Themed Tours in Florence
In Florence's historic core — a flat, compact area known as Centro Storico — you can wander stone streets that remain essentially the same as they were when Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and Galileo trod the same paths. Remember, though, to wear comfortable shoes and bring water. And if you're travelling in July or August, be aware that walking the hot, crowded city streets is an intense, demanding experience. To fully visit all the attractions below would take two days — even three if you tend to linger over great art.
Start: Take bus 11, 36 or 37, which will deliver you across the Arno to the Pitti Palace.
Uffizi
On a par with the Prado and the Louvre, this is one of the world's greatest art museums. No place has a more extensive collection of Renaissance masterpieces — including Michelangelo's The Holy Family, Leonardo da Vinci's The Annunciation and Sandro Botticelli's The Birth of Venus. Gallery after gallery dazzles the viewer with works from the Medici family´s private collections. You'll be tempted to spend two days here.
Time to spend
3 hours.
Ponte Vecchio
Built in 1354 across the Arno's narrowest stretch, the Ponte Vecchio's medieval character endures, despite the bustling modern commerce it supports. Italy's greatest goldsmith, Benvenuto Cellini, ran his business in the middle of the bridge in the 16th century, one of many jewellers who replaced the medieval butchers, fishmongers and tanners who originally traded here.
Time to spend
30 mins.
Opening Hours
Open 24 hours.
Bus
D
Pitti Palace/Palazzo Pitti
Luca Pitti, a rich Florentine banker and importer of French fabrics, wanted a palace to outclass the Medicis — and in that he got his wish. Niccolò Machiavelli hailed the palazzo as “grander than any other erected in Florence by a private citizen”. When the Pittis went broke, the Medicis moved in in 1589, making it the most splendid palace in Europe until Louis XIV expanded Versailles in 1669. In the 19th century, the Pitti Palace sheltered the Italian royal family, when Florence was the capital. In 1919, King Victor Emmanuel III gave it to the state which turned it into a series of world-class museums, including Galleria Palatina (the Palatine Gallery), Appartamenti Reali (Royal Apartments), the Galleria d'Arte Moderna (Gallery of Modern Art), Galleria del Costume (Costume Gallery) and Museo degli Argenti (Silver and Porcelain Museums).
Time to spend
2 hours.
Where
Piazza Pitti (across the Arno off Via Guicciardini).
Telephone
+39 055 294 883
Opening Hours
Tue-Sun 8.15am-6.50pm.
Cost
€6-€8.50; €12 during exhibitions
Bus
D, 36 or 37.
Website
Giardini di Boboli
The great landscape artist, Triboli, laid out these Renaissance gardens, through which the Medicis romped in the 16th century. Since opening to the public in 1776, Boboli has become Tuscany´s most famous and dazzling garden filled with splashing fountains and elegant sculptures such as Venus by Giambologna in the grotto of Buontalenti. The fountain — an obese Bacchus astride a turtle — is a copy of a statue depicting Pietro Barbino, Cosimo I's court jester.
Time to spend
30 min.
Where
Piazza Pitti (at Via Romana).
Telephone
+39 055 294 883
Opening Hours
Daily, June-Aug 8.15am-7.30pm; Apr, May, Sep & Oct 8.15am-6.30pm; Nov-Feb 8.15am-4.30pm; Mar 8.15am-5.30pm. Closed first and last Mon of each month; 1 Jan, 1 May & 25 Dec. Entry permitted up to an hour before closing times.
Cost
Inclusive Palazzo ticket €11.50.
Bus
11
Website
Piazza della Signoria
The centre of civic life in Florence for centuries, this landmark square stands appropriately in the historic core dominated by the Palazzo Vecchio, the town hall. Michelangelo's David in front of the palace is a copy, but the late-14th-century Loggia della Signoria is an open-air museum that boasts plenty of original master works, including Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus holding the severed head of Medusa. Ammannato's controversial fountain of Neptune inspired this chant in the 16th century: Ammannato, Ammannato, che bel marmot rovinato! (What beautiful marble you've ruined!)
Time to spend
1 hour.
Opening Hours
Open 24 hours.
Bus
A
Palazzo Vecchio
This ‘Old Palace' became home to Cosimo I and the Medicis in 1540, but it dates back to the 13th century, when it was built by Gothic master builder Arnolfo di Cambio. (Di Cambio's 92-metre/308-foot landmark tower, which still graces the Florentine skyline, was an engineering feat in its day.) The highlight of the interior is the Hall of the 500 (Salone dei Cinquecento), frescoed by Giorgio Vasari and his assistants in the 16th century. Alas, wax-pigment frescoes by Leonardo melted when braziers were brought in to speed up the drying process. Michelangelo's sculpture Victory survives, thankfully, along with Donatello's famous bronze group, Judith Slaying Holofernes, created in 1455. You can also visit the private apartments of Eleanor of Toledo, the Spanish wife of Cosimo I and the chamber where religious zealot Girolamo Savonarola endured a dozen torture sessions, including ‘twists' on the rack.
