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Quick facts
Timezone
Rome
Currency
€ EUR
Language
Italian
City transfer
~20 min
Tram (T2) / Bus (SITA/Flixbus) / Taxi
Best time to visit
best weatherdeals available
Don't miss
Order a bistecca alla Fiorentina at Buca Mario or Trattoria Mario — a thick-cut T-bone from Chianina beef, served blue-rare (the Florentines consider anything more cooked an insult). Order it by weight (minimum 800g for two), and accept that it will arrive without sides unless you ask. This is the signature dish of the city.
Walk up to Piazzale Michelangelo 30 minutes before sunset for the panoramic view over Florence and the Arno — it's the classic postcard shot but genuinely moving. Then continue up the steps behind it to San Miniato al Monte church, which has an even better view with almost none of the crowds.
Book Uffizi Gallery tickets at least 3-4 weeks ahead (€20 + booking fee) for a timed entry slot. Arrive at your booked time, skip the Botticelli room immediately (everyone stops there), and go first to the room with Leonardo's Annunciation and Adoration of the Magi — you'll have it almost to yourself for 20 minutes before the crowd rotates in.
Cross the Arno into Oltrarno — the artisans' quarter on the south bank that most day-trippers miss entirely. Walk along Via Maggio and the streets around Piazza Santo Spirito to see working leather workshops, antique restorers, and the neighbourhood bars where actual Florentines eat lunch. The square has a morning market and excellent aperitivo spots.
Weekend itinerary · 3 days
Day 1
Uffizi Gallery
Pre-booked timed entry is mandatory in peak season. Arrive exactly on time and begin strategically — skip Botticelli initially and head to the early Renaissance and Leonardo rooms first. Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera in Room 10-14 are the climax; approach them from the less-visited corridor on the right.
Piazza della Signoria & Palazzo Vecchio
The open-air sculpture collection in the Loggia dei Lanzi is free — the Perseus by Cellini and the Rape of the Sabine Women by Giambologna are two of the greatest Renaissance bronzes ever cast, standing in the open air. The Palazzo Vecchio tower (€12) gives excellent views.
Sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo
Walk 20 minutes uphill from the Ponte Vecchio to reach the famous overlook. Stay for the sun setting behind the Duomo's dome, then continue up to San Miniato al Monte church — the 12th-century Romanesque facade glows green and white in the last light.
Buca dell'Orafo
A tucked-away trattoria near the Ponte Vecchio serving honest Florentine cooking — the ribollita (thick bread and vegetable soup) and pappardelle with wild boar are the things to order. Touristy location but genuine food.
Day 2
Accademia Gallery & David
Book ahead (€16 + fee). Michelangelo's David is larger than almost everyone expects — 5.17 metres of white Carrara marble. Stand at the back of the room and look at the face from a distance first: the expression of concentrated determination is the whole sculpture. Also see Michelangelo's unfinished 'Prisoners' in the hall leading up — arguably more interesting.
San Lorenzo Market & Mercato Centrale
The covered Mercato Centrale on two floors — downstairs is the old food market (cheese, meat, truffles, bread), upstairs is the contemporary food hall. It's touristy but the quality is high. For the genuine article, the vendors in the outdoor leather market around the church are the real Florentine street commerce.
Oltrarno & Pitti Palace
Cross the Arno and climb through the Boboli Gardens (€10, entry through Pitti Palace) — the Medici's formal garden behind the palace, with grottos, fountains, and a cypress-lined amphitheatre looking back over the city. The Palatine Gallery inside Pitti holds a significant Raphael collection.
Trattoria Mario
The most famous lunch institution in Florence — shared tables, shouted orders, cash only. Arrive before noon to get in; by 12:30 the queue is 30 minutes. The ribollita and lampredotto (tripe sandwich) are Florentine classics at about €10 for two courses.
Day 3
Duomo Complex: Cathedral, Dome & Baptistery
The combined Duomo pass (€30) covers the cathedral, Brunelleschi's dome climb, Giotto's campanile, the baptistery, and the museum. Book the dome climb (463 steps, spectacular close-up view of the interior frescoes) at a specific time. The museum holds the original Michelangelo Pietà and Donatello's Magdalene.
Oltrarno Workshop Walk
Spend a morning walking through Oltrarno's artisan streets — Via Maggio, Via dello Sprone, Via Guicciardini. Look for open workshop doors: leather gilders, picture framers, mosaic restorers, bookbinders. This craft tradition has continued unbroken since the 15th century and is quietly disappearing.
Santa Croce Basilica
The Westminster Abbey of Florence — Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Ghiberti are buried here. The Pazzi Chapel in the cloister is Brunelleschi's most refined architectural work. Entry €8. Arrive in the late afternoon when the light comes through the south windows.
Il Latini
A boisterous, communal trattoria near Santa Maria Novella where you share long tables with strangers and the food arrives in waves — prosciutto, ribollita, bistecca, cantucci with vin santo. Pre-book; it's been famous for decades and queues form fast.
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