Arguably our favorite city to date, Florence had it all: food, history, and shopping.
Dates: August 25–30, 2018
Time on the Ground: 112 hours
Overall Rating: 5/5 – Florence is one of our favorite places. It has a great balance of beautiful sights (urban and rural), exquisite food and wine, historical monuments and museums, and art—not to mention it’s a charming city. We cannot wait to go back!
Pizza Rating: 8/8 – We debated removing the pizza-rating scale after this trip because nothing will live up to Gusta pizza—even though we both managed to order the wrong thing!
Walkability: 4/5 – Florence is extremely walkable thanks to the limitation on cars allowed in the historic center of the city, especially on the North side of the river. We took it down to a 4 because public transportation is not the best if you’re looking for an easy way back to your hotel after a long day of walking. Trains only take you into the main train station for the city, and although there are some bus routes, they mostly stay outside of the historic city center.
Airport Rating: 2.5/5 – FCO left a lot to be desired. Similar to older European airports such as CDG, it seemed to be designed for a pre-9/11 world and significantly less passengers. Inbound immigration took about an hour and a half to clear, although we did have checked bags, which slowed us down a bit.
Airplane: A330-300
Free Walking Tour: 2/5 – Since we spent more time in Florence than most of our other trips, we ended up doing the bulk of our exploring on our own. A couple days into the visit, we did take a free walking tour highlighting the Medicis, but the tour was very spread out and the tour guide was not engaging. Overall, Florence is a city that you are better off with and your walking shoes!
Florence is located about 150 miles north-northeast of Rome, in the northern part of the Tuscany region. After clearing immigration, we made our way to the train station connected to the Leonardo da Vinci–Fiumicino Airport. Playing it safe, we had purchased a direct train much later in the day after our scheduled arrival to account for potential flight delays or a slow immigration process. In reality, we were through customs and in the train station by midmorning, well before our midafternoon tickets. With only one small store with food in the station, there isn’t much space to hang out before your train. In the end, we decided to pay a change fee to move up to an earlier train. (The prospect of sitting for 6+ hours in a small, hot café was not appealing.) In hindsight, we should have just purchased the more expensive flexible tickets. After a quick bite to eat and a hundred euros in change fees, we were on our direct train from FCO to Florence!
Renown for its wine, Tuscany also offers breathtaking views of rolling hills, verdant vineyards, and rich history. Florence is a medieval city with a population of a little over 380,000 famous for its art museums, illustrious former residents, and, of course, food and drink! Florence was founded as a military colony for the Romans, as were most cities in this area, and grew to become one of the most powerful cities in modern-day Italy. From the 14th through the 16th centuries, Florence was a major power player in commerce and the arts thanks to the Medici family.
The city is split by the Arno River with roughly two-thirds of the city north of the river and the other third south of the river. The majority of the historic medieval city is north of the river, although important sites such as the Pitti Palace and the all-important Gusta Pizza are south of the river. The historic portion is extremely walkable as traffic is limited on the narrow streets. There are dozens of sightseeing attractions, museums, and other things to do all within 1.5 miles of the river on the north side.
Due to the city’s organization and the sights you will want to see, we recommend either staying on the south side of the city or north of the historic city center to keep hotel costs down. We opted to stay on the north side of the city at Room Mate Luca. Our stay was extremely pleasant, and it was a great value for the money. The hotel was modern and the employees were friendly. With a full breakfast spread (Stephen wouldn’t have it any other way) and first-class sights such as The Galleria (home to the David) and The Duomo only a minute or two away, we highly recommend Room Mate Luca. Every morning after breakfast, we set out on foot and walked a few blocks south into the historic center of the city.
Our first full day in Florence was a Sunday. Unaware that we were going to fall in love with the city, we decided to front-load the “must-see” items in case we wanted to do daytrips to other cities before heading up the coast to Cinque Terra. Like many European cities, most museums in Florence are closed on Monday to give staff a day off. So for our first full day, we crammed in lots of museums!
