Golf Cart Tours in Florence: Two Fixed Routes Since October 2025

Since 15 October 2025, a golf cart may carry tourists through Florence’s historic centre only on the Comune’s terms. The regulation, adopted by the city council on 30 July 2025, bans tourist transport by golf carts, caddies and rickshaws throughout the UNESCO area: the city inside the ring of avenues that follows the old 14th-century walls, plus San Miniato al Monte and its surroundings, added in 2021. The Cascine park is the one exception. The only vehicle allowed back in is a white electric tourist shuttle, registered as one, carrying at most 8 passengers plus the driver and run by a travel agency that holds a permit from the Comune. It may drive only one of two fixed routes:

• Route A runs along the river west of the centre, crossing the Arno at Ponte Santa Trìnita and coming back over Ponte Vespucci, with one stop, on Lungarno Vespucci.
• Route B climbs Viale Michelangelo and loops around San Miniato al Monte, with one stop, at Piazzale Michelangelo.

Neither route enters the core of the city around the Duomo, Piazza della Signoria and Ponte Vecchio. Passengers get on and off only at the start or end of the route, and there are no other stops along it. Since 1 April 2026 the driver must be a licensed guide or tour leader, or one must ride along. A permit holder caught off its route, in another vehicle or picking up passengers elsewhere is fined €500, and repeated offences suspend or end the permit. A cart running tourist trips with no permit at all is seized for confiscation.

The rule has held. On 19 June 2026 the regional administrative court rejected the operators’ appeals in full. Each permit runs for one year from its own decree: the first was issued on 15 April 2026, and by 8 June the Comune had issued 17, eight for Route A and nine for Route B.

What the rule means for a tour

A cart tour of Florence now shows you the city from the river and the hills, not from its squares. A listing that offers the Duomo, the Signoria, Ponte Vecchio or Via de’ Tornabuoni from a golf cart describes a route the rule does not allow. Ask any operator where its cart drives inside the city, and under which permit. The agencies named in the permit decrees the Comune has published are Live Florence, FPT, Lilli/Lilly Travel Agency, Accord, Ennè, City Green Tours and Florence Discovery Agency.

ACCORD’s tour to Piazzale Michelangelo

The tour on this page is ACCORD Italy Smart Tours’ “Florence Official Grand Panoramic City Tour by Golf Cart”. The word “Official” is the operator’s own, and the listing does not mark it as an official ticket. It costs from $44 when we checked in October 2026 and is rated 4.4 from 948 reviews. The cart leaves from Lungarno Amerigo Vespucci 2, at the corner with Piazza Goldoni, where you need to arrive 15 minutes early with your voucher. In an hour and a half it crosses the Arno, runs along the river and climbs into the hills to Piazzale Michelangelo for the listing’s photo break, then returns to Lungarno Vespucci.

The commentary comes from a multilingual audio guide “with content by expert art historians”, in the listing’s words, and the driver speaks English. The listing adds tastings of extra-virgin olive oil, truffle specialties and baked goods as a bonus. The tour runs in all weather. It is not suitable for pregnant women, and it does not take large bags, non-folding strollers or wheelchairs, or electric wheelchairs. Cancellation is free up to 24 hours before.

If you want the river and the view from Piazzale Michelangelo without the climb, from an agency the Comune has licensed, this is the tour to book. Its listing still names photo stops beyond the two the rule provides for, Lungarno Vespucci and Piazzale Michelangelo, so ask the operator how the ride runs under its permit.

See dates for ACCORD's cart tour →

The southern hills and Fiesole

FPT SRL’s hill tour (from $71, 5.0 from 29 reviews) is the other tour here from an agency named in the permit decrees. It meets in front of the NH Florence hotel and climbs to Bellosguardo, the Medici villa of Poggio Imperiale and Arcetri, with a Tuscan snack and bottled water, before the view from Piazzale Michelangelo. The listing gives about 1 hour 40 minutes in all, ending at Piazza Goldoni. It also says the ride passes Ponte Vecchio, which no licensed route reaches, so ask which way it drives inside the city. It takes at most seven guests per cart and splits larger groups across carts that drive together. Its title calls it private and its description a small group, so check which you are booking. Gratuities are not included, and it is not suitable for wheelchair users.

Two other operators drive carts to Fiesole, the hill town outside Florence’s UNESCO area. The city’s rule does not reach Fiesole, but it does apply to any streets inside that area a cart uses to leave Florence, so ask which ones. Both tours start from Piazza Piave. Brama Travel’s private tour (from $56, 4.8 from 528) meets next to the Torre della Zecca, on the river side of the square. Its highlights mention entry to Fiesole’s Roman theatre and archaeological museum, which its list of inclusions does not, so confirm before you go. Florence panorama’s tour (from $111, 4.9 from 139) includes tickets to the archaeological area, then visits the cathedral of San Romolo and the gardens by the convent of San Francesco. If the archaeological area is closed at your time, the listing offers a tasting of local biscuits instead. Neither listing gives a total length.

Who a cart suits, and the free way up

A cart suits anyone who cannot manage the climb to the view, or would rather not on a hot day; FPT’s listing makes the case for families and for summer. It does not suit someone who wants the Duomo, the Signoria or Ponte Vecchio up close, because no licensed cart may go there. A walking tour covers those, and the bike tours include an e-bike ride up to the Piazzale.

The view itself costs nothing: Piazzale Michelangelo is free. The Comune describes the Rampe del Poggi, the paths, basins and cascades that climb to it from Porta San Niccolò, and the basilica of San Miniato al Monte nearby is free to enter with no booking, though not during services. Bus 12 runs to Piazzale Michelangelo from Santa Maria Novella station, according to San Miniato’s own directions, on a €2.00 urban ticket valid for 90 minutes. The Piazzale Michelangelo guide covers the walk up and the rides that stop there.