Florence with husband who is bored by art.

Florence isn't exactly famous for the quality of its food or pizza making skills!

Bring him to the wine country and visit as many wineries as you can. That's the only alternative to art in Tuscany.

It's a city of 400,000 residents (1.5 million in the metro area), with over 60,000 college students from all over the world, well over 10 million tourists a year, mostly concentrated in the historical center. Florence is smaller, but just as vibrant as NYC or Paris. Are you afraid he won't find entertainment outside of museums?

I haven't visited a museum in Florence in years, and I go every year for two weeks.

If you've already been there a few times and he has no interest in art, why spend a whole week in Florence? Spend a few days, then hop over to some other places he might like - e.g. hiking in the Cinque Terre, which an outdoorsy person would love.

I've been to Florence once. I'm not a museum person, and Florence just wasn't my favorite place. I'd be bored out of my mind there for a week, though there are lots of day trips: Pisa, Siena, Fiesole...even the Cinque Terre though I'd really try to do a few nights there instead if you can (easier in October).

I know Dario likes good food, but the notion that there is no good food or good pizza in Florence is a bit absurd.

Here are some:
http://www.scattidigusto.it/2016/05/31/pizze-migliori-firenze-2016/

It sounds like you are off to a great start! Italian craft beer is excellent -- I like wine just fine, but I also enjoy beer, as does my home-brewing husband, so we always seek out the local breweries.
I am outdoorsy and not really interested in Renaissance art or wine tasting myself, and I have not been to Florence, but i have perused this hiking resource--perhaps it will inspire a day trip: http://www.50hikesoftuscany.com/2011/02/hikes-of-tuscan-hill-country.html

So why not spend 3-4 days in Florence then go to Rome for 2-3? At least the art and architecture are a bit more varied there. some people do not care for Florence ( my hand is raised) so at least exposing him to one other major city will allow him the opportunity to see if he likes "Italy", as opposed to just Florence itself.

I would include at least one or two day tours also.

Tours by Roberto will come to your hotel and drive you around Tuscany. You can include wine and lunch in those tours, or something more site seeing or history oriented. http://www.toursbyroberto.com/

We did a Florence for Foodies tour and it was very informative and a great way to spend a day. they also have a tour where they will take you out truffle hunting and then you get to cook lunch using the truffles that were harvested. http://florenceforfoodies.com/

What if you call it history and architecture, instead of art? Don't forget the Galileo Science Museum, which only engineers tend to call art. Siena would certainly be on my list, which feels more like an "exploring back streets" destination.

The Galileo Museum.

We had a great time doing this Fiat 500 driving tour on our last visit to Florence - http://www.500touringclub.com.

Beer is as subjective as art. I love beer but not all styles. I love art but not particularly the grimacing jowls of the Medicis. The Statue of David is very impressive though.
"Dario likes good food" - Are there people who prefer bad food? Of course you can get good food in Florence.
I agree with some, that Rome may be a better visit for the first-timer. l liked Florence, loved Rome.

I have no experience in Italy. I do have experience taking a husband to a place he never thought he'd like. I'd done two trips to Paris, one with my mother and daughters, and one solo. He suggested we go together even though he'd avoided Europe until then. He loved it so much that he wanted to take the grown kids two years later.

The key was that I know my husband very well. While he's very busy the rest of the year, on vacation he really slows down. He lingers over coffee, meanders around until lunch, maybe does one activity or sight, and takes a long afternoon nap. Then a long dinner and a walk. That's too slow for me, so I'll often take a short nap, then go somewhere in the afternoon. If I had tried to take him to six places a day, he would have hated it. (Maybe I should have done that. I don't seem to have any more solo trips.)

You're planning things he likes, but keep some time open for doing nothing except meandering around. Even if he's a go-go-go guy, leave some time for relaxing and absorbing the atmosphere.

My husband liked art museums more than he thought he would. Take him, but he should tell you when he's had enough. Nothing worse than being dragged around a museum you hate. Perhaps a museum tour that concentrates on history would give background to it.

And use positive reinforcement. You know what I'm talking about.

Although there were many thoughtful candidates with wonderful answers, the nomination for best suggestions of the month (and for knowing her husband well), go to...Karen!

Go to Lucca for a couple of nights and ride bikes on the walls, hear some Puccini Opera, see Saint Lucy preserved in her glass coffin. Lucca is only a short train ride away. Great food there too!

You go, Karen!

If you have to take him to an art museum, to see if he can get into it, I think the Accademia is a much less overwhelming art museum than the Uffizi. Who doesn't love the David?

I wonder if there isn't a better, more typically Fiorentino cooking class to take him to. I had a great pizza in Florence, but what made it great was the boar prosciutto on it. While you will never get me to rate Tuscan prosciutto crudo ahead of either Emilian or that of the Veneto, third best in Italy is nothing to sneeze at (unless you are from San Danielle, Zibello, Parma, Reggio, Modena or thereabouts). What's great in Fiorentino cooking is: pane sciocco (how it's so good without salt, will never know), panzanella, bistecca, Lampredotto(don't knock until you've had it), digestives, negronis...