We kicked things off with The Academy, which is most famous for hosting Michelangelo’s David sculpture. The Academy is tucked away on a side street a bit outside of the historic city center, but it was only three blocks from our hotel. Even in late August, which is considered the middle of the “shoulder season” in Italy, lines for main attractions can be extremely long. Knowing that, and taking advantage of our close proximity to the museum, we arrived around 9:30 a.m. A common theme in Italy was confusing ticketing/entrances at attractions. There were several lines for the different types of tickets (group, pre-sale, guides, regular) and storefronts selling tours right next door. We stuck to our guns and quickly found the regular line since we did not purchase online ahead of time. The line was only a couple people deep, and within a minute, we were inside. After a quick security check, we grabbed an audio guide for two and we were off to explore. Overall, the museum was well worth the visit—and not just for the sculpture of David. The music wing on the right as you enter is definitely a must-see and listen, if you’ve opted for the audio guide. As you make your way to the infamous David, take your time going through the Hall of the Prisoners (the hall that houses David) and listen to the audio guide on the backstory of the statues. It is tempting to head straight to the colossal David at the end of the hall, but the other statues in the hall are also fascinating. The incompleteness of the prisoners adds to the breathtaking beauty and scale of David! What is even more impressive is the backstory behind the stone it is made out of. The David sculpture is actually the third attempt at sculpting this particular block of marble. Various artists found the stone too brittle to properly sculpt. Then, 26-year-old master Michelangelo was able to turn it into the enormous statue it is today. We highly recommend a visit to the Academy to bask in the expert work of Michelangelo.
After the Academy, we went into the older part of the city to check out the Uffizi Gallery. The Uffizi is located in the center of historic Florence, a block from the river. The building itself was built by Cosimo de’ Medici as offices for the city government. Offices translates to “Uffici” in Italian, lending the building its name. The Uffizi officially became a public museum in the 18th century and is famous for its elongated U shape with a narrow courtyard in the middle. It is home to some of the world’s most famous pieces of art, including work by Botticelli, Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, Raphael, Rembrandt, and many more. Some of the most recognizable pieces include The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, Medusa by Caravaggio, and Annunciation by da Vinci.
With all of these grand attractions, it is no wonder that the line to get into the Uffizi can take hours sometimes. Being spontaneous travelers, we did not buy tickets ahead of time and found ourselves looking at a line that was at least an hour long. Another pattern that we quickly picked up on in Italy is that there are tour companies attempting to sell their services outside of every main attraction. Although it can be overwhelming, if you negotiate well, they can work out for you! In the end, we purchased a tour of the museum that lasted a couple of hours for the cost of entry plus around 30 euros a person. With skip-the-line privileges included, our tickets allowed us to head in through the group entrance a few minutes after we purchased them. Although the tickets were pricey, we had an engaging tour guide who elevated the experience versus listening to an audio guide. There is art everywhere in the Uffizi, and it is so large it’s easy to imagine small children or even wandering husbands getting lost for days! Having a tour guide to focus our attention on the most important pieces of art and the stories behind them made all the difference, and we highly recommend splurging on a tour of the Uffizi if you, like ourselves, are somewhat familiar with art history but nowhere near an expert.
Our final stop for our first full day was the Scuola del Cuoi, better known as the Leather School. One of our best friends from college spent a semester in Florence and highly recommended a stop by for some of the best leather shopping in the city. Since our friend returned from her study abroad program in Florence, Ashley has been eyeing an authentic Italian leather jacket from the Scuola del Cuoio! The school is just east of the main historic city along the river. The school was started after WWII as a way to give orphans of the war a tangible skill that could benefit them their entire life. Scuola del Cuoi offers high-quality goods at a much more reasonable price than the high-end stores you’ll find in most of the tourist destinations. We highly recommend a visit and highly recommend negotiating with cash (a common trend throughout Florence)!
The next day we headed out on a Viator day trip through Tuscany. We’re working on a separate post about this adventure. Check back for a link soon!
The Medici family is everywhere in Florence. The family was a huge part of the success of the city, ruling Florence and parts of the surrounding Tuscany countryside for much of the fifteenth century through the eighteenth century. Their mark can be found throughout the city in buildings they financed, institutions they founded, art they collected, and their literal mark (family crest). After sleeping in from a long day in the countryside of Tuscany, we set out to learn more about this distinguished family.
Our first stop was the Laurentian Medici Library because it was closing early. The library was originally designed by Michelango Buonartti, and the facility is more of a museum than a library now. Although there are fewer exhibits than the many other museums in Florence, the library is worth the visit for the architecture and building design itself. The rooms have original furniture in them and are extremely well maintained. If you are interested in finding books on the Medici family as a souvenir on your trip, we highly recommend stopping here—they had some of the best selections of the entire trip.
After the library, we stopped in the church connected to the building. While certainly beautiful, it was nothing extraordinary. We suggest skipping this and heading straight over to the Medici Chapel and Tombs, which is a separate property and operation.
The Medici Chapel and Tombs are worth the visit! If you are only looking for one segment of Medici history, we suggest you skip the library and head straight here. We opted for the audio guide, which was useful, but it was difficult to follow sometimes. We found ourselves listening to a section only to later realize that we were in the wrong room! This was partly due to the focus on art and architecture terminology on the tour, which neither of us are really familiar with.
