a heavy fine when the cost of the ticket is small. Buy several tickets beforehand and use them as you need them. Tickets are valid for 90 minutes and cost €1,70 each.
If you don't have a ticket and no means to get one beforehand, you can sometimes buy one directly from the driver for € 3,00 (no change is given so make sure to hand the exact amount). It's more expensive but worth buying rather than risk riding without a ticket. If he has run out tickets or says he doesn't have tickets, get OFF at the next stop! If you stay on the bus, it is as if you were riding without a ticket and can be subject to fines if you're asked to show your validated ticket and don't have one. So if the driver says he has no tickets, get off the bus and go get one before getting back on!
Another option is to buy one with your phone: you can get a ticket by sending a text message with the message "Firenze" to 4880105. The cost is € 2,00 for the ticket and you're supposed to send the message before getting on the bus, as you need to wait for the replying text message that confirms purchase and validity of the virtual ticket before getting on-board. But if you are on the bus, there are no tickets from the driver, and you have a phone, just send the text message and wait for the ticket to arrive. Otherwise, get off the bus at the next stop, try to get a ticket somewhere else or you'll be risking a fine if you're caught. NOTE that this system only works for Italian phones as only TIM, Vodafone and WindTre are carriers that allow the purchase of tickets with text messages.
NEW 2023: Autolinee Toscane has a new app this year, which gives out info on schedules and routes as well as offers the possibility to buy tickets (while the TABNET app continues to be needed for passes). You can buy single tickets as well as 10 at a time, with a credit card. This is likely the easiest method right now for buying tickets, as it doesn't require you to go looking for a place to buy them. If you want to buy tickets on the app, buy them before you head out to get the bus. I tried and it made me log in multiple times, didn't accept my credit card for payment and then had to start all over again. Once you buy the tickets, you need to activate the ticket before you get on the bus! The app can be slow and you don't want to risk getting on the bus without it already "in use" once you activate it. Ask me how I know!
Downtown City Bus Maps
The old ATAF website is no longer available and the new AT website has no maps, it relies on "trip planners" to show you which buses to take. For now, I am keeping this map and section to show the main lines that cross the historical center, basically the colored routes of the C1, C2, C3 and D lines. Since the Duomo area, Via Tornabuoni and Piazza Pitti are all now pedestrian-only areas, most of the buses going outdide of the center either can be picked up outside the SMN train station or in Piazza San Marco.
For more information: You can find contact information for the new Autolinee Toscane here. As they have not bothered with creating an English version of the website, it is likely you need to know some Italian to communicate with them. In person, you should go to the AT booth located in the ticket area within the SMN train station: you can buy tickets here, particularly for city to city ("extraurban" service), and they give out information and provide MAPS of the bus routes. The small bus office in Piazza San Marco on the side opposite the church also gives out information. Try to know exactly which bus to get on before getting on and which stop you need to get off on. Normally drivers are not the ideal source for general information on routes - they are trying to concentrate on driving and respecting the route schedule. If you're not sure you're on the right bus, try asking one of the other passengers! Likely they will be happy to help.
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 has their own bus company (CAP, Tiemme, etc) but now the same company runs ALL buses across the region! The BusItalia company will remain to offer service between the Florence airport and the city center and to offer "The Mall" bus service between Florence and the The Mall shopping center in the Valdarno.
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: January 05, 2025 (updates are being made to entire page so you might find the page in the middle of them at the moment)
