Uber works in Florence, but not the way it works in Dallas or Toronto. In Italy the app connects you with licensed professionals rather than private drivers in their own cars, so what you see on the screen is a short menu of taxis, premium cars and rides you can reserve ahead. For a one-off trip across town that can be useful. For an airport arrival with checked bags, it is one option among four, and not always the cheapest or the simplest.
The other three are the city taxi, which runs a fixed fare from Florence Airport, Peretola (FLR), the T2 tram, which is genuinely quick and cheap, and a car booked ahead at a fixed price. This guide sets the four side by side with numbers from official sources, and says plainly when the tram or the taxi is the right answer.
Is Uber available in Florence?
Yes, but as a booking channel for licensed drivers, not as a low-cost private-car service. Uber's Florence pages point visitors to taxis, premium car service and reserved rides with flight tracking. Expect prices set by demand at the moment you request. Taxis run a published €28 fixed fare from Peretola to the historic centre, before surcharges.
The reason sits in Italian law. Law 21 of 1992 recognises two kinds of non-scheduled passenger transport: the licensed taxi and the noleggio con conducente, or NCC, which is car hire with a professional driver (Normattiva, Legge 15 gennaio 1992 n. 21). Any car you book through an app in Florence belongs to one of those two worlds. There is no category of neighbour with a hatchback picking up airport passengers.
Uber's own Florence city page describes the app as an alternative to hailing a taxi and lists rental cars and other services alongside rides. Its Florence Airport page talks about taxis, car service and reserving a trip for when you land, with flight tracking and free cancellation of a reserved ride until one hour before pickup. It also notes that early and late flights can mean longer waits for a driver. What it does not do is publish a fare, so any number you read elsewhere is an estimate from a particular day.
Rides booked through Elly8.net reach the same kind of licensed professional by a different route. Rides in Florence are operated by licensed, commercially insured local chauffeur partners vetted through the Limousine Worldwide network; Elly8.net takes the booking, fixes the price and runs the 24/7 desk.
See Florence prices and reserve
The four options from Peretola, with real numbers
Florence's airport sits about 7 km (5 mi) north-west of the historic centre, roughly 15 minutes on a clear road. That short distance is why the comparison is close: none of the options is a long or expensive ride, and the differences come down to luggage, timing and what happens at the hotel end.
Feel Florence, the city's official tourism site, gives the two public numbers. The T2 tram runs from the airport to the centre in about 20 minutes, every 5 minutes, and the standard ticket costs €1.70, valid for 90 minutes. Taxis run a fixed fare of €28 from the airport to the historic centre, excluding luggage, night-time and public holiday surcharges.
| Option | What you pay | Time to the centre | Luggage reality | Best for |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| T2 tram | €1.70 per person, 90-minute ticket | about 20 min, plus the walk from the stop | Your bags, on and off a busy tram | Solo travellers with carry-on |
| Airport taxi rank | €28 fixed, plus luggage, night or holiday surcharges | about 15 min on a clear road | Boot space of whatever car is next | Two people, light bags, daytime |
| Uber app | Set by demand when you request; not published | Depends on driver availability | Depends on the car the app finds | App users who like to compare on the spot |
| Elly8.net business sedan | US$105 fixed, per vehicle, all-in | about 15 min on a clear road, door to door | 3 passengers, 2 bags | Couples, late arrivals, business travel |
| Elly8.net business SUV | US$140 fixed, per vehicle, all-in | Door to door | 6 passengers, 6 bags | Families and groups with checked bags |
| Elly8.net Executive Sprinter | US$275 fixed, per vehicle, all-in | Door to door | 12 passengers, 12 bags | Wedding parties, tour groups, teams |
Passenger and bag numbers come from the Elly8.net fleet table. Our fares include the chauffeur, taxes, standard gratuity and airport meet and greet; tolls and parking are billed at cost. The same fixed price applies in either direction, so the hotel-to-airport run costs the same.
When the tram is the smart choice
Be honest about the T2: for one traveller with a cabin bag and a hotel near a stop, it is the best answer in the city. It is frequent, it is fast, and €1.70 is hard to argue with. Two friends travelling light and staying near Santa Maria Novella station would be paying a premium for very little if they booked a private car.