The tour starts in the tombs where several members of the prominent family are buried. There is some interesting family history and architecture, but the highlight of the visit was the chapel and sacristy, which Michelangelo designed. The chapel is made of rich dark marble, ridiculously ornate, and breathtaking—fitting for a family who ruled such prosperous areas for nearly 300 years. Behind the chapel is the sacristy, where Michelangelo’s Two Captains masterpiece lies. These are the burial tombs to two leaders of the Medici family: Lorenzo II and Guiliano.
After a day full of Medici family history, we spent a little more time shopping and found a delicious place for dinner a few blocks from our hotel. Eating is one of the highlights of any trip to Italy. From the fresh-baked bread and olive oil at every meal (Stephen’s favorite) to delicious and reasonably priced table wine, we have never eaten so well on a trip! Americans be warned though, Italians like their mid-afternoon siestas, which can make finding a place to eat dinner before 7:00 p.m. difficult. Also, unlike many restaurants in America and other parts of the world, the wait staff will rarely “encourage” your dinner party to wrap up and get out of the way of another guest. In Italy, mealtime is an event, and if you are in a hurry, make sure you let the waiter know or ask for the check proactively!
By Wednesday, we had realized the errors in our ways. We had fallen in love with Florence and decided that we should have stayed the entire week and a half there! Alas, Wednesday was our final day, so we scurried around trying to fit in all the items on our ever-growing must-see list before heading to the coast.
The first stop was the infamous Duomo. The Duomo is the nickname for the dome of the Florence Cathedral or the Cathedral of St. Mary of the Flower. It is located in the center of historic Florence and is the centerpiece of the city. No visit to Florence is complete without at least visiting the Plaza surrounding the Cathedral to stare up at its immense shape and dome.
Constructed between the 1290s and mid-1400s, it is one of Italy’s largest and most famous cathedrals. There are many different ways to explore and experience the Duomo. First, you can visit the inside for free, although larger groups may be required to rent audio guides to keep the noise volume down. There are also various tours sold outside that can grant you access to additional areas, such as the crypts or a guided climb to the top of the dome. You can also reserve a time to climb the 400+ stairs yourself, but you must pay a small fee and reserve in advance. We opted for a guided tour as we were caught off guard by how busy the cathedral already was when we arrived midmorning. Purchasing a tour allows you to skip lines, similar to other attractions in Florence.
Similar to the Uffizi, we elected to purchase a tour to skip to line, mostly due to our poor planning ahead of time. The tour was interesting, added some color to the history of the cathedral and its construction, and got us to the top of the dome faster to experience the incredible views of the city before lunch! Another option for those who plan ahead is to purchase the Rick Steves Audio Europe guide ahead of time and make your own reservations. We unfortunately did not stumble upon these extremely useful guides until later in the trip. With a little preplanning and the guide, you can both save a little money and get more out of your visit to key attractions.
Once you reach the top, your tour is finished, and you are free to spend your time at the top and then leisurely make your way back down the stairs.
After a quick lunch, we made our way over to the Ponte Vecchio, the famous bridge across the Arno River. The bridge has small shops built along either side of the walkway that have been there for centuries. In modern times, these are a mix of high-end jewelry shops and touristy souvenir stores. Across the river, you will find yourself in a different kind of Florence—slightly more modern and less touristy, especially the farther you go off the main streets.
We headed over to the Pitti Palace, the most well-known residence of the Medici family. We decided that we did not have another historical tour filled with beautiful artwork in us (it was our fourth day), so we opted for a ticket that allowed us to explore the gardens behind the palace, known as the Boboli Gardens. The gardens are filled with dozens of courtyards, pathways, seemingly hundreds of types of plants, and beautiful views of the city. This was probably the “hidden gem” of our Florence visit. We almost did not make the trek over the river to the Pitti Palace, but we are so glad we did!
We finished out the day with the now famous Gusta pizza. A few blocks from the Pitti Palace, Gusta pizza is a tiny authentic Italian pizza restaurant tucked away on the corner of the street. For those looking for an authentic pizza experience in Italy, this is the place! This is no tourist trap—the wait staff is there to get your order and get your pizza to you, that’s about it. During peak times, such as when we visited, they set parties together to get as many people as possible seated at the restaurant. There are only around a dozen pizza options (we actually ended up ordering different pizzas than we thought we did due to the fast pace of the experience), but you can’t go wrong. Hands down, this is the best pizza we have ever had on a trip!
With that, our trip to Florence was complete, but we were in love with the city and the region of Tuscany in general. We waddled our pizza-full bodies back to the hotel and prepared to make our way to the coast the next morning.
