Firenze
Cooking Classes and Market Tours
Local Guides for Private Tours
Weekend Tour Packages for Students
South of the Arno River, in the Oltrarno
Map: Oltrarno Hotels & Restaurants
Between Palazzo Vecchio and Santa Croce Church
Near the Church of Santa Maria Novella
Hidden Rooftop Café Terraces with High Prices and Spectacular Views
South of the Arno River, in the Oltrarno
Florence, the home of the Renaissance and birthplace of our modern world, has the best Renaissance art in Europe. In a single day, you could look Michelangelo’s David in the eyes, fall under the seductive sway of Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, and climb the modern world’s first dome, which still dominates the skyline.
Get your bearings with a Renaissance walk. Florentine art goes beyond paintings and statues—enjoy the food, fashion, and street markets. You can lick Italy’s best gelato while enjoying some of Europe’s best people-watching.
If you’re in Italy, Florence deserves at least one well-organized day: See the Accademia (David), tour the Uffizi Gallery (Renaissance art), visit the underrated Bargello (best statues), and do the Renaissance Walk (explained on here; to avoid heat and crowds, do this walk in the morning or late afternoon). Art lovers will want to chisel out another day of their itinerary for the many other Florentine cultural treasures. Shoppers and ice-cream lovers may need to do the same.
Set up a good itinerary in advance. Do my recommended Renaissance Walk in the morning or late afternoon to avoid heat and crowds. Stop often for gelato.
Skipping Lines at Major Sights: The plans outlined here assume that you’ll use my strategies to avoid wasting hours in line for the big attractions—especially the Uffizi Gallery and Accademia. These sights nearly always have long ticket-buying lines, especially in peak season (April-Oct) and on holiday weekends. Crowds thin out on off-season weekdays. (Note that both of these major sights are closed on Monday.) You have two easy options for skipping lines: Buy a Firenze Card or make reservations (described on here and here). Another place where you’re likely to encounter lines are the Duomo sights, especially for climbing to the top of the dome or the Campanile (bell tower). These sights don’t take reservations, but you can skip the lines at each one with a Firenze Card—or you can try visiting at a time when it’s less crowded.
The Firenze Card makes things very easy—just show up and flash your card—but it’s very expensive (€72). Because the card is valid for three days, it’s not a good value if you’re in town for just one or two days—buy one only if you want to pay a premium to skip lines. For a three-day visit with lots of sightseeing, the Firenze Card becomes a better deal.
Closures: Some sights close early; see the early closing warning in the “Daily Reminder” on here. In general, Sundays and Mondays are not ideal for sightseeing, as many places are either closed or have shorter hours.
Siena: Connoisseurs of smaller towns should consider taking the bus to Siena for a day or evening trip (1.25 hours one-way, confirm when last bus returns). Siena is magic after dark. For more information, see the Siena chapter.
The best of Florence lies on the north bank of the Arno River. The main historical sights cluster around the red-brick dome of the cathedral (Duomo). Everything is within a 20-minute walk of the train station, cathedral, or Ponte Vecchio (Old Bridge). The less famous but more characteristic Oltrarno area (south bank) is just over the bridge.
Though small, Florence is intense. Prepare for scorching summer heat, crowded narrow lanes and sidewalks, slick pickpockets, few WCs, steep prices, and long lines. Easy tourist money has corrupted some locals, making them greedy and dishonest (check your bill carefully).
For a big and touristy city, Florence (pop. 420,000) is remarkably compact and easy to navigate. Most of the attractions lie just north of the Arno River, clustered in distinct zones. Here’s a neighborhood-by-neighborhood rundown of the city:
Historic Core: The Duomo—with its iconic, towering dome—is the visual and geographical center of Florence; all other sights radiate out from here. The Duomo sits at the northeast corner of the oblong, grid-planned old town (immediately apparent on any map, and dating from Roman times). At the southeast corner is Piazza della Signoria—marked by the tower of Palazzo Vecchio (city hall) and adjacent Uffizi Gallery, with the Galileo Science Museum tucked just behind it. These two main landmarks are connected by the wide, pedestrianized, heavily tourist-trod Via de’ Calzaiuoli, which bisects the old Roman town. To the west is a glitzy shopping zone (on the streets near Piazza della Repubblica), and to the east is a characteristic web of narrow lanes. This central axis—Duomo to Piazza della Signoria by way of Via de’ Calzaiuoli—is the spine for Florentine sightseeing and the route of my self-guided Renaissance Walk.
Accademia/San Lorenzo (North of the Duomo): Via Cavour runs north from the Duomo, past the Medici-Riccardi Palace and through a nondescript urban zone. For the sightseer, the eastern part of this zone is dominated by the Accademia, with Michelangelo’s David; nearby are the Museum of San Marco and the quintessentially Renaissance Piazza S.S. Annunziata. The western part clusters around the Church of San Lorenzo, with its Medici Chapels, and (a block north) Mercato Centrale, with the vendor stalls of San Lorenzo Market. The streets immediately surrounding Mercato Centrale (especially the pedestrianized Via Faenza) teem with midrange and budget hotels, and trattorias catering exclusively to out-of-towners, creating a touristy area that’s convenient, but insulates you from a more authentic slice of Florence.
Train Station/Santa Maria Novella (West of the Duomo): Northwest of the historic core, things get a bit more urban and dreary. This area, dominated by the train station and Church of Santa Maria Novella, specializes in inexpensive hotels and characteristic eateries. Closer to the river (especially around Strozzi Palace) is a posh shopping zone, with a more affordable mix of shops lining Via del Parione and Borgo Ognissanti.
Santa Croce (East of the Duomo): Tourists make the 10-minute trek from Piazza della Signoria east to Piazza Santa Croce, facing this neighborhood’s main landmark, the Church of Santa Croce. Along the way—effectively across the street from the old town—is the Bargello, filling a former police station with some of Florence’s best sculptures. The area stretching north and west from Santa Croce is increasingly authentic and workaday (especially along Via Pietrapiana and Borgo la Croce), offering an insightful glimpse at untouristy Florence just a short walk from the big sights.
Oltrarno (South of the River): Literally the “Other Side of the Arno River,” this neighborhood opens up just across Ponte Vecchio from the main tourist zone. While the streets immediately around that bridge are jammed and tacky, two or three blocks away are pockets of Florence from a time before tourism. Many artisans still have workshops here, and open their doors to passing visitors. The Oltrarno is roughly divided in half by the giant Pitti Palace and surrounding gardens (Boboli and Bardini). To the west of the palace are the borderline-seedy Piazza di Santo Spirito (with its namesake church) and—a bit farther out—the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine, with its lavishly frescoed Brancacci Chapel. To the east of Pitti and the gardens, perched high on the hill, is the magnificent-view Church of San Miniato; just below that sits Piazzale Michelangelo (with Florence’s most popular viewpoint), and tucked below and between there and the river is the lively and funky little San Niccolò neighborhood, with lively bars and trendy restaurants.
Farther Out: Everything mentioned above is within about a 30-minute walk of the Duomo. To venture farther, one popular choice is the adjacent, hilltop town of Fiesole (to the northeast, with archeological sites and fine views). But in all directions, Florence is hemmed in by forested Tuscan hills with picturesque cypress-lined roads connecting lavish villas.
Florence has two separate TI organizations.
The city TI has three different branches. The very crowded main branch is across the square from the train station (Mon-Sat 9:00-19:00, Sun 9:00-14:00; with your back to tracks, exit the station—it’s 100 yards away, across the square in wall near corner of church at Piazza Stazione 4; tel. 055-212-245, www.firenzeturismo.it). Upstairs from this branch, drop by the easy-to-miss “Experience Florence” visitors center, with big touchscreens to help you virtually explore the city and plan an itinerary, and a surprisingly well-produced 3-D movie about the city, offering tasteful and evocative slices of Florentine life and lingering images of the big landmarks (free, 13 minutes, in Italian with English subtitles, open same hours as TI).
The smaller branch is very centrally located at Piazza del Duomo, at the west corner of Via Calzaiuoli (it’s inside the Bigallo Museum/Loggia; Mon-Sat 9:00-19:00, Sun 9:00-14:00, tel. 055-288-496). They also have a branch at the airport.
The other TI, which covers both the city and the greater province of Florence, tends to be less crowded and more helpful. It’s a couple of blocks north of the Duomo, just past Medici-Riccardi Palace (Mon-Sat 8:30-18:30, closed Sun, at Via Cavour 1 red, tel. 055-290-832).
At any TI, you’ll find these free, handy resources in English:
• city map (also ask for the transit map, which has bus routes of interest to tourists on the back; your hotel likely has freebie maps, too)
• current museum-hours listing (you can also download this list at www.firenzeturismo.it)
• a list of current exhibitions
• information about what’s happening around town during your visit, including concerts
• the compact Firenze Info booklet, loaded with practical details
• Firenze: The Places of Interest, a fold-out with brief descriptions of sightseeing options
• information on events and entertainment, including the TI’s monthly Florence & Tuscany News
• the glossy bimonthly Florence Concierge Information magazine (stuffed with ads for shopping and restaurants, but also includes some useful information)
• The Florentine newspaper (in English, published monthly and updated online every other Thu at www.theflorentine.net, for expats and tourists, great articles giving cultural insights, schedule of goings-on around town), along with the similar The Florence Newspaper (www.theflorencenewspaper.com).
The Florence magazine and newspapers just mentioned are often available at hotels throughout town.
The TIs across from the train station and on Via Cavour sell the Firenze Card, an expensive but handy sightseeing pass that allows you to skip the lines at top museums (see here).
Florence’s main train station is called Santa Maria Novella (Firenze S.M.N. on schedules and signs). The city also has two suburban train stations: Firenze Rifredi and Firenze Campo di Marte. Note that some trains don’t stop at the main station—before boarding, confirm that you’re heading for S.M.N., or you may overshoot the city. (If this happens, don’t panic; the other stations are a short taxi ride from the center.)
As at any busy train station, be on guard: Don’t trust “porters” who want to help you find your train or carry your bags (they’re not official), and politely decline offers of help with using the automated ticket machines by anyone other than uniformed staff.
To orient yourself to Santa Maria Novella Station and nearby services, stand with your back to the tracks. Look left to see the green cross of a 24-hour pharmacy (farmacia) and a small food court (marked Bar & Snack). Baggage storage (deposito bagagli) is also to the left, halfway down track 16 (€6/5 hours, then cheaper per hour after that, daily 6:00-23:00, passport required, maximum 40 pounds, no explosives—sorry).
