Florence

I love wandering around Florence. I did go into see the Statue of David, but spent most of my time walking around. Crossed the river, went to the big Central Market (it was fun to walk around in there - and they have a stand that sells wonderful pork sandwiches.)
I haven't climbed to the top of the Duomo tower - but it is on my bucket list.
There is a great river cruise on the Arno too.
I'm sure other folks have many more suggestions :)

I concur. The only museum that my wife and I went into was to to see David (which was incredible, by the way). Florence is great just to walk around in, and enjoy life. The market is one of my favorite ones in Europe (ergo: one of my favorites in all the world). Lots of cool things to do, and you can always take a day trip to a small town in Tuscany. With one day, just walk around and enjoy it! The city itself is the main attraction for me.

Edit: I see that you're only planning on spending one day there (I should really pay better attention to the query, and not let my enthusiasm for a place get the best of me!). I'll reaffirm my advice to just wander around the city and soak it all in!

Jan

check out Boboli gardens. climb up the Duomo. walk around the duomo at night.

The Uffizi is a must see. Use Rick Steves' audio tour to give you a good sense of what you are seeing.

The architecture is quite beautiful too, and although I haven't been to Florence within this millennium, I remember its beauty and parks as well. It might be worth it to read a little about the Renaissance so you'd have an idea about the buildings you see; the Duomo, etc. Even though you're not into the museum aspect, spend an hour here at home going through a book about the Uffizi Gallery, just to see what's in there; "Birth of Venus" and lots of Michaelangelo and Leonardo marble, etc. Florence is, arguably, "Ground Zero" for art. Oh, also check out the movie "Room With A View" (- - that's the one about Florence, isn't it??)

For a beautiful, peaceful view, hike up to San Miniato al Monte across the Arno. The church is also well worth seeing along with the lower Piazzale Michelangelo.

We also aren't into spending time in art museums. In October we took our first trip to Italy and spent 4 nights in Florence (1 day trip to Siena). Didn't see the Uffizi. We did take a tour that got us in to see David early, then through the Duomo Museum, Baptistery and into the Duomo and the Terrace level before we climbed up the rest of the way. Also agree with San Miniato and the views, although that does take some time. Something else we really enjoyed was the Palazzo Vecchio. We climbed the tower and had a beautiful view of the Duomo and Bell Tower. What really made it most enjoyable is that we took their Dante's Inferno tour (or could take Secret Itineraries). It was only 75 minutes and took us behind the scenes in some places not open to the public. Of course there's a lot of art in the palace but we got to learn about history of the tower, etc.

Many museums in Florence are a combination of historic architecture and art. For instance, the San Marco Museum gives you a good look at a former monastery where each cell has a Fra Angelico painting. The Medici Chapel was designed around tombs sculpted by Michelangelo, but the complete effect of seeing them in their original location, in a chamber richly inlaid with colored marble, is much different from a standard museum. Neither of these take very long to visit. Many people also think just the David is worth the price of admission (and reserving ahead) to the Accademia Museum and skip the whole second floor. If you could get interested in historic scientific instruments and maps, then the Galileo Museum has about the most complete collection I can imagine.

See also Rick's At a Glance list for Florence's main sites and the Audio tour for his Renaissance walking route.