The tram stops being the easy option when the bags get bigger or the hotel is not near a stop. Florence's historic centre is a limited traffic zone with narrow streets and stone paving, and pulling two large suitcases from a tram stop to an apartment in the Oltrarno is a real walk. With children, a stroller or an elderly parent, it is a different trip altogether.
When the taxi is the smart choice
The airport taxi is quick and its fixed fare is clear, which already removes most of the anxiety travellers feel about taxis abroad. For two people with medium bags landing in the middle of the day, the rank is a perfectly good option, and you do not need to book anything.
The things to watch are the surcharges the fixed fare excludes, which depend on bags, the hour and the calendar, and the size of the car. A standard taxi suits two or three people; a family of five with five suitcases may need two. At busy arrival times or late at night, there can be a queue. If you land late after a long connection, a car that is already waiting removes that variable.
When the app is the smart choice
The Uber app earns its place for spontaneous rides inside the city, when you want to see a price before you commit and you are travelling light. It is also familiar, which counts for something when you are tired and in a new country.
Where it is weaker is planning. The price is set when you request, not weeks ahead. Availability can thin out early in the morning and late at night, which Uber's own airport page acknowledges. And the app cannot tell you in advance how close the car can legally get to an address inside the limited traffic zone. For a single dinner across the Arno, that hardly matters. For an airport arrival with a family, it can.
Our fuller guide to a chauffeur against Uber and Lyft sets out the general trade-offs, and Uber Black against a booked chauffeur covers the premium tier specifically.
When a pre-booked car wins
A car booked ahead costs more than the tram and usually more than the taxi for two people. It earns the difference in specific situations, and they come up often for North American visitors:
- Late or delayed arrivals. Give us the flight number and the chauffeur tracks the landing. Waiting after a tracked landing is complimentary, so a missed connection in Frankfurt or Paris does not leave you paying for a car that waited, or searching for one at midnight.
- Checked luggage. A business SUV carries six bags; an Executive Sprinter carries twelve. You know before you fly that everything fits in one vehicle.
- Children. Child and booster seats are fitted before pickup on request. Give the ages when you book.
- Hotels inside the limited traffic zone. Give the exact address and the partner plans the closest legal approach for your arrival time, with help for the bags if the last stretch is on foot.
- A fixed budget. The price is set when you book and charged in US dollars, with no demand pricing on landing day.
- Business travel. A corporate account adds monthly invoicing and NDAs on request; see corporate car service.
The hand-over itself is simple: the chauffeur waits in the arrivals hall with a name board after baggage claim. How it works step by step is on airport meet and greet, and the booking itself is an ordinary airport transfer.
Per vehicle, not per person: the group arithmetic
Elly8.net prices are per vehicle, never per person. Dividing a fare by the number of travellers is arithmetic for comparison only, but it shows why the answer changes with group size.
For a family of five with checked bags, the business SUV at US$140 covers everyone and everything in one vehicle. The tram would be five tickets and five people handling bags; the taxi might need two cars, each with its own fare and surcharges. For a group of ten arriving for a Tuscan wedding, one Executive Sprinter at US$275 replaces three or four taxis and a lot of coordination at the kerb.
For a solo traveller, the arithmetic runs the other way. US$105 for one person and one bag is a comfort purchase, and the tram or the taxi is the rational choice unless the arrival is late, the meeting is important or the bags are heavy.
Beyond the airport: stations, nights out and day trips
Most Florence visitors also arrive or leave by train at Santa Maria Novella, where high-speed services from Rome, Milan and Venice terminate. The same logic applies there: a taxi from the station rank is fine for light luggage, and a chauffeur waiting on the platform side is worth it with bags or children. Book that as a train station transfer.
For a night out, a gala in a palazzo or a dinner in the hills at Fiesole, the app and the taxi both work on the way out. The return is where people get stuck, because closing time at a popular restaurant or event is exactly when every visitor opens the app at once. The evening out and event night package keeps a car on call, from US$425 in a business sedan to US$850 in a Sprinter.
Day trips are where apps and taxis stop being practical altogether. A day in Chianti, Siena or Pisa needs a car that stays with you. Our guides to a Florence day trip with a private driver and to Rome to Florence by private car cover those days, and the Florence chauffeur service page lists every published fare, including Pisa Airport transfers from US$305.