But pizza and gelato courses seem legion. The gelato is incredible all over Florence. I could spend a week eating 2-3 a day and not hit every good place.

I was surprised to receive so many responses so quickly! Thanks everyone who took the time to help me make this an awesome trip for my husband. Karen's response echoed my feelings very well. I, too, know my husband very well. I know what his likes and tolerances are when traveling. We will be going to the Galileo and Da Vinci Museums, as well as, La Specola and maybe the Natural History Museum......all on separate days! We both like slow days and don't like to be scheduled too much. I'm sure he will like visiting the smaller towns and villages in Tuscany. We are planning several days in Lucca also.

Karen - I did have to laugh when you said you haven't been able to travel without your husband now. I know just what you mean..........I want him to enjoy this trip but I still want to travel with my gal pals too!

Take him to the Stibbert museum. Every man likes a museum of mainly historic weapons. From swords to muskets everything is there.

Surely hiking the hills of nearby Siena would appeal to an outdoorsy person!

It's been a while but my husband and I joined a bike tour, riding from Florence to Fiesole and back. Definitely a beautiful ride but some uphill to begin. We stopped at an olive oil producers for lunch along the way and were given a wonderful tour by the owner. I am sorry I don't remember the group but I think you might be able to google it or check on Trip Advisor and find something similar, if not the same company.

Perhaps he hasn't experienced much art in the place for which it was intended; the Museum of San Marco might be a good choice, it's small enough to see in an hour, very near the Accademia (he can have bragging rights about seeing two museums in one day).

The unfinished sculptures at the Accademia might interest him because they show how Michelangelo worked.

Hike up to Piazzale Michelangelo --- or better yet go a bit further up to San Miniato al Monte for breathtaking views. Check out the archaeological site in Fiesole (just a short bus trip away). Take him shopping at the Mercado Centrale. Just wander and explore... the city is filled with history and beauty and not just in the museums and churches.

I am a big fan of the Museo San Marco-an opportunity to see art in its original context. And someone just started a thread about Florentine beefsteak-unless your husband is a vegerarian. And I just love to wander around in Florence. If he needs ties for work Italy's a great place to shop.

Exactly! You don't need to go to Siena to hike. Take those Hop on-Hop off buses from SMN up into the forested hills around Florence! You can get off and hike your way to points of interest! And you can get back on when you're ready for a rest!

If you are planning to spend some days in Lucca, I would do a cooking class there. My favorite day of one of my recent trips was the day spent at Chef Monti's cooking class in Lucca. He has 1/2 day --full week classes. Also, while in Florence, if he doesn't like museums but likes to shop, there are wonderful handmade paper/journal shops, leather shops, Saint Maria Novella pharmacy/perfume/lotion shop.....etc....lots of shopping experiences. Love my handmade leather journal with handmade paper that I purchased there several years ago.

Has your husband done any research about what there is to do? Maybe give him some guide books and direct him to some websites and he can select some places to visit. Also give him this thread and let him look at the sites. This way he can chose places he thinks are interesting. Less griping if he does not like what you have chosen :-). Been there lived through that!!

There are plenty of hole-in-the-wall places in Florence to experience food or non-museum art, sites that your husband might find neat. We've been to Florence twice, first time 4 nights at a ritzy hotel on via Tornabuoni, second time 5 nights at an apartment overlooking Piazza Santa Maria Novella. Both were great and different. Both allowed ease of walking to wherever we wanted to go. Yes, even in October there will be a lot of tourists, however.

A grade-school buddy had taught art in Florence for 4 months right before our first trip and he told us about the Chiesa Santa Trinita near our hotel, where you can walk in for free and view incredible frescoes by Ghirlandaio. I almost liked that better than the Uffizi. Then we were turned on to this beef stand called Nerbone inside the first floor of the Mercato Centrale. 3 Euro for a killer sandwich. We've done that twice each trip, wonderful.

I would engage him fully in the planning process for the trip. I would think that it's also up to him to devise some activities that would keep him "not bored"...it's a two-way street (unless you want to take on full responsibility for his happiness on the trip).

Agness,
To be truthful, these are the "wake me up when we get there" types. It's good to narrow down some choices and then go to them for help with the final decision, such as which hotels, which train, different guided tours and hikes, but they don't want to be "bothered" with the details. We're the ones who love planning; they hate it! Your idea is what we suggest to get children to buy into a trip, but with a reluctant spouses we have to know when to back off and just be happy they are coming along.

So with all this in mind, I think Karen's pace mixed with and all the other suggestions will make for a happy trip.

And if he likes the challenge of a "tall thing to climb," you can find suitable domes and towers.