Directly ahead of you is the main hall (salone biglietti, with Trenitalia ticket windows; for information, use window #18 or #19—take a number). WCs (€1) are to the right, near the head of track 5. The high-speed Italo information office and Trenitalia Frecciaclub (first-class lounge) are opposite track 5, near the exit.
To reach the TI, walk away from the tracks and exit the station; it’s straight across the square, 100 yards away, by the stone church.
For cheap eats, the food court near track 16 includes places to get pizza, panini, and simple salads, plus a McDonald’s. The handiest supermarket is the classy Sapori & Dintorni Conad, across the busy street toward the Duomo (Mon-Sat 8:30-21:00, Sun 9:30-20:00, Largo Alinari 6/7).
If you need train tickets, take advantage of the user-friendly, “Fast Ticket” (Biglietto Veloce) machines in the station that display schedules, issue tickets, and even make reservations for rail-pass holders. Some take only credit cards; others take cards and cash. Using them is easy—just tap “English.” There are two train companies: Trenitalia, with most connections, has green-and-white machines (toll tel. 892-021, www.trenitalia.it); the red machines are for their high-speed competitor, Italo (no rail passes accepted, cheaper the further in advance you book, tel. 06-0708, www.italotreno.it).
To get international tickets, you’ll need to go either to a ticket window (in the main hall) or a travel agency.
Getting to the Duomo and City Center: The Duomo and town center are to your left (with your back to the tracks). Out the doorway to the left, you’ll find city buses and the taxi stand. Taxis cost about €6-8 to the Duomo, and the line moves fast, except on holidays. To walk into town (10-15 minutes), exit the station through the main hall and head straight across the square outside (toward the Church of Santa Maria Novella). On the far side of the square, keep left and head down the main Via dei Panzani, which leads directly to the Duomo.
The bus station is next to the train station, with the TI across the square. Exit the station through the main door, and turn left along the busy street toward the brick dome. The train station is on your left, while downtown Florence is straight ahead and a bit to the right.
The autostrada has several exits for Florence. Get off at the Nord, Sud, or Certosa exits and follow signs toward—but not into—the Centro.
Don’t even attempt driving into the city center. Florence has a traffic-reduction system that’s complicated and confusing even to locals. Every car passing into the “limited-traffic zone” (Zona Traffico Limitato, or ZTL) is photographed; those who haven’t jumped through bureaucratic hoops to get a permit can expect to receive a €100 ticket in the mail (and an “administrative” fee from the rental company). If you get lost and cross the line several times...you get several fines. The no-go zone (defined basically by the old medieval wall, now a boulevard circling the historic center of town—watch for Zona Traffico Limitato signs) is roughly the area between the river, main train station, Piazza della Libertà, Piazza Donatello, and Piazza Beccaria; across the river, in the Oltrarno, the area around Pitti Palace and Santo Spirito is also a ZTL. Confusingly, several streets are classified ZTL only at certain times of day; at the beginning of each block, watch for a stoplight with instructions (in Italian and English)—the green light means it’s currently OK to drive there, while the red light means, well...
If you have a reservation at a hotel within the ZTL area that has parking, ask them (in advance) if they can get you permission to enter town. Similarly, some parking garages within the ZTL area may be able to register you. But in general, it’s risky to take that chance unless you’ve verified in advance that it’s possible.
Another potentially expensive mistake when driving in Florence is using the lanes designated for buses only (usually marked with yellow stripes). Distracted tourists—trying to navigate in an unfamiliar city—routinely wind up driving in these lanes, get photographed, and are mailed a hefty ticket. Pay careful attention to signs.
Parking: The city center is ringed with big, efficient parking lots (signposted with the standard big P), each with taxi and bus service into the center. Check www.firenzeparcheggi.it for details on parking lots, availability, and prices. From the freeway, follow the signs to Centro, then Stadio, then P. I usually head for “Parcheggio del Parterre,” just beyond Piazza della Libertà (€2/hour, €20/day, €70/week, open 24 hours daily, tel. 055-500-1994, 600 spots, automated, pay with cash or credit card, never fills up completely). To get into town, find the taxi stand at the elevator exit, or ride one of the minibuses that connect all of the major parking lots with the city center (see www.ataf.net for routes).
You can park for free along any suburban curb that feels safe; pick a place near a bus stop and take the bus into the city center from there. Check for signs that indicate parking restrictions—for example, a circle with a slash through it and “dispari giovedi, 0,00-06,00” means “don’t park on Thursdays between midnight and six in the morning.”
There’s talk of closing the free parking lot at Piazzale Michelangelo (see here), but if it is open, don’t park where the buses drop off passengers; park on the side of the piazza farthest from the view. To get from Piazzale Michelangelo to the center of town, take bus #12 or #13.
Car Rental: If you’re picking up a rental car upon departure, don’t struggle with driving into the center. Taxi with your luggage to the car-rental office, and head out from there.
Amerigo Vespucci Airport, also called Peretola Airport, is about five miles northwest of the city (open 5:00-23:00, no overnighting allowed, TI, airport code: FLR, airport info tel. 055-315-874, flight info tel. 055-306-1700—domestic only, www.aeroporto.firenze.it).
Shuttle buses (to the far right as you exit the arrivals hall) connect the airport with Florence’s bus station, 100 yards west of the train station on Via Santa Caterina da Siena (2/hour, 30 minutes, €6, buy ticket on board and validate immediately, daily 6:00-23:30). If you’re changing to a different intercity bus in Florence (for instance, one bound for Siena), stay on the bus through the first stop (at the train station); it will continue on to the bus station nearby. Allow about €25 and 30 minutes for a taxi.
For detailed instructions for arriving at Florence’s port, Livorno, see here.
Theft Alert: Florence has particularly hardworking thief gangs who hang out where you do: near the train station, the station’s underpass (especially where the tunnel surfaces), and at major sights. American tourists—especially older ones—are considered easy targets. Some thieves even dress like tourists to fool you. Logically, any crowded bus with lots of tourists likely holds at least one thief (it’s in their union rules)—stay alert. Piazza Santa Maria Novella (near the train station) and Piazza Santo Spirito (in the Oltrarno) feel a bit sketchy; be on guard here, especially at night.
Pedestrian Tips: Once nightmarish for pedestrians, the city is increasingly delightful on foot. Visitors to Florence will enjoy the city’s newfound passion for traffic-free zones (though even in these, nearly silent hybrid taxis nudge their way through the crowds with a persistent beep-beep-beep). However, particularly on trafficked streets, just getting from place to place can still be stressful: Chunky stone window frames and heavy iron grates around windows bully pedestrians off of the extremely narrow sidewalks and into the streets, which are temptingly empty...until a motor scooter or car whips around the corner at top speed. Walking down the street is a contact sport; Florentines think nothing of brushing, nudging, and bumping passersby, which can challenge those of us used to a bit more personal space.
Medical Help: There’s no shortage of English-speaking medical help in Florence. To reach a doctor who speaks English, call Medical Service Firenze at 055-475-411 (mobile 339-297-0302); the phone is answered 24/7. Rates are reasonable. For a doctor to come to your hotel within an hour of your call, you’d pay €100-200 (higher rates apply on Sun, holidays, or for late visits). You pay only €50 if you go to the clinic when the doctor’s in (Mon-Fri 11:00-12:00, 13:00-15:00 & 17:00-18:00, Sat 11:00-12:00 & 13:00-15:00, closed Sun, no appointment necessary, Via Roma 4, between the Duomo and Piazza della Repubblica).
Dr. Stephen Kerr is an English doctor specializing in helping sick tourists (drop-in clinic open Mon-Fri 15:00-17:00, other times by appointment, €50/visit, Piazza Mercato Nuovo 1, between Piazza della Repubblica and Ponte Vecchio, tel. 055-288-055, mobile 335-836-1682, www.dr-kerr.com). The TI has a list of other English-speaking doctors.
There are 24-hour pharmacies at the train station and on Borgo San Lorenzo (near the Baptistery).
Museum Strategies: If you want to see a lot of museums, the pricey Firenze Card—which saves you from having to wait in line or make reservations for the Uffizi and Accademia—can be a worthwhile investment (see here).
Visiting Churches: Some churches operate like museums, charging an admission fee to see their art treasures. Modest dress for men, women, and even children is required in some churches (including the Duomo, Santa Maria Novella, Santa Croce, Santa Maria del Carmine/Brancacci Chapel, and the Medici Chapels). I recommend no bare shoulders, short shorts, or short skirts at any church. Many churches let you borrow or buy a cheap, disposable poncho for instant respectability. Be respectful of worshippers and the paintings; don’t use a flash. Churches usually close from 12:00 or 12:30 until 15:00 or 16:00.
Addresses: For reasons beyond human understanding, Florence has a ridiculously confusing system for street addresses, with separate numbering for businesses (red) and residences (black). In print, this designation is sometimes indicated by a letter following the number: “r” = red, for rosso; no indication or “n” = black, for nero. While usually black, B&B addresses can be either. The red and black numbers each appear in roughly consecutive order on streets, but bear no apparent connection with each other. The numbers are usually color-coded on street signs (red numbers are very fine, and the red hue has sometimes faded; the black numbers are thicker, bolder, and—mysteriously—sometimes blue). I’m lazy and don’t concern myself with the distinction (if one number’s wrong, I look nearby for the other) and can easily find my way around.
Chill Out: Schedule several breaks into your sightseeing when you can sit, pause, cool off, and refresh yourself with a sandwich, gelato, or coffee. Carry a water bottle to refill at Florence’s twist-the-handle public fountains (near the Duomo dome entrance, around the corner from the “Piglet” at Mercato Nuovo, or in front of Pitti Palace). Try the fontanello (dispenser of free cold water, frizzante or naturale) on Piazza della Signoria, behind the statue of Neptune (on the left side of Palazzo Vecchio).
Internet Access: Virtually all Florence hotels have Wi-Fi free for guests, and many cafés and restaurants will tell you their network password if you buy something. The free Wi-Fi hotspot network you may see advertised is spotty, and the system for using it seems constantly in flux; pick up a brochure with details at the TI if you want to give it a try. If you need an Internet café with terminals, ask your hotelier or check the touristy area near the Church of San Lorenzo and the train station (especially along Via Faenza, a pincushion of tourist services).
