First Time in Italy — 10 Days in Florence in April

Lots of english spoken in Florence but try to use some Italian to be polite whenever possible in restaurants and shops like greeting a shopkeeper (Ciao is too casual a greeting for people you don't know) but buongorno is a good greeting for anyone. You should at least know please (per favor), thank you (grazie), your welcome (prego) and some words to identify food items so you can pick something on the menu...please avoid places with "tourist" menus with photos of the food...yuck. Also, avoid the brightly colored gelato...awful stuff. Worth finding the good stuff...Vivoli, My Sugar are two that come to mind....I'm sure lots of folks on this site have favorite gelato places. If any men on the trip, they might like a visit to Mondial barber shop on Via San Jacopo in the Oltrano, not far from the Pont Vecchio...if no time to get a shave or cut, they sell amazing after shaves, shave soap, beautiful razors and brushes. The ladies would absolutely love a stop at the Santa Maria Novella Farmacia for perfumes, soaps...heavenly! The Santa Croce leather school is a fun stop for leather goods...pricey but all goods made on site and very high quality. Have a blast!

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We most enjoyed shopping and having lunch at the big central market. Its fun to buy fresh fruits and unusual food items from non-english speaking vendors. Learn the terms uno/etto una/etta which means around 100 grams (as a relative portion size) at the market. Many people enjoy shopping for leather goods at the leather market or (more authentically) at the leather shops in the area. Honestly, the Rick Steves guidebook would be very helpful to you in honing in on things of interest.

I highly recommend Museo San Marco. It is a rare chance to see art in its original setting, in this case a monastery. I am also a fan of Vivoli-I thought it was on the expensive side, but worth it.

I used Walk and Talk Florence audio guides and Rick's audio guides (you can download them from the website. It's a good idea to print out the accompanying maps as audio directions aren't always easy to follow. Both series are pretty old but so are the streets and buildings :-)

I can't think of anything to avoid except buying a train ticket at the station on Friday afternoon. Know the difference between permesso and scusi. Say permesso when you want to get by someone who's in your way. Say scusi when you stomp on their foot as you walk past them. Not sure if it's still true but the toilets at Palazzo Vecchio were free and accessible to the public. Walk past the ticket counter and the cloakroom. As June said, the best gelato looks the least appetizing - no fancy mounds and decorations and no neon colors. You can ask for tastes before you choose.

Once I took the bus up to Fiesole for the view of Florence from above but I didn't have time to wander around. I've always regretted that but I've never gone back either . . . there's always too much to see in the city. A nice place to watch sunset over the Arno is from the bridge below the Ponti Vecchio.

There are tons of sculpture, painting and architecture in Florence. My faves are the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo and the Bargello. The Medici Chapels are worth seeing; the rooms are small so there can be lines to get in. The Pitti Palace is lovely - don't skip the "modern art" section - I almost did. Turns out "modern" in Italy is about 1815-1915, with some good impressionists (my favorite period).