It’s well known that Florence is a fascinating city and a prime destination for art adepts. The city is stunning with its Renaissance architecture, charming red roofs, beautiful churches and art everywhere. It’s definitely a must see. You need to stay at least two days but I would recommend three days if you love art.
When to go: I recommend planning your trip in May, June or September to November. July and August aren’t entirely to be avoided, however, it can be very humid and hot, in addition to being a very busy tourist season. October and November are great option if you want less tourists, but it getting colder and there’s more chance of rain particularly in November. My personal favorite time to travel in Italy is in September because it’s still pretty hot but more comfortable for the long days spent walking.
How many days : I recommend spending three days in Florence, especially if it’s your first visit.
How to go to Florence:
Train: You can easily come to Florence by train if you come from an other city. It’s definitely what I would recommend to skip the traffic, which can become really heavy. It’s only 1h30 from Rome, 2h from Milan, about 2h30 from Venice.
Plane: You can come by plane to Florence, then take a 30 minute tramway to Florence historic center.
Car: I don’t recommend visiting Florence by car. If you come by car, park it somewhere and don’t use it while you visit. However, if you want to do a roadtrip in Tuscany from Florence, you’ll easily find a car to rent from Florence.
First day in Florence:
1) The Uffizi Gallery : If you love art, don’t skip this one! The Uffizi Gallery is a national monument well known for its legendary art collection primarily from the renaissance period. You’ll find artwork from Michelangelo, from Botticelli like The birth of Venus and from Da Vinci. If you really love art, you’ll need at least 2h to appreciate everything. It’s the most visited museum in Italy, so I strongly recommend buying your ticket in advance. You can buy a combo ticket to also see the Accademia Gallery.
2) Ponte Vecchio: Ponte Vecchio is the oldest Bridge in Florence. Its unicity comes from all the shops along it which are mostly jewelry shops.
3) Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens: This Renaissance palace is now a beautiful museum regrouping paintings, sculptures, costumes, and others. Next to it, you’ll find a large garden of 45,000 sq ft where you’ll find lovely fountains, marble sculptures, caves, a lake, and pergolas.
4) Piazzale Michelangelo: This beautiful Piazzale give you a amazing view of Florence, you’ll be able to admire The Duomo, the Palazzo Vecchio and Santa Croce Basilica.
Second day in Florence:
1) Duomo (Cathedral de Santa Maria del Fiore)
I recommend starting the day with the Duomo because it takes more energy and is better to do when the heat is not at its peak.
Florence Duomo is known all around the world as one of Italy’s landmarks and is in my opinion a must see. It has outstanding gothic architecture and a beautiful panoramic view of the city from the dome! It is known for its impressive brick dome, which is in fact the world’s largest. Its marble facade is also breathtaking with the green, pink and white embellishments and sculptures. It is definitely one of a kind.
You can just take a walk around this beautiful church if you don’t want to visit the interior. However, I recommend you climb up the dome to admire the view of Florence’s beautiful red rooftops. I personally loved it! Have some good shoes and a bottle of water, and be prepared to do some cardio! But don’t worry too much, the pace is not too fast and gives you the time to take some pauses. If you want, you can even reserve a guided tour to learn more about the cathedral’s history.
If you want to go inside the Duomo, you absolutely have to reserve it online beforehand because the waiting line can be more than an hour long and there’s a limited number of people allowed inside at the same time. You’ll need at least an hour.
Those are the official tickets: official tickets for Florence Duomo complex
If you love history and want to know more, you could reserve a tour.
Florence: Duomo Skip-Any-Line Tour
Florence: Duomo Area Tour and Brunelleschi Dome Climb Ticket
Florence: Duomo Complex with Tickets & City Walk Guided Tour
Florence: Brunelleschi’s Dome Reserved Entry Ticket & Duomo
2) Mercato Centrale Firenze: Go eat at the mercato for lunch and maybe buy a few delicious things for later.
3) Accademia Gallery
This one is for the art lovers. That’s where you’ll find Michelangelo’s David and a beautiful plaster gallery by Bartolini and Pampaloni. It’s full of stunnings paintings and sculptures. I strongly recommend you also book this one in advance, otherwise you’ll need to wait in line a long time. The visit is around 1 to 2 hours long. However, if you only want to see the David, know that you can find a replica in the Piazza della Signoria.
4) Piazza della Signoria
It’s located in front of Palazzo Vecchio. If you’re not going to the Accademia Gallery, it is worth a visit to see the beautiful replica of Michelangelo’s David. You’ll also find other statues like Fontana del Nettuno.
5) Palazzo Vecchio
We visited the palace at the end of our day when it was already dark so we didn’t get to see the view from the Torre d’Arnolfo. Also, we also had limited access to the Salone dei Cinquecento which is the biggest and most impressive room in the palace. We saw it from afar and it truly looked amazing. Maybe we were too tired for this visit but from what we saw of the whole palace we found it kind of empty. It was not a must for either of us, but if you’re a true fan of architecture and history maybe do this one sooner in the day.
From there you can also go see Basilica Santa Croce.
Third day in Florence:
Chianti Region and wine tour : Just south of Florence you’ll find the Chianti region, which is famous for its wines and beautiful landscapes. So it’s no surprise that I strongly recommend doing a wine tour. Choose one that includes exploring some of the Chianti area.
Before choosing which tour to go to, I did a lot of research and found the perfect one for us! I was in Italy with my husband and a couple of good friends and it just fit with our personality. It’s a fun and upbeat tour, with a lot of great wines. We had a blast and it is to this day one of our favorite Italian memories! I’ve done a couple of wine tours in Italy in the last few years and this one is by far my favorite! You’ll have more than enough wine and things to nibble on. You’ll also visit the beautiful San Gimignano where you’ll find the best Gelato in Italy, Gelateria Dondoli. Don’t miss out on this one, it’s amazing. This is a 7h tour from 9h45 to 17h so you have to reserve a full day for this tour, but it is absolutely worth it!
So this is the tour that I HIGHLY recommend:
Tuscany Wine Tour : 2 Wineries & San Gimignano from Florence
I hope you now have more inspiration for your next Italy trip!
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