Florence in 1/2 a Day ? Is it realistic ?

Pat, if you have a short wish-list, go for it. I would plan on spending most of the day.

Why not? Last year I had a not much longer visit to Florence only for the museum »La Specola«.
Don't forget the Battistero in front of the Duomo.
Assuming you arrive at the central bus station, reserve some time for the very nearby Santa Maria Novella with the superb frescoes of the Capellone degli Spagnoli.
Enjoy!

It's "realistic" as long as you are realistic about what you can accomplish in the time you have. Plan in advance exactly what you want to see and how to get there, hit the ground running, and make sure you allow enough time to get back to your bus for the return journey. Then, have a great time!

Of course, you'll want to spend as much time there as you can. Get the earliest possible bus in to Florence and the latest possible bus out.

My first visit to Florence, as a cruise ship passenger on a shore excursion from Livorno in 2001, was in less than half a day. Hey, we had all of 20 minutes to "do" Pisa on the way back to the ship! But that was a poorly organized, stressful visit that I wouldn't wish on anyone.

With some realistic planning, realizing you'll have to sacrifice some of the most heavily-touristed sites, you can have a pleasant, enriching half-day in this amazing city. Go for it.

Just know that if you want to climb the stairs to the top of the Duomo you have to have a ticket before you get in the line up, and you buy the ticket elsewhere (not at the Duomo itself). I was there last October and a friend and I saw the long line up and just happened to ask someone where to get the tickets and we were pointed in the right direction. We then stood in the line up for about 45 minutes and as we got to the front of the line there several people who didn't realize they had to buy a ticket somewhere else. Downtown Florence is easily walkable, though, so it won't be hard to take in a few sights in half a day.

I agree. Go for it. Florence is a great city.

Since you'll be pressed for time, if you don't want to spend time stopping for a sit-down lunch, there's a 'hole in the wall' place called I Due Frattelini at Via dei Cimatori, 38/red. It's just off one of the pedestrian streets going from the Duomo to the Ponte Vecchio so you would be passing by. You can get a sandwich and a glass of wine (in an actual glass) for about 5 Euros - just stand around, eat and drink for very little. Some times the line is long, but it moves fast.

This all sounds great. And thanks for the lunch tip too.

Four to five hours is fine for an overview...
Duomo & Baptistery
Piazza della Signoria
Ponte Vecchio
Piazzale Michelangelo

Adding the Uffizi and Accademia museums stretches this out to a busy full day.

Definitely go to beautiful Firenze, and squeeze in as much as you can! :-))

Definitely go to beautiful Firenze, and squeeze in as much as you can! :-))

...and if you don't want to wait in line to climb the duomo, you can go up the campanile/bell tower (Giotto's Campanile) where you probably won't find as much of a line (I don't believe we stood in line for more than a few minutes). And bonus - there are levels so you can stop and rest on the way up, and you get amazing views of the Duomo, which you don't really get if you are standing on top of it. ;)

The Medici chapel made me feel most connected with the past in Florence. We took the guided tour and the personalities of some of the most influential people in Florence's golden age came alive for us. We didn't go to the Pitti Palace; I'm wondering if you would get a similar more personal sense of the people and the times by visiting there. I also really enjoyed the murals in the Palazzo Vecchio, which can be toured efficiently if you concentrate on the more important rooms.

I would say it's realistic to see what you want in Florence in 1/2 day. I was in Florence last summer and found it very easy to find our way around since most everything is within walking distance of the train station. If you just want to see the Duomo and I'm assuming the Ponte Vecchio bridge, I would go for it! It's a great, very easy, walk from the Duomo to the Ponte Vecchio or vice versa.

Maragaret has been and gone from Florence (10/10); we're wondering if she found the place to park that she was wondering about. :O)

I would do it, shame not to see it and the city center is so small you can see a good amount in a short period of time.
Probably have to skip anything with a long line.

Since it sounds like you will have a car, might optimize the time by driving in assuming you can find a parking lot outside of any ZTL zones. This should allow you to arrive earlier and leave later. Probably have to pay to park but added cost to me would be worth not being on a firm schedule.

The other thing you might want to do is on Wed on your drive out. Stop and spend most of the day in Siena. It would be not out of your way and a great half day stop. You can see Pisa Tower/Piazza in the evening and will value a half day in Siena more than a day in Pisa I imagine.
In Siena we found the Santa Caterina paid parking lot extremely easy on and off the highway, convenient to Duomo and Campo piazza with more escalators than steps and also a safe place to park (a concern since luggage would be in the car)
Or if that is too much, you could always leave it open as a return to Florence for a few hours to see something you might have missed the day before since it seems to me you have multiple hours available to do something on Wed. and probably have to check out and then would be a new hotel in Pisa well before check in time if you drive without stopping.