Time to spend
1 hour.
Where
Piazza della Signoria (at Via Vacche Reccia).
Telephone
+39 055 2768325.
Opening Hours
Daily: Fri-Wed 9am-7pm; Thu 9am-2pm. Ticket office closes 1 hour before palace.
Cost
€6
Bus
D
Website
Café Rivoire
Have a coffee at this landmark café — the best positioned in Florence for taking in the glories of the Piazza della Signoria.
Basilica di Santa Croce
The statue of Dante in the square is lifeless, but Santa Croce is the pantheon of Florence, with monuments to Galileo, Michelangelo, Dante, Petrarch and other creators of western civilization. Ignore the hideous façade and head inside for the galaxy of great Renaissance sculpture, such as Donatello's famous Crucifixion. Check out Filippo Brunelleschi's Cappella dei Pazzi, a masterpiece of Renaissance design, and take in Giotto's masterful frescoes, painted around 1320, depicting the life of St Francis.
Time to spend
1 hour.
Where
Piazza Santa Croce 16 (at Via de Benci).
Telephone
+39 055 2466105
Opening Hours
Mon-Sat 9.30am-5.30pm; Sun & holidays 1pm-5.30pm. Closed 25/26 Dec, 1 Jan, Easter, 13 Jun & 4 Oct.
Cost
€5
Bus
12,13, 14 or 23.
Website
Vivoli
A block west of Piazza Santa Croce, this little hole-in-the-wall gelateria serves what could be the world's best ice cream. Just choose your flavour: fig, melon, chocolate mousse or even rice. Or try candied lemon peel with creamy vanilla or Semifreddi, with a base of cream instead of milk.
Where
Via Isola delle Stinche 7 (at Via della Vigna Vecchia).
Telephone
+39 055 292334
Opening Hours
Various. Closed Jan & 3 weeks in Aug.
Website
Museo Nazionale del Bargello
This grim fortress — once a place for public hangings — centres around a courtyard with a loggia and portico. The second-floor sculpture collection is the Renaissance's finest, including Donatello's David (the first free-standing nude since the Roman era), two Donatello versions of John the Baptist, and a less famous David by Michelangelo.
Time to spend
1.5 hours.
Where
Via del Proconsolo 4 (at Via Ghibellina).
Telephone
+39 055 294883
Opening Hours
Daily 8.15am-5pm. Closed 2nd & 4th Mon and 1st, 3rd & 5th Sun of each month; 25 Dec, 1 Jan & 1 May.
Cost
€4
Bus
23.
Website
Il Duomo (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore)
The world's largest cathedral in its day, the Duomo still ranks fourth in size. From 1294 to 1436, builders laboured and taxpayers paid for the work, but the flamboyant neo-Gothic structure wasn't completed until the 19th century. The facade is a polychrome jumble of marble stripes in sugarcane colours, but few fault the dome Brunelleschi imposed over it, 105 metres (351 feet) off the ground; climbing it is one of the great joys of visiting Florence. You must mount 463 spiralling steps to the ribbed dome for a sublime panoramic view. Afterwards, you needn't waste too much time here; much of the art, frescoes, votive offerings, pews and memorials were swept away or moved elsewhere for safekeeping. Once on the street again, walk around to the eastern side of the Duomo to be awed by its sheer mass and its stunning marble mosaic decorations.
Time to spend
45 mins.
Where
Piazza del Duomo (at the northern end of Via Calzaiuoli).
Opening Hours
Mon-Wed & Fri 10am-5pm; Thurs 10am-3.30pm; Sat 10am-4.45pm; first Sat of the month 10am-3.30pm; Sun 1.30pm-4.45pm.
Cost
Cathedral free
Bus
6, 14, 17 or 23.
Website
Campanile di Giotto
Giotto, Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti collaborated to create this bell tower next to the Duomo. They created visual harmony with three colours of marble. The tower's bells are called Grossa, Beona, Completa, Cheirica and Squilla (or Big, Tipsy, Finished, Priestling and Shrieker). Climb the tower's 414 steps for a panoramic view of Florence and a dazzling perspective on Brunelleschi's dome. Visible for miles, the tower rises 81 metres (269 feet) from the ground.
Time to spend
30 mins.
Where
Piazza del Duomo (at the northern end of Via Calzaiuoli).
Telephone
+39 055 2302885
Opening Hours
Daily 8.30am-7.30pm. Last admission 40 mins before closing.
Cost
€6
Bus
6, 14, 22 or 23.
