From Florence to Prato: a low-cost one-day trip

Prato is a rather small and old Tuscan city located just 20 Kilometres from Florence. Since the Middle age it has been famous for its textile industry and for centuries it has been suffering from the neighbourood with the obviously more famous city of Florence. Probably owing to this proximity Prato is still ignored by most of the tourists who spend a holiday in Tuscany. However, if you are student in Florence or if you are on holiday in Tuscany and you happen to have no idea of how to spend your leisure time, an excursion to Prato will definitely not disappoint you. Prato is easy to reach: there are cheap local trains (one return ticket: 3.40 Euro) every 30 minutes from Florence Santa Maria Novella Station (leaving every hour at 08 and 38 minutes) to Prato Porta al Serraglio (it will take only 25 minutes). When you get out of the station go straightaway into via Magnolfi and you will find the beautiful Piazza del Duomo. You can visit the Cathedral and admire its facade, where, on the right side, you will see an exquisite pulpit by Donatello. From the Piazza you can walk along Corso Mazzoni, an elegant street, where you may do some shopping or for 3-4 Euro have a drink and a sandwich in the lovely cafè inside the “soprattuttolibri” bookstore. Not far from Corso Mazzoni you will find Piazza del Comune and the ancient townhall, then it is a must to take Via Ricasoli, where on the right side you will find the worldwide renowned shop of Antonio Mattei, the best producer of the cantuccini biscuits.
Then worth a visit are San Francesco church and the Castello dell’Imperatore (the Emperor’s castle), built by emperor Frederick redbeard. The Textile Museum (Tickets: 4 Euro) is just a few steps from the castle and it “preserves a wealth of textile materials of extreme interest due to the quality and variety of the collections”. Last but not least, do not miss the Centro Pecci, one of the most interesting Contemporary Art centres in Italy (tickets: 5 Euro, LAM bus line: N° 8 from Serraglio station every 7 minutes or N° 7 from the main railway station every 30 minutes, bus ticket: 1,00 Euro). The whole excursion will certainly not break your budget (approximate cost: 13-14 Euro, museums and train tickets included).