Bookstores: For a good selection of brand-name guidebooks (including mine), try one of these shops. The first two are locally owned and carry only English books. Paperback Exchange has the widest selection and also deals in used books (Mon-Fri 9:00-19:30, Sat 10:30-19:30, closed Sun, just south of the Duomo on Via delle Oche 4 red, tel. 055-293-460). B & M Books & Fine Art is a bit smaller but also has a great Italian interest section (Tue-Sat 11:00-19:00, closed Sun-Mon, near Ponte alla Carraia at Borgo Ognissanti 4 red, tel. 055-294-575). RED (stands for “Read, Eat, Dream”), a flagship store for the Feltrinelli chain (the Italian Barnes & Noble) with a café and restaurant inside, has a small selection of English books (open long hours daily, on Piazza della Repubblica).
WCs: Public restrooms are scarce. Use them when you can, in any café or museum you patronize. Pay public WCs are typically €1. Convenient locations include one at the Baptistery ticket office (near the Duomo); just down the street from Piazza Santa Croce (at Borgo Santa Croce 29 red); up near Piazzale Michelangelo; and inside the train station (near track 5). The free WC inside Palazzo Vecchio’s courtyard (inside the ticket office, at the far end of the hall) is accessible even if you don’t buy a ticket.
Laundry: The Wash & Dry Lavarapido chain offers long hours and efficient, self-service launderettes at several locations (about €8 for wash and dry, change machine but bring plenty of coins just in case, daily 8:00-22:00, tel. 055-580-480). These are close to recommended hotels: Via dei Servi 105 red (near David), Via del Sole 29 red and Via della Scala 52-54 red (between train station and river), Via Ghibellina 143 red (Palazzo Vecchio), and Via dei Serragli 87 red (across the river in Oltrarno neighborhood). For more options, ask your hotelier or the TI.
Bike Rental: The city of Florence rents bikes cheaply at the train station (€2/1 hour, €5/5 hours, €10/day, mobile 346-883-7821; information at any TI). Florence by Bike rents two-wheelers of all sizes (€3/hour, €9/5 hours, includes bike lock and helmet, child seat-€3 extra; Mon-Fri 9:00-13:00 & 15:30-19:30, Sat 9:00-19:00, Sun 9:00-17:00, closed Sun Nov-March; a 15-minute walk north of the Duomo at Via San Zanobi 120 red, tel. 055-488-992, www.florencebybike.it).
Travel Agency: While it’s easy to buy train tickets to destinations within Italy at handy machines at the station, travel agencies can be more convenient and helpful for getting international tickets, reservations, and supplements. The cost may be the same, or there may be a minimal charge. Ask your hotelier for the nearest travel agency.
Updates to This Book: For updates to this book, check www.ricksteves.com/update.
I organize my sightseeing geographically and do it all on foot. I think of Florence as a Renaissance treadmill—it requires a lot of walking. You likely won’t need public transit, except maybe to head up to Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato Church for the view, or to Fiesole.
Buses: The city’s full-size buses don’t cover the old center well (the whole area around the Duomo is off-limits to motorized traffic). The TI hands out a map of transit routes (information also available on their website—www.firenzeturismo.it). Of the many bus lines, I find these to be of most value for seeing outlying sights:
Buses #12 and #13 go from the train station to Porta Romana, up to San Miniato Church and Piazzale Michelangelo, and on to Santa Croce.
Bus #7 goes from Piazza San Marco (near the Accademia and Museum of San Marco) to Fiesole, a small town with big views of Florence.
The train station and Piazza San Marco are two major hubs near the city center; to get between these two, either walk (about 15 minutes) or take bus #1, #6, #14, or #23.
Fun little minibuses (many of them electric—elettrico) wind through the tangled old center of town and up and down the river—just €1.20 gets you a 1.5-hour joyride. These buses, which run every 10 minutes from 7:00 to 21:00 (less frequent on Sun), are popular with sore-footed sightseers and eccentric local seniors.
Bus #C1 stops behind Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza Santa Croce, then heads north, passing near San Marco and the Accademia before ending up at Piazza Libertà. On its southbound route, this bus also stops near the Church of San Lorenzo.
Bus #C2 twists through the congested old center from the train station, passing near Piazza della Repubblica and Piazza della Signoria to Piazza Beccaria.
Bus #C3 goes up and down the Arno River, with stops near Ponte Vecchio, the Carraia bridge to the Oltrarno (including Pitti Palace), and beyond.
Bus #D goes from the train station to Ponte Vecchio, cruises through the Oltrarno (passing Pitti Palace), and finishes at Ponte San Niccolò.
The minibuses connect many major parking lots with the historical center (tickets sold at machines at lots).
Buy bus tickets at tobacco shops (tabacchi), newsstands, or the ATAF bus office on the west side of the train station (under the “digital” clock) on Piazza della Stazione (€1.20/90 minutes, €4.70/4 tickets, €5/24 hours, €12/3 days, €18/week, day passes aren’t always available in tobacco shops, tel. 800-424-500, www.ataf.net). Be sure to validate your ticket in the machine on board. You can sometimes buy tickets on board, but you’ll pay more (€2) and you’ll need exact change. City buses are free with the Firenze Card (see here). Follow general bus etiquette: Board at front or rear doors, exit at the center.
Taxi: The minimum cost for a taxi ride is €5 (or €8.30 after 22:00, or €7 on Sundays); rides in the center of town should be charged as tariff #1. A taxi ride from the train station to the Duomo costs about €8. Taxi fares and supplements (e.g., €2 extra if you call a cab rather than hail one) are clearly explained on signs in each taxi. Look for an official, regulated cab: It should have a yellow banner on the door that says Taxi/Comune di Firenze with a red fleur-de-lis, and should be marked with one of the official phone numbers (4390 or 4242). Before getting in a cab at a stand or on the street, ask for an approximate cost (“Più o meno, quanto costa?” pew oh MEH-noh, KWAHN-toh KOH-stah). If you can’t get a straight answer or the price is outrageous, wait for the next one. It can be hard to find a cab on the street; to call one, dial 055-4390 or 055-4242 (or ask your waiter or hotelier to call for you).
Tour companies big and small offer plenty of excursions that go out to smaller towns in the Tuscan countryside (the most popular day trips: Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, and into Chianti country for wine-tasting). Florence city tours are readily available, but for most people, the city is really best on foot (and the book you’re holding provides as much information as you’ll get with a generic bus tour). To sightsee on your own, download my series of free audio tours that illuminate some of Florence’s top sights and neighborhoods: my Renaissance Walk, the Accademia, and the Uffizi Gallery (see sidebar on here for details).
For insight with a personal touch, consider the tour companies and individual Florentine guides listed here. Hardworking and creative, they offer a worthwhile array of organized sightseeing activities. Study their websites for details. If you’re taking a city tour, remember that individuals save money with a scheduled public tour (such as those offered daily by ArtViva or Florencetown). If you’re traveling with your family or a small group, however, you’re likely to save money by booking a private guide (since rates are hourly for any size of group).
While I’ve outlined the general offerings for each company, check their websites or pick up their brochures to confirm specific times and prices.
This well-established company offers an intriguingly eclectic variety of tours. Most of their guides are native English speakers, and groups are small (maximum 18 adults). Popular choices include their overview tours (“Original Florence” 3-hour town walk for €29; “Florence in One Glorious Day” for €99 combines town walk and tours of the Uffizi and Accademia, more than 6 hours total), as well as their individual museum tours (Uffizi Gallery, €49, 2.25 hours; “Original David” Accademia tour, €36, 1 hour; all museum tours include admission). They also have cooking classes (see here), minibus tours around Tuscany and to the Cinque Terre, and some more unusual offerings: an Italian-language lesson taught while strolling the town, a “Haunting Florence” walk, a sommelier class, and an edgy “Sex, Drugs, and Renaissance” tour that examines the unseemly side of the city’s history. For the full list, check their website or pick up their brochure. They offer a 10 percent discount for my readers: If booking online, go to www.artviva.com/ricksteves, and log in with username “ricksteves” and password “reader” (office near Piazza della Repubblica at Via de’ Sassetti 1, second floor, above Odeon Cinema, Mon-Sat 8:00-18:00, Sun 8:30-13:30, tel. 055-264-5033 during day or mobile 329-613-2730 from 18:00-20:00, www.artviva.com).
This well-organized company runs a variety of English-language tours on foot or by bike. The boss, Luca Perfetto, offers student rates (10 percent discount) to anyone with this book, with an additional 10 percent off for second tours (if booking on their website, enter the code “RICKSTEVES” when prompted). Their most popular offerings are the “Walk and Talk Florence” tour that hits all the basic spots, including the Oltrarno neighborhood (€19, 2.5 hours), and the “I Bike Florence” tour, which gives you 2.5 hours on a vintage one-speed bike following a fast-talking guide on a blitz of the town’s top sights (€25, helmets optional, 15 stops on both sides of the river; in bad weather, the bike tours go as a walking tour). They also have a cooking class that includes a market tour (see here). Their office is two blocks from Palazzo Vecchio at Via de Lamberti 1 (find steps off Via de’ Calzaiuoli on the river side of Orsanmichele Church); they also have a “Tourist Point” kiosk on Piazza della Repubblica, under the arches at the corner with Via Pellicceria (tel. 055-281-103, www.florencetown.com).
Two art historians—Paola Barubiani and Marzia Valbonesi—and their partners provide quality guided tours. Their company offers a daily 2.5-hour introductory tour (€55/person, 8 people maximum; outside except for a visit to see David—Accademia entry fee not included) and three-hour private tours (€180, €60/hour for more time, price is for groups of up to 6 people). They also offer an insightful shopping tour that features well-selected artisans; a guided evening walk; cooking classes with a market visit; private cruise excursions from the port of Livorno; an “art for foodies” tour that combines a visit to art highlights with a market tour; and more—see their website for details (ask about Rick Steves rate for any tour, Paola’s mobile 335-526-6496, www.walksinsideflorence.com, paola@walksinsideflorence.it).
Top-notch private walking tours—geared for thoughtful, well-heeled travelers with longer-than-average attention spans—are led by Florentine scholars. The tours range from introductory city walks and museum visits to in-depth thematic walks, such as the Oltrarno neighborhood, Jewish Florence, and family-oriented tours (tours start at €250, includes personal assistance by email as you plan your trip, reserve in advance, www.florentia.org, info@florentia.org).
