One day excursion to Florence

As many of you who travel to Tuscany have only a few days to explore the area, I’d like to suggest an itinerary so you won’t miss the most important and outstanding places in a one day excursion to Florence.

Our first piece of advice is to reach the city by coach or train (there are many, and with high frequency from almost every town in Tuscany) so as not to waste any of your precious time as parking in Florence is not easy at all, I can assure you.

Arriving in the morning at the station you’ll find yourself practically in the city center.
The first stop could be the stunning Basilic of Santa Maria Novella. 10 to 15 minutes should be enough to get an overall view of the church. Then you could head directly to the Cathedral (or Duomo, as we call them in Italy) better known as Santa Maria in Fiore, which is only 5 minutes’ walk from the basilic.


The visit to the Cathedral obviously demands more time due to both its beauty and magnitude. Those who have the courage can go up Brunelleschi’s grandiose dome, from which, after a few minutes’ climb up a narrow stairway, you’ll be overwhelmed by one of the most beautiful and spectacular sights in Florence.( advice: not for claustrophobics)

Once the visit to the Duomo is over, you have two options: either to visit the Galleria degli Uffizi or the Galleria dell’Accademia. Going to both of them in one day could be really stressing, so I recommend choosing just one of them. The former is home to Michelangelo’s David, among other works, while the latter hosts the best Renaissance works of art in the world.

The next stop, I suggest should be lunch at Mario (for further information you can click the link), a very good and very cheap restaurant I never get tired of mentioning in this blog. This eating spot is not more than 15 minutes’ walk from any of the two sights you have just visited.

After eating and drinking a good Tuscan wine, it’s worth spending some time at the San Lorenzo Market (which is next to the restaurant), a typical city market, which is open every day and is a typical place in the city.

Following our itinerary, you should go back to the center, along Via Tornabuoni (with its extremely exclusive stores) as far as the river Arno. On the left, you’ll find the stunning Ponte Vecchio, where Jew Jewelers have been exhibiting their precious works for centuries.

Passing the Ponte Vecchio, and walking straight on for 200 meters is the famous Palazzo Pitti (Pitti Palace) with its wonderful Boboli Gardens. The visit to the gardens demands quite a lot of time and that will depend on you and the energy you’ve got left. As many of you will have just a few hours left to catch your train or bus back from the outing, my advice is you should go back on your steps towards the amazing Piazza della Signoria and keep on going heading for Santa Croce Church, right behind it. In my opinion, the church demands time to visit as it keeps the sepulchers of many illustrious protagonists in the history of Florence and the World such as: Galileo Galilei, Michelangelo, Maquiavelo, as well as unmatchable works of art by Giotto, Donatello and Cimabue.

After the visit you’ll have the exact time to get back to the bus or train… So you know… Dart to Santa Maria Novella. (20 minutes’ walk.)

Well, friends, I hope you’ll find all this information useful when planning your trip.

For more information about Florence I recommend this free guide I have found in the Internet, which you can find in the following link: Florence

Regards,

Giovanni.