There are some things you must know before riding the buses in Florence. First of all, you MUST have a ticket, and you must stamp your ticket on the bus the first time you get on one. Tickets can be purchased at many locations, such as tobacconists, newsagents, some coffee shops (anyone with "ATAF" stickers on their shop windows); and from the ATAF booth or two automated ticket vending machines at the Santa Maria Novella train station. They have their own form of police who check passengers on the bus to see that passengers have activated their tickets. If you do not have a ticket or you did not activate your ticket, be prepared for a hefty fine. It is really not worth it. We purchased bus tickets for € 18 each, which covered us for 7 days. A single ticket is € 1.20 and only good for a total of 90 minutes. They have a one day ticket for € 5, a 3-day ticket for € 12, a 7-day ticket for € 18 and a daily family for € 6. There are three doors on the buses (except on the small busses); the front and back ones are for getting on and the middle one is for getting off. After you get on, make your way to the nearby "ticket validating" machine and put your bus ticket in. The date and time is then printed on the ticket, starting the validity period of your ticket. You basically have 90 minutes on a single-use ticket, so you could get on and off of different buses and still use the same ticket during that time period. Another thing you need to do is to get a bus map that will tell you how to get around the city. It will clearly mark the routes. We liked that many stops had an electronic sign that would tell you how long the wait was for the bus to arrive. The busses were very efficient on this trip. (They were a lot newer than on our last visit.) read more

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Overall I found the bus system to have many routes and stops. The app is nice to see when the next bus will be to plan your trip accordingly. My main reason for the lower stars is because you can't buy a new ticket on the bus. There are many outside vendors but still inconvenient. Also the bus system is regularly delayed so this can be a nuisance in planning your day especially if you are a daily commuter. Bottom line...good system to get around Firenze but make sure to buy a ticket at a vendor or at the train station. Also the app is very helpful to see when your bus will arrive. Pros Many routes and stops Generally easy to find the stops App to see when you bus is coming Cons Regularly delayed The app should have a better map of the routes Be able to buy on the bus...I realize you can buy on the app but I had issues since I have an international phone number read more

They need to teach the drivers and ticket verification team some lessons on manners. They are so rude and not friendly to tourists. Sadly they treat there own decent. A poor lady got her foot trapped as she was exiting bus. You literally have to jump off! So sad!! read more

This is probably my worst experience when I traveled around the world that a public transportation bus driver was so ignorant for the passengers, and it happened in Florence, Italy. I took a bus route 24 at the train station around 9:00pm on July 9th, 2018. The bus was fully occupied with all kinds of passengers including elders and children. When the bus drove approximately 2 miles from the start the driver shouted out in Italian, not sure if he spoke English. All passengers rushed to a bus behind us because it also had a route 24 displayed in the front window. I was not sure when it was there, and tried to follow the suit. The door wasn't open, a young driver looked at the people without any expression. Not sure who said something all passengers were rushing to another bus labeled as 13, bad luck? The odds weren't only the number but it was across from street I.e, totally in the opposite direction. With these doubts I hesitated but asked the young driver what's the correct bus I should take. While the first bus left empty of passengers, my hope was, and several others I believed were foreigners, that this bus might just wait for controller's guide. No matter what we were requesting he just kept himself quiet like he was deaf. I decided giving up my plan but walking back to my apartment in case it will be too dark to find the way home. I don't have the pictures of the bus which left us behind but took the pictures of the bus with the driver who seemed ignorant and insensitive to the job he took. I believe this is a bad lesson for this driver to take home, as well as many others who took the same bus as I did. read more

Ataf - The bus driver was so ignorant about passengers' frustration and request this evening around 9pm. - Public Transportation Near Me - Florence, FI

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Beware the extortionists that prowl the city buses! Don't speak Italian? Too bad. The bus driver we had didn't bother to inform us that we had to stamp our ticket when I asked him what to do. We got a 50 euro fine 2 minutes into our ride from the most rude control officer I have ever encountered. read more