Residence in Florence, Italy: how to start a great vacation

What is the fastest way to go about getting to the land of the Tuscan Sun and beginning a vacation that you will remember for the rest of your life? By finding beautiful Florence apartments, booking online and heading to the airport. The city may have given birth to the Renaissance and housed artists that reveled in painstakingly slow progress towards stunning art, but the current Florence whole-heartedly embraces modern technology.

Why spend time with American travel agents who have not visited the individual apartments that make traveling that much more an authentic Italian experience? In a matter of minutes you can find a great place to spend your vacation, logged in to a Florence residence web site and reserved the ideal apartment.

Virtually all Florence apartment reservations can be made online now. There are a multitude of agencies throughout the city that list their vacation rentals not only on their own websites, but also through third party agencies where you are able to see feedback from previous guests of the residence in Florence, Italy. Booking online makes it that much easier to enjoy your vacation.

Virtual tours show you the property, Yahoo Maps or Google Earth show you the exact location of the property and most of the agencies can also give you references for restaurants, markets and shopping while you enjoying your Florence apartment. Reservations are best made well in advance for peak season, but even if you are looking for a last minute reservation you may find availability.

When you have looked through a few websites you will soon get an idea of the broad range of properties that are available. Finding a great Florence residence, booking the property and going on to search for other activities can be the work of only a few minutes; leaving you time to dream of your future life making wine from your own Sangiovese vines or getting back to work.

You will find the viewing of the properties inspiring and the process painless, the agency will clarify everything before you make a final check out. Including utilities, if applicable, kitchen facilities, sleeping accommodations and final cleaning. One extra benefit of booking through one of the online Italian agencies is that they tend to be small, and most of the agents have actually visited each of the properties, this can be invaluable when you have a question, and email response time is fast.

While the rest of your experience in Italy should be slow and relaxing the process of finding a residence in Florence, booking online and running your credit card should be smooth, fast and painless. The way to do this best is with the sites that know the properties and can make a Florence apartment reservation on a property they have visited and are familiar with. Then when you arrive in either the airport or the train station, you can slow down, breathe deeply and begin a wonderful, authentic experience of food, art and culture that will make you want to call Tuscany your home.

Elena Angelillo is expert in real estate and tourist accommodation in Tuscany, especially holiday apartments in Florence. She is the manager of http://www.keyresidence.it , a comfortable Residence in Florence composed by 47 fully furnished apartments and located just outside the historical city centre.