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Favorites in Florence

Interested in knowing your favorite things to do/see in Florence. Thank you

Posted by
248 posts

Quite simply, in my opinion, per square meter (i.e., taking the size of the city into consideration), the historic center of Florence has more culture and art history, per square meter, than any place in Europe. The guidebooks cover the details.

Posted by
117 posts

Florence is a great city! The city is easily walkable. The Uffizi Gallery and the Academia (where you see David) are the big sights and they are wonderful. So is the Ponte Vecchio. It's a neat bridge. I love everything about Florence. It is a beautiful city. I would highly recommend walking up the dome of the big church, if you're not too chlostrophobic and able to do quite a few steps. It's a really cool experience. I did it many years ago, but I think you might need a reservation for it now. (If you are looking for a good book to read about the building of the dome, I really enjoyed reading Brunelleschi's Dome by Ross King. It made me have a greater understanding and appreciation of the architechture.) Also, the Boboli Gardens are stunning. If you head over the river to Piazzale Michelangelo, it is a little bit of a walk, but it has a great view of the city. If you go to the bridge (Ponte Santa Trinita), you get another beautiful view of the river and the Ponte Vecchio. My favorite church to visit is Santa Croce.
If you want a short visit to some place outside of the city you can take the bus just outside of town to the hillside town of Fiesole. It's a great little town so close and easy to get to from Florence.

Posted by
7595 posts

Piazza della Signoria (153)
Ponte Vecchio (136)
Duomo - Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore (121)
Uffizi Galleries (114)
Accademia Gallery (100)
Palazzo Vecchio (94)
Piazzale Michelangelo (66)
Piazza della Repubblica (58)
Campanile di Giotto (58)
Basilica di Santa Croce (57)

Santa Croce is often missed because it is a little out of the way. Don't miss it. So many amazing people are buried there.

The Basilica, with its T-shaped base and three naves, was built in the tradition of Franciscan convents. One of the most beautiful churches of Florence and the largest Franciscan church in the world, the Basilica of Santa Croce is also known as the Temple of the Italian Glories, as many important artists, writers and scientists are buried here. You will be able to see the most important sepulchers (including those of Michelangelo Buonarroti, Galileo Galilei, Niccolò Machiavelli), the tombs in the pavement, the altars by Vasari, and the many chapels with frescoes of the most important Italian artists from the 12th century (Giotto, Agnolo Gaddi, and others).

Posted by
967 posts

The Opera Duomo! This is the new museum on the square of the Duomo housing all the treasures that were being destroyed by the environment. A beautifully designed, wonderfully lighted space housing Ghiberti's doors from the Baptistery, a Michelangelo Pieta, Donatello's amazing wooden sculpture of Mary Magdalene, and many more. There's a downloadable app. Many of the sculptures have been placed at the level from which they were intended to be viewed in the Duomo. A truly beautiful museum with a wonderful collection.

Posted by
15678 posts

There's a thread going for another poster looking for free/low-cost must-do's that could be useful:

https://community.ricksteves.com/travel-forum/italy/enjoying-florence-on-a-tight-budget

To echo Curious Traveler, for its size, the wealth of cultural treasures in central Florence is unrivaled in just about any other European city I can think of. Can't wait to go back and explore some we wouldn't squeeze in to our 5 days, and others which were closed at the time!

Posted by
1929 posts

Mercato Centrale
Ciro & Sons Restaurant on via Giglio
Chiesa Santa Trinita with Sassetti Chapel
Massimo Leather on Borgo la Noce
Uffizi Gallery
Giotto's Campanile

Posted by
1369 posts

After spending one week in Florence in December a few years ago and 5 weeks last fall:

Of course visit the Uffizi and the Duomo with its baptistery and museum, but after that, what I most enjoyed seeing In Florence were some of the less famous places. Possibly partly because they were all uncrowded (in September last year, when there were hordes of people at the best-known sites) and I was able to linger and enjoy them.