Website
Battistero San Giovanni
This 11th- and 12th-century octagonal baptistery, named after Saint Giovanni (John the Baptist), is visited mainly for the gilded bronze doors on three of its eight sides. The doors are copies; the originals are in the Duomo Museum. The most magnificent are Lorenzo Ghiberti's east doors, which the typically critical Michelangelo hailed as ‘The Gates of Paradise'. The panels illustrate scenes from the Old Testament. Beating Brunelleschi in a famous competition, Ghiberti also designed the north doors, and Andrea Pisano made the impressive south doors in 1336. Dominated by a figure of Christ, the 13th-century mosaics inside are also worth a peek.
Where
Piazza San Giovanni (off Piazza del Duomo).
Telephone
+39 055 2302885
Opening Hours
Mon-Sat 12.15pm-7pm (first Sat of the month 8.30am-2pm) Sun 8.30am-2pm. Last admission 30 mins before closing.
Cost
€4
Bus
6, 14, 22 or 23.
Website
Museo dell'Opera del Duomo
The ‘loot' ripped from the Duomo, the Baptistery and Giotto's Campanile (including Ghiberti's Gates of Paradise) ended up here, near Florence's ecclesiastical complex. For openers, Michelangelo carved another David, on display in the courtyard. Rarer and more beautiful, Michelangelo's Pietà, originally intended for the artist's tomb, is now on the mezzanine. Upstairs are joyous cantorie (reliefs) — one by Donatello, the other by Luca della Robbia. Sharing the room with the cantorie is Donatello's Magdalene, one of his most celebrated penitent works, from 1454.
Time to spend
1 hour.
Where
Piazza del Duomo 9 (at the northern end of Via dei Calzaiuoli).
Telephone
+39 055 2302885
Cost
€6
Opening Hours
Mon-Sat 9am-7.30pm; Sun 9am-1.40pm. Last admission 40 mins before closing.
Bus
6, 14, 22 or 23.
Basilica di San Lorenzo
The overall effect of this basilica, which houses the tombs of many a Medici (see also Cappelle Medicee), is almost Byzantine; one Bulgarian critic called it “a Florentine Hagia Sophia looming over a souk” (a reference to the nearby Mercato di San Lorenzo). The Medicis shelled out big bags of gold for it, however. The taller of the two domes at the chancel shelters the Cappella dei Principi, the shallower cupola covering Michelangelo's New Sacristy. Commissioned in 1516, Michelangelo's model for the façade was deemed unacceptable to the Medici and so went to Brunelleschi, whose greatest achievement is the Old Sacristy at the end of the north transept. There Donatello created two pulpits with dramatic bronze panels in the nave.
Time to spend
1 hour.
Where
Piazza San Lorenzo (at Via Del Canto dei Nelli).
Telephone
+39 055 216634
Cost
€3.50
Opening Hours
Mon-Sat 10am-7pm; Sun & holidays 1.30pm-5pm
Bus
4, 6, 22, 23 or 31.
Cappelle Medicee
Make a fast trek to the Sagrestia Nuova, Michelangelo's first realized architectural work — begun in 1520, but left unfinished until 1534. On the left, the tomb of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino, bears figures representing Dawn and Dusk. On the right, the tomb of Giuliano, Duke of Nemours (and youngest son of Lorenzo the Magnificent), features Michelangelo's allegorical figures of Day and Night. Michelangelo's New Sacristy was intended as an addition to Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy in San Lorenzo proper. Michelangelo never completed the other two tombs commissioned of him, but in 1521 he did finish the deeply moving Madonna and Child, for the tomb of Lorenzo de Medici the Magnificent.
Time to spend
15 mins.
Where
Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini 6 (behind San Lorenzo where Via del Gigli and Via Faenza converge).
Telephone
+39 055 2388602
Cost
€6; €9 during exhibitions.
Opening Hours
Daily 8.15am–1.50pm. Closed 2nd & 4th Sun and 1st, 3rd & 5th Mon of each month; 25 Dec, 1 Jan & 1 May.
Bus
4, 6, 22, 23 or 31.
Basilica di Santa Maria Novella
The green and white marble facade was created in the 15th century. The interior dates to the 13th century. By the 1800s, this Romanesque and Gothic structure in the city of the Renaissance had become ‘the church for foreigners', attracting expatriate literati, including Percy Bysshe Shelley, Henry James, Ralph Waldo Emerson and even Henry Wadsworth Longfellow. Giovanni Boccaccio used the church for scenes in his Decameron. Of the many frescoes adorning the church, Domenico Ghirlandaio's are the finest. Ostensibly, they depict scenes in the lives of the Virgin Mary and St John the Baptist, but they're also a dazzling portrait of everyday life in Renaissance Florence. If time remains, visit the cloisters and the splendid Spanish Chapel, frescoed by Andrea di Bonaiuto in the 14th century.
Time to spend
45 mins.
Where
Piazza Santa Maria Novella (at Via della Scala).
Telephone
+39 055 219257
Cost
€2.50.
Opening Hours
Mon-Thu & Sat 9am-5pm; Fri & Sun 1pm-5pm
Bus
1, 6, 14, 22, 23, 36 or 37.
Website
