Florence itinerary help

The only thing I can add to this is to explore the many little shops in Florence & Venice. When I was there several years ago, we went into a tiny stationery shop. They weren't busy, & offered us a demonstration on painting paper for book covers. We were able to paint a sheet of paper (which I framed when I got back home). It was a lovely, unexpected treat!

If you want art and history, you need to see the churches.

Masaccio, Masolino, Bottecelli, Michelangelo, Ghirlandaio, Donatello and more. They created so much art for the churches.

Santa Maria Carmine, Santa Maria Novello, Santa Trinita, Santa Croce, San Lorenzo, Orsanmichele.

Two days plus two half days, minus time to go to Pisa. Not sure you have enough time. If you do go to Pisa, don’t skip its cathedral with its magnificent sculptures by Pisano.

We were in Florence for the first time in March 2023. I was really impressed with the Duomo museum. We spent around 3 hours there. The cathedral itself took much less time and the museum under the cathedral (Santa Raparata) took about an hour? I think we were a little overwhelmed by that point. My recommendation would be to get to the museum as close to opening time as possible so you can take your time.
We had a reserved time for the Accademia for 11:30 on a Saturday morning. Outside on the street it's a bit confusing trying to figure out what line to be in, but there are attendants to help. We spent longer here than we expected also. Probably more than 2 hours. Since you'll be coming from the Galileo museum you'll probably want to get an early start there too, to have enough time (it all depends on how much you are interested in the history of scientific instruments). Give yourself time to get to the Accademia without feeling rushed.

Thank you!

Harteker, what a unique experience. Do you recall where to find this shop? I’ll definitely leave time to wander & explore.

Fred, appreciate the tips! Originally I wasn’t planning on going to Pisa but it’s high on my partners list so we’ll fit it in. I’ll look into those churches.

hey hey Marcy
i understand where you're coming from. with all my trips to different cities seeing all the attractions, museums, architecture, churches changed my tune to see and do fun things now, some may agree some may not. here's a few things you can check out:
paintandwineflorence.it
painting and wine tasting overlooking the ponte vecchio. create your "masterpiece"and take home as a souvenir, your partner may join in for the fun
educated-traveller.com
wine windows of florence, we found a pedicab guy near the carousel and took us on a tour of the central area. stopped by to see this and they were still on renovation stages.
mercatocentrale.it
great with anything and everything, shops, artisan crafts, restaurants, souvenirs, cooking kitchen for classes. stopped to have an appetizer and glass of wine
stopping at different shops for gelato tasting the flavors (eatingarounditaly.com/ best gelato in florence - vivoli for their bomboloni and best pastries/pastirccerias, my downfall with breads/pastries)
just roaming around, people watching, it's always busy and sometimes crowded. we never made reservations not knowing where we would be, just stopped at small hole in the wall/mom & pop place down an alleyway for meals or take out back to our apartment
with not many days there, just enjoy and smell the italian air.
schezzini.it
he does a "bar crawl/ cichetti tour) in venice. email alessandro for more info on website. wine, small bites and history of venice in a small group
have a great trip and just enjoy it, never in a hurry.
aloha