Pisa Airport: a different calculation
Many North American itineraries fly into Pisa International Airport (PSA) rather than Peretola. Pisa is about 83 km (51 mi) from central Florence, roughly 87 minutes on a clear road, so the comparison changes completely. Visit Tuscany, the region's official site, describes the PisaMover shuttle to Pisa Centrale, about 5 minutes and every 5 to 8 minutes, then a train to Florence roughly every hour that takes from 50 minutes to 1 hour 20 minutes.
That is a good budget route for light travellers, with two changes of vehicle and a walk with bags at each end. A taxi or app ride for 83 km is a large unknown fare. A fixed Elly8.net transfer from Pisa to the historic centre costs from US$305 in a business sedan, US$400 in a business SUV and US$795 in an Executive Sprinter, all-in per vehicle.
A quick decision guide
- One person, carry-on, daytime, hotel near a tram stop: take the T2.
- Two people, medium bags, daytime: the taxi rank at its fixed fare is fine.
- Spontaneous ride across town, light bags: the app or a taxi.
- Late flight, long connection or a meeting the next morning: book a car with flight tracking.
- Family with checked bags or children needing seats: a business SUV, booked ahead.
- Group of seven to twelve: one Executive Sprinter, see group transportation.
- Arriving at Pisa with luggage: a fixed transfer, or the PisaMover and train if you travel light.
How to book
- Enter Florence Airport (FLR) or Pisa (PSA) with your flight number, or Santa Maria Novella with your train, and the exact hotel or apartment address.
- Choose Business Sedan, Business SUV, First Class Sedan, First Class SUV or Executive Sprinter.
- Press Reserve now for a published fare and pay by card in US dollars, or use the web booker for any other address. Confirmation comes by email.
Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup, 10% at 72 hours or less, 50% at 48 hours or less, and 100% at 24 hours or less or for a no-show, refunded to the original card. Elly8.net is a member of LimousineWorldwide.Directory, LimousineAssociation.International, HotelsWorldwide.Directory and VacationsWorldwide.Directory. Elly8.net books the car only; for flights and hotels our travel partner is BookingWorldwide.net. Travelling on to other cities? The same desk books Venice, Rome and Milan.
Frequently asked questions
Does Uber work at Florence Airport?
Yes. Uber's Florence Airport page describes taxis, car service and rides reserved for when you land, with flight tracking. Because Italian law limits app rides to licensed taxis and car-hire-with-driver vehicles, there is no low-cost private-car tier, and prices are set by demand when you request. Early and late flights can mean longer waits.
How much is a taxi from Florence Airport to the centre?
Florence's official tourism site gives a fixed taxi fare of €28 from the airport to the historic centre, excluding luggage, night-time and public holiday surcharges. The drive is about 7 km (5 mi), roughly 15 minutes on a clear road. A standard taxi suits two or three passengers with medium bags.
Is the T2 tram a good way into Florence?
For light travellers, yes. The T2 runs from the airport to the centre in about 20 minutes, every 5 minutes, and a €1.70 ticket is valid for 90 minutes. It is less practical with large suitcases, children or a hotel far from a stop, because the historic centre's streets are narrow and the walk can be long.
How much is a private car from Peretola to my hotel?
A fixed Elly8.net transfer to the historic centre costs from US$105 in a business sedan, US$140 in a business SUV and US$275 in an Executive Sprinter, per vehicle. The fare includes the chauffeur, taxes, standard gratuity and meet and greet in arrivals. Tolls and parking are billed at cost, and the price is the same in either direction.
Can a car reach my hotel inside the limited traffic zone?
Give us the exact address when you book. The partner plans the closest legal approach for your arrival time, which may be the door, a side street or a nearby square. Where the final stretch is on foot, the chauffeur helps with the bags. An app driver may not know the approach before arriving.
What happens if my flight to Florence is delayed?
Add the flight number when you book. The chauffeur tracks the landing and waits in arrivals with a name board, and waiting after a tracked landing is complimentary. If the delay is long, the desk adjusts the pickup without you having to call. Cancellation is free more than 72 hours before pickup.
