ECP 2024 | Preliminary Programme

24 e Departure and arrival in Florence The Florence airport (FLR) is called Amerigo Vespucci and is situated on the north-west outskirts of Florence, just 4 km from the city center. The airport can be reached from the center of Florence, driving the whole length of Viale Guidoni up to the road leading to the "Firenze Nord/Firenze Mare" superhighway (A1 and A11). The center can be reached in about 15 minutes by taxi, and in about 20 minutes with the new tram line T2 oper- ating between the airport and the central railway station of Santa Maria Novella. e Travel to Florence by train The city's main railway station is Firenze Santa Maria No- vella (abbreviated as Firenze SMN). Situated in the city center, it is conveniently close to the major tourist attrac- tions as well as to the main exhibition and trade centers. The station area is also the principal node for buses serv- ing the city and the surrounding area. The Florence SMN train station is open from 4.15 a.m. to 1.30 a.m. For time- tables and tickets, visit www.trenitalia.it/ as well as www.italotreno.it . The second most important station is Firenze Campo di Marte which is being used increasingly for national and international train services. The Campo di Marte train sta- tion is just outside the main road ring (boulevard) that sur- rounds the historical city center. e How to get around It is important to know that Florence's main historic cent- er is relatively small so that it is easy to move around on foot. Using a car around Florence is not advisable, as there is little parking, many streets are pedestrian only and streets are often one-ways. A fleet of small electric buses also provide links between main key areas in the center. Getting around any city on taxi is not difficult, but you do have to know ahead of time that in Italy taxis cannot be flagged down as they pass you along the street! Taxis are instead "stationed" at special taxi parking stands in most of the major squares in any city and at the airport and they can be requested by phone. In Florence, the num- bers for calling a taxi are: 055.4242 / 055.4390 / 055.4798 / 055.4499 e How to get to the Congress Center By tram The tramway is the ideal zero-emission transport to move around the city without worries. The congress and exhibi- tion center is connected to the motorway through line T1, and to the airport through line T2. Line T1 To the Fortezza da Basso Stop – Fortezza Fiere e Congressi Line T2 To the Fortezza da Basso Stop – Rosselli (550 m walking distance to the entrance of Fortazza da Basso) By car You can park at Villa Costanza – the first Drive & Tramway system in Italy – without exiting from the motorway. Villa Costanza is connected to T1 Leonardo tramway line: only 22 minutes ride away from Santa Maria Novella train stati- on, at the very heart of Florence city centre. e Hotels in Florence Hotel allotments have been secured in several hotels in the city centre of Florence – the majority of them being located within walking distance of the congress venue Fortezza da Basso. Save at least 5% on official rates for individual bookings by reserving with our selected partner Destination Florence: https://booking.destinationflorence.com/en/ . For group allotments (groups of 10 or more), please check the website www.esp-congress.org . It is highly recommended to book well in advance, as Sep- tember is high season and the capacity of accommodation in Florence city centre is limited due to the high tourist demand. Congress and Exhibition Office CPO HANSER SERVICE GmbH Office Berlin Paulsborner Str. 44, 14193 Berlin, Germany Phone: +49–30–300 669-0 Email: ecp-florence@cpo-hanser.de Travel to Florence / Hotels in Florence