This scholarly group of graduate students and professors leads “walking seminars,” such as a 3.5-hour study of Michelangelo’s work and influence (€80/person, plus museum admission) and a two-hour evening orientation stroll (€65/person). I enjoyed the fascinating three-hour fresco workshop (€75/person plus materials, you take home a fresco you make yourself). See their website for other innovative offerings: Medici walk, lecture series, food walks, family tours, and other programs throughout Europe (tel. 06-9672-7371, US tel. 800-691-6036, www.contexttravel.com, info@contexttravel.com).
Several of the above companies—as well as some dedicated culinary schools—offer cooking classes, sometimes including a shopping trip to pick up ingredients at a local market. This can be fun, memorable, educational, efficient (combining a meal with a “sightseeing” experience)...and delicious. For more on your options, see here.
Alessandra Marchetti, a Florentine who has lived in the US, gives private walking tours of Florence and driving tours of Tuscany (€60-75/hour, mobile 347-386-9839, www.alessandramarchetti.com, aleoberm@tin.it).
Paola Migliorini, her husband Giuseppe, and their partners offer museum tours, city walking tours, private cooking classes, wine tours, and Tuscan excursions by van—you can tailor tours as you like (€60/hour without car, €70/hour in a van for up to 8 passengers, tel. 055-472-448, mobile 347-657-2611, www.florencetour.com, info@florencetour.com). They also do private shore excursions from the cruise-ship port of Livorno (€580 for up to 4 people, €680 for up to 6, €780 for up to 8, includes a driver/tour guide; also possible from La Spezia but more expensive).
Roberto Bechi, a top-notch guide based near Siena, can pick you up in Florence for off-the-beaten-path tours of the Tuscan countryside (see contact information on here).
Around town, you’ll see big double-decker sightseeing buses double-parking near major sights. Tourists on the top deck can listen to brief recorded descriptions of the sights, snap photos, and enjoy a drive-by look at major landmarks (€20/1 calendar day, €25/48 hours, pay as you board, www.firenze.city-sightseeing.it). As the name implies, you can hop off when you want and catch the next bus (usually every 30 minutes, less frequently off-season). But since the most important sights are buried in the old center where big buses can’t go, Florence doesn’t really lend itself to this kind of tour bus. Look at the route map before committing.
500 Touring Club offers a unique look at Florence: from behind the wheel of one of the most iconic Italian cars, a vintage, restored Fiat 500. After a lesson in la doppietta (double-clutching), you’ll head off in a guided convoy, following a lead car while listening to Italian oldies, with photo stops at the best viewpoints. Tours depart from a 15th-century villa on the edge of town; the tiny Fiats are restored models from the 1960s and 1970s. Itineraries vary from basic sightseeing to countryside excursions with wine-making and lunch; see their website for options (classic 2.5-hour tour-€70/person, US tel. 347/535-0030, Italian mobile 346-826-2324, Via Gherardo Silvani 149a, www.500touringclub.com, info@500touringclub.com, Andrea).
Andy Steves (Rick’s son) runs WSA Europe, offering three-day and longer guided and unguided packages—including accommodations, sightseeing, and unique local experiences—for budget travelers across 11 top European cities, including Florence (from €99, see www.wsaeurope.com for details).
Sights North of the Arno River
▲▲▲Accademia (Galleria dell’Accademia)
▲▲Museum of San Marco (Museo di San Marco)
Museum of Precious Stones (Museo dell’Opificio delle Pietre Dure)
▲▲Medici Chapels (Cappelle Medicee)
▲Mercato Centrale (Central Market)
▲Medici-Riccardi Palace (Palazzo Medici-Riccardi)
▲▲Duomo (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore)
▲▲▲Duomo Museum (Museo dell’Opera del Duomo)
Between the Duomo and Piazza della Signoria
▲Mercato Nuovo (a.k.a. the Straw Market)
▲Piazza della Repubblica and Nearby
On and near Piazza della Signoria
▲▲Galileo Science Museum (Museo Galilei e Istituto di Storia della Scienza)
▲▲▲Bargello (Museo Nazionale del Bargello)
Casa Buonarroti (Michelangelo’s House)
Santa Maria Novella Sights near the Train Station
▲▲Church of Santa Maria Novella
Farmacia di Santa Maria Novella
Sights South of the Arno River
Map: Oltrarno, South of the Arno River
Florence offers several options to help you bypass the lengthy ticket-buying lines that can plague its most popular sights in peak season. You can spend less time in line and more time seeing the sights if you buy Florence’s official sightseeing pass (the Firenze Card) or make advance reservations. I have all the details below, but here’s...
The Bottom Line: The Firenze Card is a major investment (€72—roughly $100 per person), but it’s the easiest way to avoid lines at multiple sights. (And it’s the only way to skip the often-long lines to ascend the Duomo’s dome or tower.) Getting the card makes the most sense in peak season, from April through October, when crowds are worst; off-season travelers could do without it. You’ll have to sightsee like mad for the full three-day validity period just to break even. Note that there are no Firenze Card discounts for seniors or families, though kids get in (mostly) free to sights; see “The Fine Print” at the end of the next section.
On a shorter visit (one or two days), or if you won’t be entering too many sights, skip the Firenze Card and instead make reservations online for the Accademia and Uffizi, and if you want to climb the dome, try to hit it at a less-crowded time. However, if the price is not a problem, people in town for even just a few hours may find the Firenze Card worthwhile—simply to buy themselves line-skipping privileges.
There is also a €10 combo-ticket that covers Duomo-related sights: the Baptistery, dome, Campanile, Duomo Museum (closed for renovation through late 2015), and Santa Separata (the church crypt, inside the Duomo). Getting the combo-ticket only makes sense if you don’t have a Firenze Card (which covers the same sights).
This three-day sightseeing pass gives you admission to many of Florence’s sights, including the Uffizi Gallery and Accademia. Just as important, it lets you skip the ticket-buying lines without making reservations. With the card, you simply go to the entrance at a covered sight (look for the Firenze Card logo), show the card, and they let you in (though there still may be short delays at popular sights with bottleneck entryways or capacity limits). At some sights, you must first present your card at the ticket booth or information desk to get a physical ticket before proceeding to the entrance.
Cost and Coverage: The Firenze Card costs €72 and is valid for 72 hours from when you validate it at your first museum (e.g., Tue at 15:00 until Fri at 15:00). Validate your card only when you’re ready to tackle the covered sights on three consecutive days. Make sure the sights you want to visit will be open (many sights are closed Sun or Mon; for details, see the “Daily Reminder” on here). The Firenze Card covers the regular admission price as well as any special-exhibit surcharges, and is good for one visit per sight. It also gives you free use of Florence city buses.
What’s Included: To figure out if the card is a good deal for you, tally up the entry fees for what you want to see. Here’s a sampling of popular sights and their ticket prices:
• Uffizi Gallery (€11, or €6.50 if no special exhibits, plus €4 fee if reserved ahead)
• Accademia (same as Uffizi, above)
• Palazzo Vecchio (€10 apiece for museum or tower, €14 for both)
• Bargello (€7, or €4 if no special exhibits)
• Medici Chapels (€9, or €8 if no special exhibits)
• Museum of San Marco (€4)
• Duomo sights: Baptistery, Campanile, dome climb, and—if open—Duomo Museum (€10)
• Pitti Palace sights: Palatine Gallery and Royal Apartments (€13; 8.50 if no special exhibits)
If you enter all of the above sights within three days—an ambitious plan—the Firenze Card will (just barely) pay for itself. If you see fewer sights, the card will cost you more than individual admissions (but will still save you time). The Firenze Card also covers a long list of minor sights that you might enjoy popping into, but wouldn’t otherwise pay for. Of the Florence sights I list, the only ones not covered by the Firenze Card are the Church of San Lorenzo, the Bardini Gardens at Pitti Palace, and the fashion museums (Gucci and Ferragamo). For a complete list of included sights, see www.firenzecard.it. Expect some changeability in their coverage.
Where to Buy: Many outlets around town sell the card, including the TIs at the train station and at Via Cavour 1 red (a couple of blocks north of the Duomo) and at some sights: the Uffizi Gallery’s door #2 (enter to the left of the ticket-buying line), back entrance of Santa Maria Novella (near the train station), Bargello, Palazzo Vecchio, Brancacci Chapel, and Strozzi Palace. Lines are shortest at Strozzi Palace, the Via Cavour TI (credit cards only), and the Church of Santa Maria Novella (facing the train station, at Piazza della Stazione 4); if you’re doing the Uffizi first, door #2 is relatively quick. You can also pay for the card online (www.firenzecard.it), obtain a voucher, and pick up the card at any of the above locations.
The Fine Print: The Firenze Card is not shareable, and there are no family or senior discounts for Americans or Canadians. Children under 18 are allowed free into any state museum. However, at the Uffizi and Accademia, if they want to skip the lines with their Firenze Card-holding parents, children still must (technically) pay the €4 “reservation fee” (which can be paid on the spot—no need to reserve ahead). However, in practice, enforcement of this policy seems to vary.
If you don’t get a Firenze Card, it’s smart to make reservations at the often-crowded Accademia and Uffizi Gallery. Some other Florence sights—including the Bargello, Medici Chapels, and Pitti Palace—have reservation systems, but it’s not essential to book ahead for these. The Brancacci Chapel officially requires a reservation, but it’s usually possible to walk right in and get an entry time on weekdays or any day off-season, especially before 15:30.
Get reservations for these two top sights as soon as you know when you’ll be in town. You can generally get an entry time for the Accademia a few days before your visit, but reserve for the Uffizi well in advance. Without a reservation at the Accademia and Uffizi, you can usually enter without significant lines from November through March after 16:00. But from April through October and on weekends, it can be crowded even late in the day. Any time of year, I’d consider reserving a spot.
There are several ways to make a reservation:
• By Phone: For either sight, reserve by phone before you leave the States (from the US, dial 011-39-055-294-883, or within Italy call 055-294-883; €4/ticket reservation fee; booking office open Mon-Fri 8:30-18:30, Sat 8:30-12:30, closed Sun). The reservation line is often busy. Be persistent. When you get through, an English-speaking operator walks you through the process—a few minutes later you say grazie, having secured an entry time and a confirmation number. Ten minutes before the appointed time, you’ll present your confirmation number at the museum and pay cash for your ticket. You pay only for the tickets you pick up (e.g., if you reserved two tickets, but only you can go, you’ll pay for just one ticket).
