How to get here

Prato view of the river

Our centre is located in Palazzo Vaj in the heart of the historical centre of Prato, a 15-20 minute walk from the main train station Prato Centrale and a 5 minute walk from the smaller station Prato Porta al Serraglio.

For places of interest and other useful information about Prato, view our Prato city map.

By air

Florence airport (Peretola) is approximately 25 minutes by car or 40 minutes by bus to Prato. A one-way taxi fare from Florence airport to our centre costs 40-50 euro. There is also a bus service operated by CAP bus company, which departs every 15 minutes, located just outside the airport on the main street. Tickets can be purchased either from a newsagent (tabacchi) or on board the bus. To arrive at our centre you are advised to get off in Via del Ceppo Vecchio, just before the castle (Castello dell'Imperatore), then continue on foot for a further 3 minutes. Major airlines operate out of Florence airport including Alitalia, British Airways, Air France, and Lufthansa.

Pisa airport is approximately 1.5 hours from Prato by train, or 70 minutes by bus from Florence. You need to change trains twice if travelling from Pisa airport to Prato. Low cost airlines such as Ryanair and EasyJet operate from Pisa airport.

Bologna airport is a 30 minute bus or taxi ride from Bologna Centrale train station. From there, it's about a 1 hour journey on a regional train to Prato. Travel to Florence from Bologna is also possible by taking the Appennino Shuttle Bus direct from the airport to just behind the Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station, at Piazzale Montelungo.

Rome airport (Leonardo Da Vinci-Fiumicino) is a 45 minute train journey to Roma Termini train station and 2.5 hours by train to Prato (with two train changes).

By train

Prato is about 30 minutes from Florence, about 1 hour from Bologna, 1.5 hours from Pisa, 2.5 hours from Rome and 3 hours from Milan and Venice.

The train station closest to our centre is Prato Porta al Serraglio, a 5 minute walk. The main train station Prato Centrale is a 15-20 minute walk or a short bus ride away.

Train timetables are available on the Trenitalia website.

By bus

Prato can be reached by bus from Florence. The CAP bus company operates the Prato-Florence line (LAM PO-FI) and departs from outside the Firenze Leopolda train station. To arrive at Leopolda, take the T1 tram line from outside the main Firenze Santa Maria Novella train station at the 'Alamanni' stop and travel one stop to 'Porta al Prato', opposite Leopolda.

From Prato Centrale train station, you can take the LAM bus 'Direzione Nenni' to Piazza delle Carceri, bus stop 'Carceri 2', located 200m from our centre.

Bus information is available on the CAP website.

By car

Take the A11 Firenze-Pisa highway for approximately 8km and exit at Prato Est. After the tollgate, keep to the left and head in the direction of Vaiano-Vernio for approximately 3km going through two underpasses. After the second underpass, turn right into Via Carlo Marx and continue straight towards the centre of Prato passing through three sets of traffic lights. Enter the city walls at Via Frascati and continue straight until Piazza Santa Maria delle Carceri (you will see a castle). Turn right onto Viale Piave where you will find metered (paid) street parking. There are larger paid parking areas in Piazza Mercatale and in Via Arcivescovo Antonio Martini. Please note that you need a permit to drive in some other parts of the historical centre.

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How to get here

By air

By train

By bus

By car