The Bellosguardo hill, just outside Florence, has preserved unchanged the tranquility and architecture of the days of Dante and the Medici. Even today, ancient villas with parks and gardens immortalized in literature (Bellosguardo was the home of Guido Cavalcanti, Galileo Galilei and Ugo Foscolo, to name a few) give their guests the rare privilege of magnificient view over Florence.
Like in a medieval fresco, the Tower of Bellosguardo is the proud and austere guardian of Bellosguardo's landscape of soft hills with olive groves and cypresses and it is this 14th-century tower and renaissance villa that hosts the guests of the Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo. More than a classic 4-star hotel, Torre di Bellosguardo is an authentic example of a Florentine historic residence, far from the noise of the city yet very close to the heart of Florence (which is easily reached by car in 10 minutes).
Surrounded by a charming garden with century old trees and colourful flower beds, Torre di Bellosguardo is a special place for experiencing Florence in a hotel: a period residence with the intimate atmosphere and charm of a private home, your comfortable retreat after a day spent visiting the Uffizi and sightseeing in Piazza della Signoria, the Duomo and Baptistery, in San Lorenzo and Medici Chapels, or shopping in the exclusive Via de' Tornabuoni and Via de' Calzaiuoli (all places just 10 minutes from the Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo by car); it is the ideal place to start wandering through the artisan's workshops and antiques dealers of the Oltrarno, in the less-touristy, more authentic Florence between Piazza del Carmine and Piazza Santo Spirito, just 5 minutes from the hotel.
How to reach us
If you are arriving in Florence by plane, from Florence's Amerigo Vespucci Airport, we recommend that you take a taxi (about a 25 minute trip to the hotel) or the "Vola in bus" shuttle to Santa Maria Novella train station. From here, a 10-minute taxi ride brings you to the Torre di Bellosguardo (the hotel is at Via Roti Michelozzi, number 2).
However, if you are arriving at Pisa's Galileo Galilei Airport, we recommend that you take the Terravision bus or the train to Florence and proceed as above from Santa Maria Novella train station.
If you're arriving by train, from Santa Maria Novella station of Florence, we recommend that you take a taxi, which will bring you to the Torre di Bellosguardo in 10 minutes (the hotel is at Via Roti Michelozzi, number 2).
If coming by car, the closest exit from the tollway to the Torre di Bellosguardo is Firenze Certosa. From the tollbooth, follow the signs for Firenze centro/Porta Romana.
When you come to Piazzale Porta Romana, take a left on Via Ugo Foscolo and climb to the top of the hill. Turn right on Via Piana and continue to Piazza di Bellosguardo, turn right again into Via Roti Michelozzi. You've arrived, the Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo is at number 2.
Even the Boboli Gardens and the sumptuous Palazzo Pitti, a Renaissance residence and one of the most important art galleries of Florence and the world, which houses an extraordinary collection of Italian and European masters of the Renaissance and 17th century, are just 5 minutes from the Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo.
In Piazza Santo Spirito, you will find the church of Santo Spirito, the work of the architect Brunelleschi, and one of the loveliest and most important of the city. Close by, in Piazza del Carmine, you will be able to discover the Chiesa del Carmine, whose Brancacci Chapel contains extraordinary frescoes by Masaccio. Close to the Ponte Vecchio, the poignant and visionary Deposition of Pontormo, a masterpiece of Mannerism, in the Chiesa di Santa Felicita.
From Ponte Vecchio on, you enter the more touristy and crowded parts of Florence, which are still not to be missed during your stay at the Hotel Torre di Bellosguardo in Florence.
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