• Online: Using a credit card, you can reserve your Accademia or Uffizi visit online via the city’s official site (€4/ticket reservation fee, www.firenzemusei.it—click on the gray “B-ticket” strip). You’ll receive an immediate confirmation email, which is followed within three days by a voucher. Bring your voucher to the ticket desk to swap for an actual ticket.
Pricey middleman sites—such as www.uffizi.com and www.tickitaly.com—are reliable and more user-friendly than the official site, but their booking fees run about €10 per ticket. (When ordering from these broker sites, don’t confuse Florence’s Accademia with Venice’s gallery of the same name.)
• Through Your Hotel: Some hoteliers are willing to book museum reservations for their guests (ask when you reserve your room); some offer this as a service, while others charge a small booking fee.
• Private Tour: Various tour companies—including the ones listed on here—offer tours that include a reserved museum admission.
• Last-Minute Strategies: If you arrive without a reservation, call the reservation number (see “By Phone,” earlier); ask your hotelier for help; or head to a booking window, either at Orsanmichele Church (daily 9:00-16:00, along Via de’ Calzaiuoli—see location on map on here) or at the My Accademia Libreria bookstore across from the Accademia’s exit (Tue-Sun 8:15-17:30, closed Mon, Via Ricasoli 105 red—see map on here). It’s also possible to go to the Uffizi’s official ticket office (use door #2 and skirt to the left of the long ticket-buying line—go ahead, you can really do this), ask if they have any short-notice reservations available, and pay cash. Any of these options will cost you the €4 reservation fee. Because the museums are closed on Mondays, the hardest day to snare a last-minute, same-day reservation is Tuesday—get an early start.
This museum houses Michelangelo’s David, the consummate Renaissance statue of the buff, biblical shepherd boy ready to take on the giant. When you look into the eyes of this magnificent sculpture, you’re looking into the eyes of Renaissance Man.
In 1501, Michelangelo Buonarroti, a 26-year-old Florentine, was commissioned to carve a large-scale work. The figure comes from a Bible story. The Israelites are surrounded by barbarian warriors, who are led by a brutish giant named Goliath. When the giant challenges the Israelites to send out someone to fight him, a young shepherd boy steps forward. Armed only with a sling, David defeats the giant. This 17-foot-tall symbol of divine victory over evil represents a new century and a whole new Renaissance outlook.
Originally, David was meant to stand on the roofline of the Duomo, but was placed more prominently at the entrance of Palazzo Vecchio (where a copy stands today). In the 19th century, David was moved indoors for his own protection, and stands under a wonderful Renaissance-style dome designed just for him.
Nearby are some of the master’s other works, including his powerful (unfinished) Prisoners, St. Matthew, and a Pietà (possibly by one of his disciples). Florentine Michelangelo Buonarroti, who would work tirelessly through the night, believed that the sculptor was a tool of God, responsible only for chipping away at the stone until the intended sculpture emerged. Beyond the magic marble are some mildly interesting pre-Renaissance and Renaissance paintings, including a couple of lighter-than-air Botticellis, the plaster model of Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine Women, and a musical instrument collection with an early piano.
Cost and Hours: €11 (or €6.50 if there’s no special exhibit), free first Sun of the month, additional €4 for recommended reservation, covered by Firenze Card; Tue-Sun 8:15-18:50, closed Mon, last entry 30 minutes before closing; audioguide-€6, Rick Steves audio tour available—see here, Via Ricasoli 60, reservation tel. 055-294-883, www.polomuseale.firenze.it. To avoid long lines in peak season, get the Firenze Card or make reservations (see here).
This overlooked square, embodying the quintessence of Renaissance harmony, is tucked just a block behind the Accademia. Facing the square are two fine buildings: the 15th-century Santissima Annunziata church (worth a peek) and Filippo Brunelleschi’s Hospital of the Innocents (Ospedale degli Innocenti), with terra-cotta medallions by Luca della Robbia. Built in the 1420s, the hospital is considered the first Renaissance building, and—with its mission to care for the least among society (impoverished, parentless children)—was also an important symbol of the increasingly humanistic, and humanitarian, outlook of Renaissance Florence.
I love sleeping on this square (at the recommended Hotel Loggiato dei Serviti) and picnicking here during the day (with the riffraff, who remind me of the persistent gap—today as in Medici times—between those who appreciate fine art and those just looking for some cheap wine). But in recent years, this piazza has been on the receiving end of some gentrification efforts. The Hospital of the Innocents is being turned into the Museo degli Innocenti, documenting the plight of the historical youngsters who lived here (due to open sometime in 2015; www.istitutodeglinnocenti.it).
Located one block north of the Accademia, this 15th-century monastery houses the greatest collection anywhere of frescoes and paintings by the early Renaissance master Fra Angelico. The ground floor features the monk’s paintings, along with some works by Fra Bartolomeo. Upstairs are 43 cells decorated by Fra Angelico and his assistants. While the monk/painter was trained in the medieval religious style, he also learned and adopted Renaissance techniques and sensibilities, producing works that blended Christian symbols and Renaissance realism. Don’t miss the cell of Savonarola, the charismatic monk who rode in from the Christian right, threw out the Medici, turned Florence into a theocracy, sponsored “bonfires of the vanities” (burning books, paintings, and so on), and was finally burned himself when Florence decided to change channels.
Cost and Hours: €4, covered by Firenze Card, Tue-Fri 8:15-13:50, Sat 8:15-16:50; also open 8:15-13:50 on first, third, and fifth Mon and 8:15-16:50 on second and fourth Sun of each month; last entry 30 minutes before closing, reservations possible but unnecessary, on Piazza San Marco, tel. 055-238-8608, www.polomuseale.firenze.it.
This unusual gem of a museum features room after room of exquisite mosaics of inlaid marble and other stones. The Medici loved colorful stone tabletops and floors; you’ll even find landscapes and portraits (find Cosimo I in Room I). Upstairs, you’ll see wooden work benches from the Medici workshop (1588), complete with foot-powered power tools. Rockhounds can browse 500 different stones (lapis lazuli, quartz, agate, marble, and so on) and the tools used to cut and inlay them. Borrow the English descriptions in each room.
Cost and Hours: €4, covered by Firenze Card, Mon-Sat 8:15-14:00, closed Sun, last entry 30 minutes before closing, around corner from Accademia at Via degli Alfani 78, tel. 055-265-1357, www.opificiodellepietredure.it.
This red-brick dome—which looks like the Duomo’s little sister—was the parish church of the Medici and is the burial place of the family’s founder, Giovanni di Bicci de’ Medici (1360-1429). Brunelleschi designed the building, and Donatello worked on the bronze pulpits inside. The Medici Chapels, with Michelangelo’s famous tomb sculptures, are part of the church complex (see listing, later).
Cost and Hours: €4.50, buy ticket just inside cloister to the left of the facade, €7 combo-ticket covers Laurentian Medici Library; Mon-Sat 10:00-17:30, Sun 13:30-17:30 March-Oct, closed Sun Nov-Feb; last entry 30 minutes before closing, on Piazza di San Lorenzo, tel. 055-214-042, www.operamedicealaurenziana.it.
Visiting the Church: The exterior is big, ugly, and unfinished because Pope Leo X (also a Medici) pulled the plug on the project due to dwindling funds—after Michelangelo had labored on a facade plan for four years (1516-1520). Inside, though, is the spirit of Florence in the 1420s, with gray-and-white columns and arches in perfect Renaissance symmetry and simplicity. Brunelleschi designed the church interior to receive an even, diffused light. The Medici coat of arms (a gold shield with six round balls) decorates the ceiling, and everywhere are images of St. Lawrence, the Medici patron saint who was martyred on a grill.
Highlights of the church include two finely sculpted Donatello pulpits (in the nave). In the Martelli Chapel (left wall of the left transept), Filippo Lippi’s Annunciation features a smiling angel greeting Mary in a sharply 3-D courtyard. The round inlaid marble in the floor before the main altar marks where Cosimo the Elder—Lorenzo the Magnificent’s grandfather—is buried. Assistants in the church provide information on request, and the info brochure is free and in English.
Other Church Sights: Outside the church, just to the left of the main door, is a cloister with peek-a-boo Duomo views (free entry, just walk past the church ticket line) and San Lorenzo Museum. This collection of fancy reliquaries is included in your church admission, but is hardly worth the walk, except to see Donatello’s grave. Also in the cloister is the Laurentian Medici Library (€3, €7 combo-ticket with church, generally open Mon-Sat 9:30-13:30, closed Sun, tel. 055-210-760, www.bmlonline.it). The library, largely designed by Michelangelo, stars his impressive staircase, which widens imperceptibly as it descends. Michelangelo also did the walls in the vestibule (entrance) that feature empty niches, scrolls, and oddly tapering pilasters. Climb the stairs and enter the Reading Room—a long, rectangular hall with a coffered-wood ceiling—designed by Michelangelo to host scholars enjoying the Medici family’s collection of manuscripts.
Nearby: Around the back end of the church is the entrance to the Medici Chapels and the New Sacristy, designed by Michelangelo for a later generation of dead Medici. And the lanes near Mercato Centrale (one block north) are clogged with the vendor stalls of San Lorenzo Market.
The burial site of the ruling Medici family in the Church of San Lorenzo includes the dusky Crypt; the big, domed Chapel of Princes; and the magnificent New Sacristy, featuring architecture, tombs, and statues almost entirely by Michelangelo. The Medici made their money in textiles and banking, and patronized a dream team of Renaissance artists that put Florence on the cultural map. Michelangelo, who spent his teen years living with the Medici, was commissioned to create the family’s final tribute.
Cost and Hours: €9 (or €8 if no special exhibits), covered by Firenze Card; April-Oct Tue-Sat 8:15-16:50, Nov-March Tue-Sat 8:15-13:50; also open second and fourth Mon and first, third, and fifth Sun of each month; last entry 30 minutes before closing; reservations possible but unnecessary, audioguide-€6, modest dress required, tel. 055-238-8602, www.polomuseale.firenze.it.
