Florence must see advice

Duomo Museum !!

The Bargello is a great idea - for one thing, they have the Donatello David, so you can compare and contrast with the Michelangelo version. Another small museum very worth seeing is the Museo San Marco, a former monastery. Fra Angelico lived and painted there, including painting frescoes in many of the monastic cells.

Bargello is fabulous.

Torrigiani gardens which are private. You’ll need to research to see if they will be open to the public during your travel dates.
Torrigiani Gardens
Via de’ Serragli, 144
Florence
Tel. +39 055 22 4527
Visits by reservation only
www.giardinotorrigiani.it, email [email protected].

Terzo Giardino gardens

The Uffizi and Accademia Museums are amazing.
Go up the tower at the Doumo.

I’m planning to be in Florence this Spring also, and one thing on my list is the Giardino Bardini, a garden just south of the Arno river, with fantastic views over the city.

We did this tour last October. We skipped the cooking class on Day 2 in Florence so we could spend more time visiting the wonders of the Duomo Complex. We bought the Giotto Pass, which gave us a timed-entry slot for the tower climb. After the climb, we went into the Duomo and then toured the Reparata. Then, we took a well-deserved cappuccino and pastry break before tackling the Duomo Museum and the Baptistery. The Duomo Museum is one of the best museums in Italy, in my opinion. On Day 3 in Florence, we visited the Bargello Museum after the tour's visit to the Uffizi. It was a nice respite from the frantic (and crowded) pace of the Uffizi, not to mention, the jaw-dropping sculptures.

I would suggest the Uffizi ... and

Churches ... for the frescoes!

• Santa Maria Camine - Brancacci Chapel (frescoes by Masaccio)
• Santa Maria Novella (Frescoes by Ghirlandaio)
• Ognissanti (Frescoes by Botticelli & Ghirlandaio)
• Santa Trinita (See if you can find Lorenzo the Magnificent in the fescoes on the Life of St. Francis ... if you don't, someone can help you, there)
• Santa Croce (Frescoes by Giotto, plus tombs of Michelangelo & Galileo)
• Duomo - for the Ghilberti Doors (copies on the Baptisery, across the street from the front of the Duomo; originals in the Opera dei Duomo)

...and for the sculpture

• San Lorenzo (sculptures by Michelangelo, as well as his architectural design for the library and New Sacristy)
• San Miniato Abbey (Della Robbia family) (This one is a bit out the way, but you could walk the other churches in 1/4 mile intervals, other than Santa Croce, which is a bit of an outlier, but Santa Croce is still relatively central.)

The Ghilberti doors, the Brancacci Chapel, and the Duomo's dome are true hallmarks of the beginning of the Renaissance.

You could start with the Brancacci chapel, then Ognissanti, Santa Maria Novella, San Lorenzo, the Duomo (and Baptisery) and then Santa Trinita. If time still allows, you could then pass by the Piazza della Signoria and on to Santa Croce. )

There is, of course, more. The Accademia, the Pitti Palace (Some Medici collected art and lovely gardens). Of course, you already identified the Bargello, which is pretty spectacular for sculpture, including Donatello's David & Michelangelo's Bacchus.

The RS Venice/Florence/Rome tour includes the Accademia and Uffizi so they don't need to do them again. Here's the itinerary for that tour:

https://www.ricksteves.com/tours/italy/venice-florence-rome

I would recommend the Bargello and San Marco as well, assuming both are open on the days you'll be there. You might also consider the Duomo's museum. Any of these will be well worth your time.

If you do San Marco, Piazza della Santissima Annunziata is very close by and has a notable church (Basilica della Santissima Annunziata) with frescos by a who's who of Renaissance artists, and Ospedale degli Innocenti, a foundling home established nearly 600 years ago, and still provides services to benefit the welfare of at-risk children and their mothers. The church is free, and Brunelleschi's ospedale is a museum (Museo degli Innocenti.) If you don't have time to visit the latter, at least stop admire the exterior architecture and Andrea della Robbia's famous terra-cotta reliefs of swaddled infants. Look down the street for an interesting view of Brunelleschi's famous dome.

Info on the piazza:
https://www.visitflorence.com/florence-monuments/piazza-ss-annunziata.html

Info on Museo degli Innocenti:
https://www.museodeglinnocenti.it/en/
https://www.feelflorence.it/en/node/12220

On the church:
https://www.feelflorence.it/en/node/12123 (use this for visiting hours)
http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/Santissima-Annunziata.html

Still have time? Head up to Basilica al San Miniato. It's a very old, very important church with a lofty view of Florence. For visiting hours:
https://www.feelflorence.it/en/node/12125
More about the church: http://www.museumsinflorence.com/musei/san_miniato.html

Walk down from the church to Piazzale Michelangelo for more for that great view, and maybe see about grabbing a seat at one of cafes around near the piazza. This is a really nice place to watch dusk descend upon Florence and the lights of the city below twinkle on. Looks like this (not my photo):
https://milanhutera.com/portfolio/evening-florence-piazzale-michelangelo-italy/