In order:

  1. Benozzo Gozzoli chapel in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi

  2. Palazzo Davanzati

  3. Museo Bardini

  4. Museo Archeologico Nazionale

  5. and the nearby, new Ospedale degli Innocenti museum

I should also mention that I absolutely loved taking a daily, 4-week history of art course at the British Institute. You can also take each class on its own.

Posted by
15678 posts

and the nearby, new Ospedale degli Innocenti museum

Nancy, very good to know that you enjoyed that one! It was still under development when we were last in Florence but on my list for next time.

Posted by
475 posts

Eating a bistecca alla firorentina and tortino ala carciofi at Trattoria Sostanza

Eating gelato at Carabe

Posted by
76 posts

Wandering the streets at night, checking out the outlandish fashions in the department store windows. Seeking out little visited sites like the museo cenacola Andrea del Sarto (fabulous last supper). Shopping in the San Lorenzo street market. Taking the bus to Piazza Michelangelo and walking back into the City Center. Stopping at a random restaurant or cafe just because we liked the look of it. The Bracacci Chapel. The San Spirito street market. The Opera at St Marks.

We like the super important sites in Florence as well, these are just alternate suggestions that we loved in 4 visits we have done.

Posted by
382 posts

The Opera at St Marks

Yes, indeed. We saw La bohème there on Christmas Night last year, and it was incredible.

Would also recommend slowing down to enjoy a libation on the roof of Rinascente - https://www.rinascente.it/rinascente/en/restaurant/249 - right above Piazza Repubblica and offering panoramic views around the city's historic center.

Posted by
19 posts

Sit on a sunbeam warmed bench in Piazza Santa Croce, hold your special someone's hand and gaze upon the breathtaking Basilica di Santa Croce.

Posted by
996 posts

Well, going to see the David at the Accademia is a must. The Duomo is amazing.

If you really like art - and I do - the Uffizi is a must.

The Ponte Vecchio is also a must.

I'm also a big fan of the Mercato del Porcellino.

Posted by
75 posts

Accademia and Uffizi, of course.
We also enjoyed the Museo Galileo.
The Boboli Gardens are nice if you like that sort of thing... more of a city park feel than some other formal gardens.
I've heard the views from Piazzale Michelangelo are wonderful. We tried to get there for sunset two different evenings, but kept getting delayed or distracted by other things.

We had the best gnocchi ever at Osteria Santo Spirito, and we had a great dinner at Trattoria Sabatino.
We were told by our Italian language instructor that we had to try a bistecca alla fiorentina when in Florence.
Honestly, we were a bit underwhelmed. It was a good steak, but no better than we can get at home.
Another great lunch was had at Hosteria Il Desco.

Posted by
15678 posts

Demi, here's the deal....

What you should see will depend on what you're interested in and have time to fit in. I am an art/architecture/history geek so the Uffizi, Accademia, Bargello, San Marco, San Miniato, Piazza della Signoria, etc. were top of list for me and didn't disappoint, although my favorite "David" is in Rome. At the same time, I wasn't bowled over by the Medici Chapels, and the Palatine Gallery at the Pitti Palace was exhausting and the arrangement of artwork made much of it difficult to view. The exterior of the Duomo was marvelous - especially at night - and the interior of the baptistry was INSANE but the interior of the church wasn't high on our favorites list.

Obviously, my faves don't line up with everyone else's. That's fine, and how it works for just about every tourist. That's why you're going to need to do some reading up and decide what's top of list for YOU.

We had 5 days. I don't know how much time you have so if it's much shorter, you're going to need to be selective.

I'll agree with Jay about Ciro and Sons: had a great meal there! Also Francesco Vini near Basilica Santa Croce.

Posted by
1 posts

Take the bus out of the city center to Fiersole. It's in a lovely neighborhood that overlooks the city from the north. There's a Roman amphitheater and a very nice archaeology museum there plus a large park with walking trails. The small town square has a row of cafes. It was just nice to get out of the stone and marble and into green hills for part of a day.

I think the Medici Chapelle and Baptistry are amazing.

Google free places to visit in Florence for the location of a city library that is in a former monastery (I think). There are some artful surprises there, a nice courtyard to rest, a free WC, and a lovely cafe upstairs. You will be mixing with local students who are there to study.