Best 3 day itinerary for Florence

Do you have Rick’s book Florence and Tuscany? He has multi day itineraries on there. I don’t know how long it takes to climb the Duomo. Sorry.

Check out Rick's itineraries for Florence. https://www.ricksteves.com/europe/italy/florence-itinerary

We will visit Florence in the fall so I too am in planning mode. Happy travels!

Congrats on your upcoming trip to Florence! As other members offer feedback, you'll learn that your first question is subjective and differs by everyone's interests. What are your interests? Besides the Duomo complex, what are your sightseeing goals?

The best way I can recommend considering these questions is to look at the list of sites included in the Firenze Card. Purchasing the Firenze Card would be ideal for your timeframe because it lasts for 72 hours after you activate it at the first site you visit using the card.

Try to enjoy your time in visiting some of the sites that are beyond the heavy hitters (Duomo, Uffizi, Accademia, etc.). All of the heavy hitters are great to visit, but so does everyone else which makes for a crush. To your timing questions, you'll spend more time in line waiting to climb the cupola than you will actually climbing it - and that's with timed tickets. Earlier this year, the Duomo complex installed airport-style security in every building in the complex. Lines are incredibly long unless you time it just right.

For sites beyond the biggies included in the Firenze Card, I recommend: Museo di San Marco, Santa Croce, Palazzo Vecchio (you can climb the tower if it's not raining, must reserve a climb time just like for the Duomo), San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella, Medici Chapels, Bardini Gardens (they have a back entrance that connects with Boboli Gardens and you drop down into the Oltrarno through Palazzo Pitti - stunning views and well worth the meandering), Palazzo Pitti, the Bargello (highly recommended as a complement to the Uffizi), and Orsanmichele Museum (only on Mondays, and actually it's free anyway).

By digging into more research through the Firenze Card site, you'll quickly see how you the choices exceed your timeframe. That will ensure variety and fun!

Also consider a food tour. I highly recommend Curious Appetite Travel.

Let us know if you have additional questions, and happy planning!

Ah Florence!

First, if you buy the Firenza card you will have 72 hours from the first entry to make entry into the last place you visit. The Duomo sites are included BUT you must take your Firenza card to the OPA Ticket office (in a building opposite the baptistery, to get your OPA ticket which gives you 48 hours to visit all related duomo sites (EXCEPT the free cathedral). I suggest you go to the OPA ticket office as soon as you get your Firenza card so you can make your duomo climb reservation, especially if you are going anytime between February and November.

I suggest you go the the Firenza card official site and 'click on' the icon that says something about a video. My experience was this takes you to a PDF file that shows all the covered sites and their hours of operations and any exceptions for the coming period...of about a month, as I recall. That will help you plan your days. Some of the sites have quite varied hours of operation.

The duomo climb will take about 20 minutes, depending on the pace of the folks in front of you. Once up there, you can stay as long as you like. I was up at 9am or so in March. A little later in the morning and more fog would have burned off...better for photos. But it was a glorious wind-free day. (I did not know before I did the climb....part of it is inside the church...you are up-close-and-personal to the frescos inside the dome. You are not supposed to stop to take photos. But...everyone does. You will also do the same on your descent, which will be less crowded.

The baptistery (I can't recall if this is a timed ticket or not) will take 15 to 20 minutes, unless you want to find all the stories in the frescos. If not timed, I suggest you go early to be one of the first in line...it will be less crowded. When you get your required ticket at the Opa Ticket Office (in a building opposite the baptistery) look at the baptistery schedule, as it often varies from the normal business hours.

The museum is another story! I spent at least 2 hours there. Do find the outside terrace to see the duomo up-close.

Of course, make reservations for the Uffizi and the Accademia too. If you have only three days, know you will be tired at the end of each day! If you 've not booked your hotel yet, I suggest one close-in to the duomo. This will allow you to take short breaks during the day if you wish to rest.

The cathedral itself is free and the lines are long. I did not go inside on this visit...so no sense of how fast they moved. If time is tight and you don't need to walk the whole cathedral, you could go to a morning service, then look around as you s l o w l y leave. Entry on the right side of the building as you are looking toward the duomo.

If you decide you want to see many of the sites on the Firenza card, then DO buy it for the convenience of not having to wait in the longer lines for individual ticketing. You will still have to go to a desk at each site to have your Firenza card scanned and an individual ticket printed. Often this is right at the entry with a hand-held device.

Oh gelato. (yes, I saw that question in your post) There is a little gelato place on the piazza to the right of the duomo (again, looking toward the front of the church) on a corner that makes gelato on site. And you can buy a two-flavor bowl for a reasonable price 2,50 Euro as I recall...not the 8Euros-worth required at some of the other places.

The Boboli Gardens are nice if you want a break from the crowds. Also nice views of the city.

If you don't have time, I would save the Piazzale Michaelangelo (views of the city from afar) for your next trip. If you want to squeeze it in, a cab would take less time the bus I took. You can walk back down into the city and stop at any number of little restaurants along the way.

Enjoy Florence! Plan to return!!

I did not climb to the top of the Duomo so I can't help you there but I do know it is close to 500 steps. You can however see the Duomo, walk along the streets, have a wonderful visit at the Uffizi (buy tickets in advance!) and see the Baptistery doors in one day quite easily.

While there, don't forget to walk along the Ponte Vecchio and go to the Accademia. This could be easily accomplished in one day as well with time out for lunch, shopping the stalls for leather goods, etc.

Enjoy!

Thank you, thank you, everyone!! : )

I love history, I love Firenze, I walked right past the Duomo for my cooking class.
My favorite activity in Firenze is eating and cooking. Walkabout Florence offer's an all day cooking class that was favolososo.
It starts with shopping for ingredients at the city market and concludes by consuming the five courses that you prepare. It was excellent.

We had the Firenze Card, but it does not let you skip the line to get into the Duomo Cathedral, which is free to everyone. We used the card for the Duomo Museum - maybe 90 minutes, the highlight being the original Gates of Paradise, Giotto's Tower (the line was surprisingly short,) The Accademia, Uffizi Gallery, Galileo Museum, Pallazo Vecchio, and Boboli Gardens - in two and a half days. We also walked up the Piazzale Michelangelo. Somehow we still had time for food and gelato!

We bypassed the Cathedral as the line was at least two hours long and RS says it's not worth standing in the line (and we didn't want to waste half our day with the kids in line), and we skipped the Baptistry because of long lines as well. I really wanted to do the Dome climb but the next reservation wasn't for three days (!) and we would be gone already. I'll note however, that the view from Giotto's Tower is quite possibly far superior, as you can see the dome! Can't see the dome from the dome, so I almost think that is the better viewpoint, shorter line, and 50 fewer steps!

Scott

A visit to the Piazza Michelangelo at dusk is a necessity. You can walk up or catch the bus.