A Day in Florence

https://www.visitflorence.com/itineraries-in-florence/3-days-in-florence.html

That is a 3 days itinerary. But you can pick what interests you most.

It sounds like you only have a few hours. In that case, just walk through the heart of the city and soak up the ambience. You really don't have enough time to see any museums.

Without knowing your interests, I think you should try to go to the Accademia to see the David. There are a few reasons for this recommendation, including it’s the David (and one of the finest pieces of art anywhere) and also because it’s not too far from the train station. After that, I’d find some gelato or Bistecca alla Fiorentina.

Hi -
With that short amount of time, I think I'd just do a self-guided walking tour provided by many guidebooks, such as Rick's for Florence. He also provides audio tours you can download to your own devices for free; take a look at the "Renaissance Walk"?

https://www.ricksteves.com/watch-read-listen/audio/audio-tours/italy

Several of the other attractions he provides audioguides for (Bargello and San Marco) have entrance fees but no need for advance, timed-entry reservations like the Uffizi needs to avoid VERY long lines. Otherwise, I'd just get off the train, stow your bags and head off on a walking adventure. Have lunch. Get some gelato. Retrieve the bags and then off to the rental-car office. 🚗

I would suggest just meandering through the medieval city. There are plenty of statues, buildings, bridges and shops (inside and out) to see. It will give you a taste and nudge you to plan more time next trip. It will be very hot, very humid, very crowded but there's nothing you can do about that except have a nice cold gelato!

All great ideas. I had forgotten about the Rick Steves audio tours. That could be a very good option. I had also wondered about the Accademia to see the David statue. If we get the advanced ticket, do you still have to wait in much of a line and would that take up a lot of time? I had also thought about getting a Uffizi ticket and just meandering in there to see as much as we could see. If we get the advanced ticket there, do you still wait in line? I would think we could possibly do one or the other, David statue or Uffizi, if we got an advanced reservation ticket and then meander the City as suggested the rest of the time. One other question, our car pickup is at the airport. Is there a good way from the train station/old town to the airport? It doesn't seem like there is a train.

My advice might change based on your latest post. Your car pick up is at the airport? What time is the pick up? What time do you arrive in Florence? How much time do you actually have in Florence? You need to pin that down before you can plan something else.

If you arrive by train I don't understand why you booked your car rental pick up at the airport. You could have rented the car at the station (Hertz or Sixt) or very close nearby on Borgo Ognissanti (Europcar, Avis- Budget, etc.). You would have saved money on the rental too because picking up at the airport entails extra fees.

From the station to the airport you can take the Tramway trolley T2. The stop is on Piazza dell'Unità, or, even closer to the station, on via Alemanni side of the station (Western side down the staircase). If you have substantial luggage maybe you might want to take a taxi. The taxi stand is on the southern side of the station (the side facing the Santa Marian Novella basilica). The Tramway costs €1.50 per person, the taxi fare is approximately €25 depending if it's weekday, or Sunday, time of the day, and also number of bags in the trunk.

The airport rental pickup is at the Car Rental Center on Via Palagio degli Spini. If you take a taxi mention Via Palagio degli Spini, so the taxi driver will take you directly at the rental center. If you go by light rail the T2 stop is on the northeast side of the terminal. Walk to the front of the terminal (100 meters) and wait for the Car Rental Shuttle bus to take you to the rental car center nearby (the center is near the terminal but not really a walkable path).

How much luggage you have may affect what you do with your day, as well. Are you planning to store it at the train station when you explore Florence?

Another vote for doing the Rick Steves' audio tour, renaissance walk would be just about right. We had timed entry to the Accademia for a Saturday, late March this year. Our entrance time was 11am. The street outside the entrance was very crowded for the whole block. There are different colored rope lines for different ticket types (individual, group, tour, no reservation...). For individual timed tickets, they will keep telling you to step out of line until exactly your time. Then at that time there's a bit of a rush for people to get into the line (many were just milling about near the entrance to the line). We were there waiting, got in line right at 11am and were probably through security and into the museum proper in less than 15 minutes. We stayed in the museum about 90 minutes. For the Uffizi, our timed entrance was 9:45am on Friday, we picked up our tickets and went to the line about 9:25, there was no wait and the guard told us we could just go through, even though we were early. My guess is that's totally crowd dependent, we were there early enough that there was no back up in line or through security. If I had to choose and only had a few hours, I'd probably do David, book as early in the day as you're likely to be there. You will have time to see David, which is way more impressive than I ever imagined, and maybe walk around a bit. BUT, that said, I also think just staying outside and walking around, especially using the audio tours would be perfect for a flavor of the city without panic or stress of lines.