Please sign in to post.

32 Day Italy Trip Part Two - Florence 7 Days

Here is part two of our trip, as a follow up to Part 1 regarding Venice. Thanks again for any tips you can offer, and hopefully this might help someone along the way who is planning a trip themselves.

Day 1 (W) - Arrive via train from Venice early afternoon. After checking in to our AirBNB, we'll be doing a 3 hour walking tour with Vanessa Garau.

Day 2 (Th) - Going to Mercato Centrale at 7 am to load up on fruits and veggies for the week. Then going to informally hit some of the top sights outlined in the book that don't require reservations until 3 PM when we are doing a 3 hour masterclass at Uffizi with Towns of Italy.

Day 3 (F) - We have a reservation for the Duomo Complex entry at 815 AM, and will try to make a reservation to climb the dome at sunset that day, or another day this week. We also have a 230 PM entrance time for Accademia.

Day 4 (Sa) - We are going to Lucca for the day. We'll first visit the San Giovanni Market when we arrive and buy some foods for the day. We'll take the Lucca Walk, go to Lucca Ramparts, and the Guinigi Tower. At 7 PM, we have tickets to attend the San Giovanni Church concert before taking a train home.

Day 5 (Su) - This will be a free day to continue seeing the top sights that don't require advanced reservations, and we plan to attend a church service at 5 PM at the Duomo.

Day 6 (M) - Pisa Day Trip. We're going to do the one hour guided walk from the train station to town, and then go to the Piazza delle Vettovaglie market for fresh foods. We have an 1130 am entry time to the Tower, and will then spend the rest of the day seeing some of the related sights in that area before having dinner and heading back to Florence via train.

Day 7 (Tu) - We are doing a tour with Walks Inside Florence of "Chianti in a Day".

Day 8 (W) - We plan to get up early and do the Renaissance Walk prior to checking out and heading to the train station to depart for Siena.

Thanks everyone.

Posted by
1147 posts

You certainly have things planned out.

I would stress not to miss the excellent Duomo museum situated directly behind the Duomo across the street - I'm assuming this is included in your "complex" plans. If you want to climb Giotto's tower - which gives you a view of the Dome - rather than the dome you don't need timed reservations.

The Bargello is an amazing museum if you find yourself with looking for something to visit.

Your day trips sound great - I'll assume there are rural Tuscany plans post Florence so I won't ask why you haven't mentioned Siena.

Looking forward to the next update,
=Tod

Posted by
49 posts

Hello everyone, here is our updated itinerary for Florence:

Day 1 (W) - Arrive via train from Venice early afternoon. After checking in to our AirBNB, we'll be doing a 3 hour walking tour with Vanessa Garau. We'll then have dinner at Buca Niccolini.

Day 2 (Th) - Going to Mercato Centrale at 7 am to load up on fruits and veggies for the week. Then going to informally hit some of the top sights outlined in the book that don't require reservations until 3 PM when we are doing a 3 hour masterclass at Uffizi with Towns of Italy. The top sights we're looking at include the Galileo Science Museum, Bargello, Santa Croce Church, Pitti Palace with Bardini Gardens, Casa Buonarroti, and Museum of San Marco. We'll have dinner that night at Libreria Ristorante Brac.

Day 3 (F) - We have a reservation for the Duomo Complex entry at 815 AM for the dome. We'll spend the rest of the morning at the Duomo Complex seeing the other sites. We also have a 230 PM entrance time for Accademia.

Day 4 (Sa) - We are going to Lucca for the day. We'll first visit the San Giovanni Market when we arrive and buy some foods for the day. We'll take the Lucca Walk, go to Lucca Ramparts, and the Guinigi Tower. At 7 PM, we have tickets to attend the San Giovanni Church concert and then dinner at Canuleia Trattoria hopefully before taking a train home.

Day 5 (Su) - This will be a free day to continue seeing the top sights that don't require advanced reservations, and we plan to attend a church service at 5 PM at the Duomo. Additional sights we'll consider include Palazzo Vecchio, Piazzale Michelangelo, Church of Santa Maria Novella, Palazzo Davanzati, Piazza della Republica, Mercato Nuovo, Medici-Riccardi Palace, and Piazza Santissima Annunziata.

Day 6 (M) - Pisa Day Trip. We're going to do the one hour guided walk from the train station to town, and then go to the Piazza delle Vettovaglie market for fresh foods. We have an 1130 am entry time to the Tower, and will then spend the rest of the day seeing some of the related sights in that area before having dinner and heading back to Florence via train.

Day 7 (Tu) - We are doing a tour with Tours by Roberto of Chianti/Tuscany countryside. We're hoping to have dinner back in Florence at e5cinque.

Day 8 (W) - We plan to get up early and do the Renaissance Walk prior to checking out and heading to the train station to depart for Siena.

Let me know any thoughts or ideas, thanks all.