Florence’s vast open-air market sprawls in the streets ringing Mercato Centrale, between the Duomo and the train station (daily 9:00-19:00, closed Mon in winter). Until recently, the stalls surrounded the Church of San Lorenzo, but city gentrification efforts have pushed many of the vendors elsewhere. (However, as their new location at the market is in flux—and highly controversial, with many vocal pro- and anti-market factions still sorting things out—you may have to ask around to find them.) Most of the leather stalls are run by Iranians selling South American leather that was tailored in Italy. At stalls or shops, prices are soft—don’t be shy about bargaining.
Florence’s giant iron-and-glass-covered central market, a wonderland of picturesque produce, is fun to explore. While the San Lorenzo Market—with its garment and souvenir stalls in the surrounding streets—feels only a step up from a haphazard flea market, Mercato Centrale retains a Florentine elegance, particularly now that the upper level has been completely renovated and turned into an upscale food court. Wander around.
Downstairs, you’ll see parts of the cow you’d never dream of eating (no, that’s not a turkey neck), enjoy generous free samples, watch pasta being made, and have your pick of plenty of fun eateries sloshing out cheap and tasty pasta to locals (Mon-Fri 7:00-14:00, Sat 7:00-17:00, closed Sun).
Upstairs, the meticulously restored glass roof and steel rafters soar over a sleek and modern food court, serving up a bounty of Tuscan cuisine. This is clearly Florence’s bid to have an upscale foodie market to call its own. For eating ideas downstairs, upstairs, and around the market, see ”Eating in Florence,” later.
Lorenzo the Magnificent’s home is worth a look for its art. The tiny Chapel of the Magi contains colorful Renaissance gems such as the Procession of the Magi frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli. The former library has a Baroque ceiling fresco by Luca Giordano, a prolific artist from Naples known as “Fast Luke” (Luca fa presto) for his speedy workmanship. While the Medici originally occupied this 1444 house, in the 1700s it became home to the Riccardi family, who added the Baroque flourishes.
Cost and Hours: €7, covered by Firenze Card, Thu-Tue 9:00-18:00, closed Wed, last entry 30 minutes before closing, ticket entrance is north of the main gated entrance, videoguide-€4, Via Cavour 3, tel. 055-276-0340, www.palazzo-medici.it.
Two different-but-similar entrepreneurial establishments—Le Macchine di Leonardo da Vinci and Museo Leonardo da Vinci—are several blocks apart and show off reproductions of Leonardo’s ingenious inventions. Either one is fun for anyone who wants to crank the shaft and spin the ball bearings of Leonardo’s fertile imagination. While there are no actual historic artifacts, each museum shows several dozen of Leonardo’s inventions and experiments made into working models. You might see a full-size armored tank, walk into a chamber of mirrors, operate a rotating crane, or watch experiments in flying. The exhibits are described in English, and you’re encouraged to touch and play with many of the models—it’s great for kids. The Museo has larger scale models; Le Macchine has better visitor information.
Cost and Hours: Le Macchine di Leonardo da Vinci—€7, €2 discount with this book, April-Oct daily 9:30-19:30; Nov-March Mon-Fri 11:00-17:00, Sat-Sun 9:30-19:30; for €1 extra they’ll throw in a slice of pizza and a Coke, in Galleria Michelangelo at Via Cavour 21; tel. 055-295-264, www.macchinedileonardo.com. Museo Leonardo da Vinci—€7, €0.50 discount with this book, daily April-Oct 10:00-19:00, Nov-March 10:00-18:00, Via dei Servi 66 red, tel. 055-282-966, www.mostredileonardo.com.
While the Duomo itself is free to enter, several associated sights are all covered by a single €10 combo-ticket: the Baptistery, dome, Campanile, Duomo Museum (closed for renovation through late 2015), and Santa Separata (the church crypt, inside the Duomo). You can buy the ticket at automated machines around the Duomo area (credit cards only, require PIN); at the ticket office facing the Baptistery (at #7 on the square, across from entrance to the Baptistery); at the crypt inside the Duomo; and when it reopens, inside the Duomo Museum; as well as online (www.operaduomo.firenze.it). All of these sights are also covered by the Firenze Card (see here), which lets you skip the often-long lines for climbing the dome and/or the Campanile. To climb the dome or enter the Baptistery, you’ll need to present your Firenze Card at the ticket office (across from the north side of the Baptistery) to get a free voucher.
Florence’s Gothic cathedral has the third-longest nave in Christendom. The church’s noisy neo-Gothic facade from the 1870s is covered with pink, green, and white Tuscan marble. In the interior, you’ll see a huge Last Judgment by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari (inside the dome). Much of the church’s great art is stored in the Duomo Museum (which is closed for renovation through late 2015).
The cathedral’s claim to artistic fame is Brunelleschi’s magnificent dome—the first Renaissance dome and the model for domes to follow. Think of the confidence of the age: The Duomo was built with a big hole in its roof, awaiting a dome...but it was built before the technology to span the hole with a dome even existed. No problema. They knew that someone soon could rise to the challenge...and the local architect Filippo Brunelleschi did. First, he built the grand white skeletal ribs, which you can see, then filled them in with interlocking bricks in a herringbone pattern. The dome grew upward like an igloo, supporting itself as it proceeded from the base. When the ribs reached the top, Brunelleschi arched them in and fixed them in place with the cupola at the top. His dome, built in only 14 years, was the largest since Rome’s Pantheon.
While viewing it from the outside is well worth ▲▲, the massive but empty-feeling interior is lucky to rate ▲—it doesn’t justify the massive crowds that line up to get inside.
Cost and Hours: Cathedral interior—free; Mon-Fri 10:00-17:00, Thu until 16:00 May and Oct, until 16:30 Nov-April; Sat 10:00-16:45, Sun 13:30-16:45, audioguide-€5, free English tours offered but fill up fast—ask inside the Duomo, modest dress code enforced, tel. 055-230-2885, www.operaduomo.firenze.it.
For a grand view into the cathedral from the base of the dome, a peek at some of the tools used in the dome’s construction, a chance to see Brunelleschi’s “dome-within-a-dome” construction, a glorious Florence view from the top, and the equivalent of 463 plunges on a Renaissance StairMaster, climb the dome.
The wonder of the age, Brunelleschi’s dome was the model for many domes to follow, from St. Peter’s to the US Capitol. People gave it the ultimate compliment, saying, “Not even the ancients could have done it.”
Cost and Hours: €10 combo-ticket covers all Duomo sights, covered by Firenze Card, Mon-Fri 8:30-19:00, Sat 8:30-17:40, closed Sun, last entry 40 minutes before closing, crowds may subside a bit at lunchtime (13:00-14:30) or near the end of the day, enter from outside church on north side, tel. 055-230-2885.
The 270-foot bell tower has 50-some fewer steps than the Duomo’s dome (but that’s still 414 steps—no elevator); offers a faster, relatively less-crowded climb (with typically shorter lines); and has a view of that magnificent dome to boot. On the way up, there are several intermediate levels where you can catch your breath and enjoy ever-higher views. The stairs narrow as you go up, creating a mosh-pit bottleneck near the very top—but the views are worth the hassle. While the various viewpoints are enclosed by cage-like bars, the gaps are big enough to let you snap great photos.
Cost and Hours: €10 combo-ticket covers all Duomo sights, covered by Firenze Card, daily 8:30-19:30, last entry 40 minutes before closing.
Michelangelo said the bronze doors of this octagonal building were fit to be the gates of paradise. Check out the gleaming copies of Lorenzo Ghiberti’s bronze doors facing the Duomo (the original panels are in the Duomo Museum—closed for renovation through late 2015). Making a breakthrough in perspective, Ghiberti used mathematical laws to create the illusion of receding distance on a basically flat surface.
The doors on the north side of the building were designed by Ghiberti when he was young; he’d won the honor and opportunity by beating Brunelleschi in a competition (the rivals’ original entries are in the Bargello).
Inside, sit and savor the medieval mosaic ceiling, where it’s always Judgment Day and Jesus is giving the ultimate thumbs-up and thumbs-down.
Cost and Hours: €10 combo-ticket covers all Duomo sights, covered by Firenze Card (show your card at the ticket office to get a voucher), interior open Mon-Sat 11:15-19:00 except first Sat of month 8:30-14:00, Sun 8:30-14:00, last entry 30 minutes before closing, audioguide-€2, photos allowed inside, tel. 055-230-2885. The (facsimile) bronze doors are on the exterior, so they are always “open” and viewable.
The underrated cathedral museum, behind the church, is great if you like sculpture; unfortunately, it will be closed for renovation through late 2015. After it reopens, look for a late Michelangelo Pietà and statues from the original Baptistery facade. Upstairs, you’ll find Brunelleschi’s models for his dome, as well as Donatello’s anorexic Mary Magdalene and playful choir loft. The museum features Ghiberti’s original bronze “Gates of Paradise” panels (the ones on the Baptistery’s doors today are copies).
Cost and Hours: €10 combo-ticket covers all Duomo sights, covered by Firenze Card, Mon-Sat 9:00-19:30, Sun 9:00-13:45, last entry 45 minutes before closing, one of the few museums in Florence always open on Mon, audioguide-€5, guided tours available in summer, Via del Proconsolo 9, tel. 055-282-226 or 055-230-7885, www.operaduomo.firenze.it.
Nearby: If you find church art intriguing, head to the left around the back of the Duomo to find Via dello Studio (near the south transept), then walk a block toward the river to #23a (freestanding yellow house on the right). You can look through the open doorway of the Opera del Duomo art studio and see workers sculpting new statues, restoring old ones, or making exact copies. They’re carrying on an artistic tradition that dates back to the days of Brunelleschi. The “opera” continues.
Dante Alighieri (1265-1321), the poet who gave us The Divine Comedy, is the Shakespeare of Italy, the father of the modern Italian language, and the face on the country’s €2 coin. However, most Americans know little of him, and this museum is not the ideal place to start. Even though it has English information, this small museum (in a building near where he likely lived) assumes visitors have prior knowledge of the poet. It’s not a medieval-flavored house with period furniture—it’s just a small, low-tech museum about Dante. Still, Dante lovers can trace his interesting life and works through pictures, models, and artifacts. And because the exhibits are as much about medieval Florence as they are about the man, novices can learn a little about the city Dante lived in.
Cost and Hours: €4, covered by Firenze Card, April-Sept daily 10:00-18:00; Oct-March Tue-Sun 10:00-17:00, closed Mon; last entry 30 minutes before closing, near the Bargello museum (see later) at Via Santa Margherita 1, tel. 055-219-416, www.museocasadidante.it.
