Airport
Airlines that fly to the Amerigo Vespucci airport in Florence include Alitalia, Air France, Austrian, Lufthansa, Swiss, Air Littoral, Carpatair, SN Brussels Airlines and Meridiana. Direct flights are usually available from other European cities. Amerigo Vespucci Intl. Airport (Aeroporto di Firenze), Florence, airport code:FLR, is 4km (2.4 miles) north of the city (travel time – 20 minutes) has banks, bureaux de change, left luggage, bars and restaurants and duty-free facilities. Buses and taxis are available to the city. The city has two airports - Amerigo Vespucci is a few kilometres north-west of the city centre and Galileo Galilei Intl airport, Pisa (for international flights), airport code:PSA is about 75km (46mi) west of the city.

Visas
Italy, along with Austria, Belgium, France, Germany, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Portugal and Spain, forms part of the border-free travel zone subject to the Schengen Agreement. EU passport holders can come and go as they please. Citizens of the USA, Australia, Canada, Japan and New Zealand are among those who may enter Italy as tourists without a visa and stay up to 90 days

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Currency
euro (EUR); Italian lira (ITL)
Single European currency (Euro): The Euro is now the official currency of 12 EU member states (including Italy). The first Euro coins and notes were introduced in January 2002; the Italian Lira was still in circulation until 28 February 2002, when it was completely replaced by the Euro. Euro (€) = 100 cents. Notes are in denominations of €500, 200, 100, 50, 20, 10 and 5. Coins are in denominations of €2 and 1, and 50, 20, 10, 5, 2 and 1 cents. The currency of Italy is the Italian Lira (Lit). The Lira comes in coins of Lit1,000, 500, 200, 100, 50, 20; and banknotes of Lit1,000, 2,000, 5,000, 10,000, 20,000, Lit50,000, 100,000.

Credit Cards
MasterCard, Diners Club and Visa are widely accepted, as well as Eurocheque cards. Check with your credit or debit card company for merchant acceptability and other facilities that may be available.

Tipping
Gratuities of around 10 percent are usual for taxi drivers, porters, although 5 percent is usual for hotel and restaurantstaff, where a service charge is always added.

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Useful Numbers
International country code: 39
Telephone Area code:055
Police 113
Ambulance 118
Fire 115

Electricity
220 volts AC, 50Hz.

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Health Risks
Tap water is generally safe to drink. Bottled water is available. The inscription ‘Acqua Non Potabile’ means water is not drinkable. Milk is pasteurised and dairy products are safe for consumption. Local meat, poultry, seafood, fruit and vegetables are considered safe to eat.
Leishmaniasis (cutaneous and visceral), sandfly fever, West Nile virus and typhus, though rare, may occur along the Mediterranean coast. Echinococcosis and brucellosis also occur, although rarely. Rabies is present.

Time Zone
GMT/UTC +1 (+2 in summer)

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Business Hours
Offices: Monday to Friday 8:30a.m. to 12:30p.m. and 3:30p.m. to 7:30p.m. Some Italian firms have two-hour lunch break and finish later, at 6:30 to 7p.m.
Banks: Monday to Friday 8:30a.m. to 1:30p.m. and from 3p.m. to 4:30p.m.
Government: Monday to Friday 8:30a.m. to 1:30p.m. and from 2:30p.m. to 3:30p.m
Retail: Monday to Friday 10a.m. to 6p.m., slightly shorter hours over the weekend.

Holidays

2008
1 Jan New Year's Day.
6 Jan Epiphany.
24 Mar Easter Monday.
25 Apr Liberation Day.
1 May Labour Day.
2 Jun Anniversary of the Republic.
15 Aug Assumption.
1 Nov All Saints' Day.
8 Dec Immaculate Conception.
25 Dec Christmas Day.
26 Dec St Stephen's Day.

2009
1 Jan New Year's Day.
6 Jan Epiphany.
13 Apr Easter Monday.
25 Apr Liberation Day.
1 May Labour Day.
2 Jun Anniversary of the Republic.
15 Aug Assumption.
1 Nov All Saints' Day.
8 Dec Immaculate Conception.
25 Dec Christmas Day.
26 Dec St Stephen's Day.

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Climate
Florence has four distinct seasons. Winters are cold and windy December-February days are short and cold. Average high temperatures are in the 40s and low temperatures in the 30s and July and August are the hottest months in Italy - high average temperature is almost 90 degrees Fahrenheit. Visitors cool off inside museums and churches. Nights are warm and many restaurants have outdoor service.
Spring :In late March average high temperature is in the 60s and days begin to lengthen. By May average high temperature is in the 70s. If you travel during this period, pack a warm jacket since nights can be quite cold. In the spring, it may also rain in Florence. May and early June is a great time to visit Florence since days are longer and warmer.

Clothing
Italy is a major center of European fashion. Italians are chic. Even people in small towns spend a great deal of money on their wardrobes and dress well at all times.
Dress elegantly but conservatively.
Jackets and ties are required in better restaurants.
Old, torn, dirty clothing are seldom seen and not appreciated.
Men and women dress conservatively and formally for business (men: suits and ties; women: dresses or suits). Women should wear feminine clothing.
Lightweight cottons and linens are worn during the summer, except in the mountains. Light- to mediumweights are worn in the south during winter, while warmer clothes are worn elsewhere. Alpine wear is advised for winter mountain resorts.

GDP Growth Rate
GDP - real growth rate:1.8%

Inflation
1.8%

Imports
engineering products, chemicals, transport equipment, energy products, minerals and nonferrous metals, textiles and clothing; food, beverages and tobacco

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Exports
engineering products, textiles and clothing, production machinery, motor vehicles, transport equipment, chemicals; food, beverages and tobacco; minerals and nonferrous metals

Trading Partners
Germany, France, UK, Spain, Netherlands, USA

Industries
tourism, machinery, iron and steel, chemicals, food processing, textiles, motor vehicles, clothing, footwear, ceramics

Teledensity
47.06 main telephone lines per 100 inhabitants

Government
Republic

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Geography
Florence is an inland city on the Italian Peninsula. It is approximately 200 kilometers north of Italy's capitol, Rome, and 50 kilometers south of Bologna. The city sits in a plain along the banks of the River Arno which flows from the mountains to the west of the city into the Ligurian Sea off the east coast of Italy. The city is surrounded by the Chianti mountains to the south and the Apennines to the north.
Italy is situated in Mediterranean Europe, Italy has land frontiers with France in the north-west, Switzerland and Austria in the north and Slovenia in the north-east.

Population
Italy: 58.9 million
Florence: 374,500

Ethnic Groups
Italian (includes small clusters of German-, French-, and Slovene-Italians in the north and Albanian-Italians and Greek-Italians in the south)

Languages
Italian (official), German (parts of Trentino-Alto Adige region are predominantly German speaking), French (small French-speaking minority in Valle d'Aosta region), Slovene (Slovene-speaking minority in the Trieste-Gorizia area)

Literacy
98%

Religion
85% Roman Catholic, 5% Jewish and Protestant