INFORMATION FOR TOURISTS
WITH SPECIAL NEEDS

GETTING AROUND

PARKING: The entrance through the electronic control system in the city centre (Z.T.L.) for private cars is allowed calling S.A.S. (Società servizi alla strada upd@serviziallastrada.it ), free toll number (from Italy only) 800 339891 or 055 4040251 or 055 4040210 (from mobile phones) during the weekdays from 8.30 a.m. to 1.00 p.m. and from 2.00 p.m. to 4.30 p.m. 
 A few places reserved for the disabled are available in each car park (indicated with the yellow lines on the ground and the special sign board). Please select your car park on the map and the list   or contact the phone number +39 055 503021 (S.A.S.) or visit the website http://www.firenzeparcheggi.it/
Parking is free of charge in the spaces reserved for the disabled (yellow lines). If no reserved space is available, parking is free of charge also in the spaces subject to payment (blue lines). The disabled symbol must be displayed in all cases.

MEANS OF TRANSPORT: Most of the ATAF (the city transport company) buses  are equipped with a flat car deck and a space reserved for a wheelchair; for information about timetable and itineraries please visit the website http://www.ataf.net/ (with an English version). A door to door minibus service is available (reservation required); please contact  Mr Formichetti ph. +39 348 7679143 or +39 055 5650486 or send an e-mail to formichetti@ataf.fi.it 2 or 3 days before.
The Taxi company  So.Co.Ta. can offer a special 6-seat- van for the disabled, with an electronic platform to board every kind of wheelchair. The special van is available upon request (at least 48 hours in advance) at the normal taxi rates. PH. 055 410133. For further information please visit http://www.socota.it/ or www.4390.it

If you hire a car in Florence on Saturdays or Sundays or a holiday and you reach the ZTL zone (the area where private traffic is forbidden), you should register your car plate number on the following Monday or the following weekday (generally you should register the car plate number within two days) applying to Firenze Parcheggi office (ph. 055 503021) and the registration will be back-dated to the day you have reached the ZTL area; it is also necessary to communicate your name, surname, your telephone number, your invalid card number, its expire date and the city or board that released it. You should also communicate the exact date of you first enter the ZTL.
As far as the parking is concerned, if you put your invalid card on display inside your car, you can park everywhere, except in the areas showing sign post with "Divieto di sosta" (parking not allowed).

for a minimum of 3 days € 60, 1 week €80
- Ortopedia Vergelli – Via Guido Monaco 5 – Florence
Ph. +39 055 359991, 1 week € 25
  Rental for 1 day € 10, house to house service € 20
(1 day = rental + house to house service = € 30).

WHERE TO STAY

 In the section  "Where to stay" of these website, look in Advanced Search for the red disabled persons sign with the word “presenza dettagli”:  you will find all the accommodation of which the owners have filled in a detailed questionnaire on the accessibility of their premises; click on image and the word “info” to be found in the entry of each structure in order to open the questionnaire in the site http://www.turismosenzabarriere.it/, which is compiled by the proprietors themselves.  This survey, carried out by the Apt in collaboration with the Association for Social Advancement "Cittadinanze", has gone further: on the basis of questionnaires and direct inspections, they have drawn up a list of facilities which offer tourists with motor disabilities the possibility to enjoy their stay in a totally self-sufficient way.

WHERE TO EAT

- RESTAURANTS: For information about restaurants with facilities for the disabled, please visit the website in the section “Food and Drink” > “Advanced Search”, click on the symbol “Facilities for the disabled”.

PUBLIC FACILITIES

- TOILETS:
There are 10 public toilets accessible to the disabled in the city centre of Florence; please visit this website.

Seven new public toilets are available in the square of Piazza Santa Maria Novella (Piazza Santa Maria Novella), open every day, holidays included, from 8.00 a.m. until 8.00 p.m., charge € 0,60 per person.

WHAT TO SEE

- MUSEUMS: In order to get information about the museums accessibility, you can visit the website http://www.polomuseale.firenze.it/ (in the section “Museums”), with an English version. As far as  free entrances to the museums for the disabled are concerned: in the state museums, both the disabled and the person that accompanies can enter with no charge and the reservation (ph. +39 055 294883) for the Uffizi and the Accademy Gallery (which are the only museums with long waits before entering) is free as well; certification can be requested at the entrance.
In town museums (reservation ph. +39 055 2768224) the disabled pay for the ticket and the person who accompanies does not pay for the ticket; in the Opera of Santa Maria del Fiore museums (or Opera del Duomo) that is to say  Museo dell'Opera del Duomo, Bell tower, Dome, Baptistry and the Crypth of Santa Reparata the disabled or the person who accompanies has to pay for the ticket .The visit of the churches of  Santa Maria Novella, Santa Croce and San Lorenzo is free of charge for the disabled and for one person who accompanies. 

Guided visits and assistance for deaf mute people can be required applying to Ente nazionale per la protezione e l’assistenza dei sordi (E.N.S.) – Sezione provinciale di Firenze, Via A. Manzoni, 13 – 50121 – Firenze, ph. +39 055 2343654, fax +39 055 2345427, e-mail  firenze@ens.it

You can call, also leaving a message, from Mondays to Thursdays from 9,30 a.m. until 12,30 p.m. and on Thuesdays and Thursdays afternoon from 4,00 to 7,00 o'clock .

- ITINERARIES: The publication “Vivere Firenze”, printed by Comune di Firenze, includes 4 itineraries; you can take a free copy at the tourist information office in Piazza Stazione, 4 (ph. +39 055 212245 – fax +39 055 2381226 – e-mail: turismo3@comune.fi.it ) and in Borgo Santa Croce  29/r (ph. +39 055 2340444 – fax +39 055 2264524 – e-mail: turismo2@comune.fi.it ).
Guided visits for the blind can be organized by VIVAT (Italian Voluntary for Artistic and Tactile Visits); for further information please contact the association ph. +39 055 6818214 (please leave a message), ph. 055 219432, the last Saturday of the month from 10.30 a.m. to 12.30 p.m. or send an e-mail to vivatfirenze@virgilio.it

http://news.comune.fi.it/cgi-bin/volontariato/scheda_associazione.pl?prog_risorsa_est=1294

USEFUL INFORMATION

http://www.turismosenzabarriere.it/ / info@turismosenzabarriere.it /
Ph. +39 055 4481382
- Redazione Disabili, Via Falloppio, 59 – 33121 Padova
Ph. and fax +39 049 8763857 www.disabili.com  / redazione@disabili.com

Tactile visits: Museo Marino Marini in Florence:
http://www.museomarinomarini.it/ac-visguidtattile.htm
Museo della Fondazione Alinari in Florence:
http://www.alinarifondazione.it/m_tattile/m_tattile.html

Updated on July 08th, 2009 (AU/FT)