In the ninth century, this loggia (covered courtyard) was a market used for selling grain (stored upstairs). Later, it was enclosed to make a church.
Outside are dynamic, statue-filled niches, some with accompanying symbols from the guilds that sponsored the art. Donatello’s St. Mark and St. George (on the northeast and northwest corners) step out boldly in the new Renaissance style.
The interior has a glorious Gothic tabernacle (1359), which houses the painted wooden panel that depicts Madonna delle Grazie (1346). The iron bars spanning the vaults were the Italian Gothic answer to the French Gothic external buttresses. Look for the rectangular holes in the piers—these were once wheat chutes that connected to the upper floors. The museum upstairs (limited hours) displays most of the originals from the niches outside the building, by Ghiberti, Donatello, Brunelleschi, and others.
Cost and Hours: Free, daily 10:00-17:00 (except closed Mon in Aug), free upstairs museum open only Mon, niche sculptures always viewable from the outside. You can give the Madonna della Grazie a special thanks if you’re in town when an evening concert is held inside the Orsanmichele (tickets sold on day of concert from door facing Via de’ Calzaiuoli; also books Uffizi and Accademia tickets, ticket window open daily 10:00-17:00).
This market loggia is how Orsanmichele looked before it became a church. Originally a silk and straw market, Mercato Nuovo still functions as a rustic yet touristy market (at the intersection of Via Calimala and Via Porta Rossa). Prices are soft, but San Lorenzo Market (listed earlier) is much better for haggling. Notice the circled X in the center, marking the spot where people landed after being hoisted up to the top and dropped as punishment for bankruptcy. You’ll also find Il Porcellino (a statue of a wild boar nicknamed “The Piglet”), which people rub and give coins to ensure their return to Florence. This new copy, while only a few years old, already has a polished snout. At the back corner, a wagon sells tripe (cow innards) sandwiches—a local favorite.
This large square sits on the site of the original Roman Forum. Florence was a riverside garrison town set below the older town of Fiesole—essentially a rectangular fort with the square marking the intersection of the two main roads (Via Corso and Via Roma). The square’s lone column—nicknamed the “belly button of Florence”—once marked the intersection (the Roman streets were about nine feet below the present street level). Above ground, all that survives of Roman Florence is this column and the city’s street plan. But beneath the stones lie the remains of the ancient city. Look at any map of Florence today, and you’ll see the ghost of Rome in its streets: a grid-plan city center surrounded by what was the Roman wall. The Braille model of the city (in front of the Paszkowski café) makes the design clear.
Venerable cafés and stores line the square. During the 19th century, intellectuals met in cafés here. Gilli, on the northeast corner, is a favorite for its grand atmosphere and tasty sweets (cheap if you stand at the bar, expensive to sit down), while the recommended Paszkowski has good lunch options (see here). The department store La Rinascente, facing Piazza della Repubblica, is one of the city’s mainstays (WC on fourth floor; from the elevator, look left to find the stairs up to the bar with a rooftop terrace for great Duomo and city views).
The former home of the wealthy Strozzi family, great rivals of the Medici, offers a textbook example of a Renaissance palace (built between 1489 and 1538). It feels like an attempt to one-up the Medici-Riccardi Palace just a few blocks away. Step into its grand courtyard and imagine how well-to-do families competed to commission grandiose structures (and artistic masterpieces) to promote their status and wealth. Today it hosts top-notch special exhibitions, usually uncrowded and well described in English. The courtyard also hosts a tranquil, shaded café.
Cost and Hours: Free entry to courtyard and café, both open daily 8:30-20:00; gallery price depends on changing exhibits—typically around €10, discounts with train or bus tickets, daily 9:00-20:00, Thu until 23:00, last entry one hour before closing; just west of Piazza della Repubblica at Piazza Strozzi, tel. 055-264-5155, www.palazzostrozzi.org.
This five-story, late-medieval tower house offers a rare look at a noble dwelling built in the 14th century. Only the ground-floor loggia and first floor are open to visitors, though the remaining floors (more living quarters and the kitchen) can be visited with an escort (usually at 10:00, 11:00, and 12:00; call ahead to be sure there’s space, or ask when you arrive). Like other buildings of the age, the exterior is festooned with 14th-century horse-tethering rings made from iron, torch holders, and poles upon which to hang laundry and fly flags. Inside, though the furnishings are pretty sparse, you’ll see richly painted walls, a long chute that functioned as a well, plenty of fireplaces, a lace display, and even an indoor “outhouse.” While there’s little posted information, you can borrow English descriptions in each room.
Cost and Hours: €2, covered by Firenze Card, Tue-Sat 8:15-13:50; also open first, third, and fifth Sun and second and fourth Mon of each month; Via Porta Rossa 13, tel. 055-238-8610.
The main civic center of Florence is dominated by Palazzo Vecchio, Uffizi Gallery, and the marble greatness of old Florence littering the cobbles. Piazza della Signoria still vibrates with the echoes of the city’s past—executions, riots, and great celebrations. Today, it’s a tourist’s world with pigeons, postcards, horse buggies, and tired hubbies. If it would make your weary companion happy, stop in at the recommended but expensive Rivoire café to enjoy its fine desserts, pudding-thick hot chocolate, and the best view seats in town. It’s expensive—but if you linger, it can be a great value.
This greatest collection of Italian paintings anywhere features works by Giotto, Leonardo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Titian, and Michelangelo, and a roomful of Botticellis, including the Birth of Venus. Northern Renaissance masters (Dürer, Rembrandt, and Rubens) are also well represented.
Cost and Hours: €11 (or €6.50 if there’s no temporary exhibit), free first Sun of the month, extra €4 for recommended reservation, cash required to pick up tickets reserved by phone, covered by Firenze Card, Tue-Sun 8:15-18:35, closed Mon, last entry 30 minutes before closing, audioguide-€6, Rick Steves audio tour available—see here, museum info tel. 055-238-8651, reservation tel. 055-294-883, www.uffizi.firenze.it. To avoid the long ticket lines, get a Firenze Card (see here) or make reservations (see here).
Getting In: There are several entrances; which one you use depends on whether you have a Firenze Card, a reservation, or neither.
Firenze Card holders enter at door #1 (labeled Reservation Entrance), close to Palazzo Vecchio. Get in the line for individuals, not groups.
People buying a ticket on the spot line up with everyone else at door #2, marked Main Entrance. (The wait can be hours long.)
To buy a Firenze Card, or to see if there are any same-day reservations available (€4 extra, but could save you time in the ticket line), enter door #2 to the left of the ticket-buying line (marked Booking Service and Today; don’t be shy—just skirt around to the left of the long line).
If you’ve already made a reservation and need to pick up your ticket, go to door #3 (labeled Reservation Ticket Office, across the courtyard from doors #1 and #2, and a bit closer to the river). Tickets are available for pickup 10 minutes before your appointed time. If you booked online and have already prepaid, you’ll just exchange your voucher for a ticket. If you (or your hotelier) booked by phone, give them your confirmation number and pay for the ticket (cash only). Once you have your ticket, walk briskly past the 200-yard-long ticket-buying line—pondering the IQ of this gang—to door #1. Show your ticket and walk in.
Renovation: The Uffizi is undergoing a massive, years-long renovation that may affect your visit. Some of the artworks may be displayed in different rooms, on loan to other museums, or out for restoration—pick up a floor plan as you enter, and if you need help finding a particular piece of art, ask the guards in each room.
Visiting the Museum: The museum is not nearly as big as it is great. Few tourists spend more than two hours inside. Most of the paintings are displayed on one comfortable, U-shaped floor in chronological order from the 13th through 17th centuries. The left wing, starring the Florentine Middle Ages to the Renaissance, is the best. The connecting corridor contains sculpture, and the right wing focuses on the High Renaissance and Baroque.
Medieval (1200-1400): Paintings by Duccio, Cimabue, and Giotto show the baby steps being made from the flat Byzantine style toward realism. In his Madonna and Child with Angels, Giotto created a “stage” and peopled it with real beings. The triumph here is Mary herself—big and monumental, like a Roman statue. Beneath her robe, she has knees and breasts that stick out at us. This three-dimensionality was revolutionary, a taste of the Renaissance a century before it began.
Early Renaissance (mid-1400s): Paolo Uccello’s Battle of San Romano is an early study in perspective with a few obvious flubs. Piero della Francesca’s Federico da Montefeltro and Battista Sforza heralds the era of humanism and the new centrality of ordinary people in art, warts and all. Fra Filippo Lippi’s radiantly beautiful Madonnas are light years away from the generic Marys of the medieval era.
Renaissance (1450-1500): The Botticelli room is filled with masterpieces and classical fleshiness (the famous Birth of Venus and Allegory of Spring), plus two minor works by Leonardo da Vinci. Here is the Renaissance in its first bloom, its “springtime” of innocence. Madonna is out, Venus is in. This is a return to the pre-Christian pagan world of classical Greece, where things of the flesh are not sinful.
Classical Sculpture: If the Renaissance was the foundation of the modern world, the foundation of the Renaissance was classical sculpture. Sculptors, painters, and poets alike turned for inspiration to ancient Greek and Roman works as the epitome of balance, 3-D perspective, human anatomy, and beauty.
In the octagonal classical sculpture room, the highlight is the Venus de’ Medici, a Roman copy of the lost original of the great Greek sculptor Praxiteles’ Aphrodite. Balanced, harmonious, and serene, this statue was considered the epitome of beauty and sexuality in Renaissance Florence.
The sculpture hall has the best view in Florence of the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio through the window, dreamy at sunset.
High Renaissance (1500-1550): Don’t miss Michelangelo’s Holy Family, the only surviving completed easel painting by the greatest sculptor in history; Raphael’s Madonna of the Goldfinch, with Mary and the Baby Jesus brought down from heaven into the real world of trees, water, and sky; and Titian’s voluptuous Venus of Urbino.
Take a break to enjoy Duomo views from the café terrace.
Lower Floor: On your way out, you’ll see temporary exhibitions and works by foreign painters (Room 49 has Rembrandt self-portraits), Raphael (Room 66), and Caravaggio (near the exit).
In the Uffizi’s Courtyard: Enjoy the courtyard (free), full of artists and souvenir stalls. (Swing by after dinner when it’s completely empty.) The surrounding statues honor earthshaking Florentines: artists (Michelangelo), philosophers (Niccolò Machiavelli), scientists (Galileo), writers (Dante), cartographers (Amerigo Vespucci), and the great patron of so much Renaissance thinking, Lorenzo “the Magnificent” de’ Medici. After hours, talented street musicians take advantage of the space’s superior acoustics.
Nearby: The Loggia dei Lanzi, across from Palazzo Vecchio and facing the square, is where Renaissance Florentines once debated the issues of the day; a collection of Medici-approved sculptures now stand (or writhe) under its canopy, including Cellini’s bronze Perseus.
This castle-like fortress with the 300-foot spire dominates Florence’s main square. In Renaissance times, it was the Town Hall, where citizens pioneered the once-radical notion of self-rule. Its official name—Palazzo della Signoria—refers to the elected members of the city council. In 1540, the tyrant Cosimo I made the building his personal palace, redecorating the interior in lavish style. Today the building functions once again as the Town Hall.
Entry to the ground-floor courtyard is free, so even if you don’t go upstairs to the museum, you can step inside and feel the essence of the Medici. Paying customers can see Cosimo’s (fairly) lavish royal apartments, decorated with (fairly) top-notch paintings and statues by Michelangelo and Donatello. The highlight is the Grand Hall (Salone dei Cinquecento), a 13,000-square-foot hall lined with huge frescoes and interesting statues.
Cost and Hours: Courtyard—free to enter (and has WC), museum—€10, tower climb-€10 (418 steps), museum plus tower-€14, special exhibits can incur an optional, small additional fee, museum and tower covered by Firenze Card (first pick up ticket at ground-floor information desk before entering museum); Fri-Wed 9:00-19:00, until 24:00 April-Sept, Thu 9:00-14:00 year-round; tower keeps similar but shorter hours, ticket office closes one hour earlier, videoguide-€5, English tours available, Piazza della Signoria, tel. 055-276-8224, http://museicivicifiorentini.comune.fi.it.
Nighttime Terrace Visits: In summer, you can join an escort for an un-narrated walk along the “patrol path”—the balcony that runs just below the crenellated top of the building (€2 plus regular admission ticket, every 30 minutes between 21:00 and 23:00, no tours Oct-March). Note that this tour doesn’t go to the top of the tower.
Florence’s most famous bridge has long been lined with shops. Originally these were butcher shops that used the river as a handy disposal system. Then, when the powerful and princely Medici built the Vasari Corridor (described next) over the bridge, the stinky meat market was replaced by the more elegant gold and silver shops that remain there to this day. A statue of Benvenuto Cellini, the master goldsmith of the Renaissance, stands in the center, ignored by the flood of tacky tourism. This is a very romantic spot late at night (when lovers gather, and a top-notch street musician performs).
This elevated and enclosed passageway, constructed in 1565, gave the Medici a safe, private commute over Ponte Vecchio from their Pitti Palace home to their Palazzo Vecchio offices. It’s open only by special appointment, and while enticing to lovers of Florence, the actual tour experience isn’t much. Entering from inside the Uffizi Gallery, you walk along a modern-feeling hall (wide enough to carry a Medici on a sedan chair) across Ponte Vecchio, and end in Pitti Palace. Half the corridor is lined with Europe’s best collection of self-portraits, along with other paintings (mostly 17th- and 18th-century) that seem like they didn’t make the cut to be hung on the walls of the Uffizi.
Entering the Corridor: Only a very limited number of tourists are allowed to enter the corridor (typically only for a few weeks each spring, requires a reservation and sells out far in advance; check the latest at www.uffizi.firenze.it). Several Florence tour operators offer guided visits of the corridor—typically a three-hour visit that also includes a tour of the Uffizi’s collection: ArtViva (€98, tel. 055-264-5033, www.artviva.com) or Florencetown (€85, tel. 055-012-3994, www.florencetown.com). Both groups offer discounts to my readers).
When we think of the Florentine Renaissance, we think of visual arts: painting, mosaics, architecture, and sculpture. But when the visual arts declined in the 1600s (abused and co-opted by political powers), music and science flourished in Florence. The first opera was written here. And Florence hosted many scientific breakthroughs, as you’ll see in this fascinating collection of Renaissance and later clocks, telescopes, maps, and ingenious gadgets. Trace the technical innovations as modern science emerges from 1000 to 1900. Some of the most talked-about bottles in Florence are the ones here that contain Galileo’s fingers. Exhibits include various tools for gauging the world, from a compass and thermometer to Galileo’s telescopes. Other displays delve into clocks, pumps, medicine, and chemistry. It’s friendly, comfortably cool, never crowded, and just a block east of the Uffizi on the Arno River.
Cost and Hours: €9, €22 family ticket, cash only, covered by Firenze Card, Wed-Mon 9:30-18:00, Tue 9:30-13:00, last entry 30 minutes before closing, Piazza dei Giudici 1, tel. 055-265-311, www.museogalileo.it.
Tours: The well-produced €5 audioguide offers both a highlights tour and dial-up info (with video) on each exhibit. The 1.5-hour English-language guided tour covers the collection plus behind-the-scenes areas, and includes hands-on demonstrations of some of the devices (€50 flat fee for 2-14 people, cash only, doesn’t include museum entry, book at least a week in advance, great for kids, tel. 055-234-3723, groups@museogalileo.it).
These fresh and fashionable museums will thrill fashionistas who are on a pilgrimage to Florence, but even those of us with a wardrobe furnished by The Gap may find them interesting.
The Gucci Museum, right on Piazza della Signoria, stylishly tells the story of the famous designer Guccio Gucci, who, in 1921, founded the company that has been synonymous with style for decades. Strolling this collection feels like window-shopping through history, with no option to buy. Seven rooms show off carefully curated items from the Gucci archives, while two more feature changing contemporary art exhibits, all watched over by the impeccably attired staff. The suitably chic café and bookshop are open even to those not visiting the museum (€6, daily 10:00-20:00, shop and café until 23:00, Piazza della Signoria 10, tel. 055-7592-3302, www.guccimuseo.com).
The Ferragamo flagship store has an interesting, nine-room shoe museum. The specific exhibit changes each year, but it’s typically more fanciful and imaginative than the Gucci Museum...but, of course, it lacks that iconic Gucci logo (€6, daily 10:00-19:30, near Santa Trinità bridge at Piazza Santa Trinità 5, tel. 055-356-2417).
This underappreciated sculpture museum is in a former police station-turned-prison that looks like a mini-Palazzo Vecchio. The Renaissance began with sculpture—the great Florentine painters were “sculptors with brushes.” You can see the birth of this revolution of 3-D in the Bargello (bar-JEL-oh), which boasts the best collection of Florentine sculpture. It’s a small, uncrowded museum and a pleasant break from the intensity of the rest of Florence.
The Bargello has Donatello’s very influential, painfully beautiful David (the first male nude to be sculpted in a thousand years), multiple works by Michelangelo, and rooms of Medici treasures. Moody Donatello, who embraced realism with his lifelike statues, set the personal and artistic style for many Renaissance artists to follow. The best pieces are in the ground-floor room at the foot of the outdoor staircase (with fine works by Michelangelo, Cellini, and Giambologna) and in the “Donatello room” directly above (with plenty by Donatello, including two different Davids, plus Ghiberti and Brunelleschi’s revolutionary dueling door panels and yet another David by Verrocchio).
Cost and Hours: €7 (or €4 if no special exhibits), covered by Firenze Card, Tue-Sat 8:15-17:00—or until 13:50 if there’s no special exhibit; also open these times on the first, third, and fifth Mon and the second and fourth Sun of each month; last entry 30 minutes before closing, reservations possible but unnecessary, audioguide-€6 (€10/2 people), photos in courtyard only, Via del Proconsolo 4, reservation tel. 055-238-8606, www.polomuseale.firenze.it.
This 14th-century Franciscan church, decorated with centuries of precious art, holds the tombs of great Florentines. The loud 19th-century Victorian Gothic facade faces a huge square ringed with tempting shops and littered with tired tourists. Escape into the church and admire its sheer height and spaciousness.
Cost and Hours: €6, €8.50 combo-ticket with Casa Buonarroti, covered by Firenze Card, Mon-Sat 9:30-17:30, Sun 14:00-17:30, last entry 30 minutes before closing, audioguide-€6 (€8/2 people), modest dress required, 10-minute walk east of Palazzo Vecchio along Borgo de’ Greci, tel. 055-246-6105, www.santacroceopera.it. The leather school is free and sells church tickets—handy when the church has a long line (daily 10:00-18:00, closed Sun in fall/winter, has own entry behind church plus an entry within the church, www.scuoladelcuoio.com).
Visiting the Church: On the left wall (as you face the altar) is the tomb of Galileo Galilei (1564-1642), the Pisan who lived his last years under house arrest near Florence. His crime? Defying the Church by saying that the earth revolved around the sun. His heretical remains were only allowed in the church long after his death.
Directly opposite (on the right wall) is the tomb of Michelangelo Buonarroti (1475-1564). Santa Croce was Michelangelo’s childhood church, as he grew up a block west of here. Farther up the nave is the tomb of Niccolò Machiavelli (1469-1527), a champion of democratic Florence and author of The Prince, a how-to manual on hardball politics.
The first chapel to the right of the main altar features the famous Death of St. Francis fresco by Giotto. With simple but eloquent gestures, Francis’ brothers bid him a sad farewell. In the hallway near the bookstore, notice the photos of the devastating flood of 1966. Beyond that is the leather school (free entry).
Exit between the Rossini and Machiavelli tombs into the delightful cloister (open-air courtyard). On the left, enter Brunelleschi’s Pazzi Chapel, which captures the Renaissance in miniature.
Fans enjoy a house standing on property once owned by Michelangelo. The house was built after Michelangelo’s death by the artist’s grand-nephew, who turned it into a little museum honoring his famous relative. Be warned: Michelangelo’s descendants sold off many of the artist’s drawings; you’ll see a few of Michelangelo’s early, less-than-monumental statues and sketches. The lack of any knockout pieces and the near-complete absence of English information make this sight best left to Michelangelo pilgrims.
Cost and Hours: €6.50, €8.50 combo-ticket with Santa Croce Church, covered by Firenze Card, Wed-Mon 10:00-17:00, closed Tue, English descriptions, Via Ghibellina 70, tel. 055-241-752, www.casabuonarroti.it.
