LOCATION
Florence - The Capital of Tuscany
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HOW LONG YOU’LL NEED IN Florence
A minimum of 2-3 days to explore Florence and the Tuscan region
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WHERE TO STAY IN Florence
Our favorite Airbnb rentals and hotels in Florence
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THINGS TO DO IN Florence
Villages, Wine Tastings + Lavender fields
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WHERE TO EAT IN Florence
Cafes, Michelin Restaurants + Grocery Stores
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Intros
Bonjour! If this is your first time on The Weithouse - welcome! My name is Taylor and I’m the girl behind the screen and camera bringing you resources to help you plan the trip of your dreams.
In January of 2022, my husband and I left our home in Atlanta, packed our bags and moved to Paris! Every day we wake up in disbelief that we get to call this incredible city our home, a city full of rich history, world-renowned food, and beauty hidden around every corner.
In this Florence Travel Guide, we’re sharing everything you need to know to plan your trip to Tuscan capital of Florence in Italy, including where to stay in Florence, things to do in Florence and most importantly, where to eat in Florence.
LOCATION: florence, Italy
Ah, Florence. Florence, the renaissance city filled with music and art and architecture. The city covered in burnt orange terracotta roofs, surrounded by the Tuscan hillsides. A city home to the iconic, engineering feat of the Duomo and protector of the Michelangelo masterpiece of The Statue of David.
Similar to the cities of Venice and Rome, the Tuscan city of Florence has a preserved feel to it, with its ancient architecture, buildings and traditions. I call these types of “preserved cities” city-museums. Cities that live and breathe the history they carry with them. The buildings breathe it, the landscape breathes it, the people breath it. And you should have the opportunity to breathe it too.
In this Florence Travel Guide, I’ll share the ways that we embraced everything Florence had to offer during our three-day visit to the Tuscan capital and help guide you through an itinerary that can help you do the same.
Florence is just one of those places that you fall in love with immediately and that everyone agrees upon. And if you’ve never been and this is your first step to planning your trip to Florence, rest assured, the Tuscan city is going to shower you with her Italian charm, and you’ll leave carrying the history of the place with you.
HOW LONG YOU’LL NEED IN Florence
How long you’ll need in Florence will depend on your travel goals, as you could spend months soaking up the history and culture that Florence has to offer.
Most often, travelers combine a visit to Florence with another or handful of other Italian cities, such as Rome or Venice. Or, they often use Florence as the gateway to the Tuscan countryside and might spend a few days in the city and then some time in the Tuscan region.
For our trip, we visited Florence as part of a larger Italian itinerary, where we visited Rome, Positano in the Amalfi Coast, Venice and Florence. We were in Italy for a total of 10 days, and we spent three of those days in Florence.
Three days in Florence gave us enough time to do everything included in the remainder of this Florence Travel Guide, including a day excursion to a Tuscan winery and vespa tour.
I’d recommend giving yourself at minimum two days in the city of Florence itself, in order to have enough time to hit all of the highlights and enough meals to enjoy some of Italy’s most delicious cuisine.
WHERE TO STAY in florence
A good hotel or Airbnb, in my opinion, can either greatly benefit your travel experience or greatly diminish it. I know many people might not agree, but based on my travel experiences, booking a good hotel or Airbnb has brought me to relationships and conversations and experiences I would have not been presented with otherwise.
The good news is that Florence has heaps of amazing accommodations, from beautiful historic hotels to ancient Airbnb rentals. If you prefer the latter, we’ve culled all of the Airbnb rentals available and rounded them up in this Best Florence Airbnb guide.
Personally, we stayed at the below Tuscan Style Apartment, located in the Santo Spirito neighborhood of Florence (unfortunately, it looks like it’s no longer available on Airbnb- sad!). I highly recommend staying in this area if you’re looking to get a feel for what true Florentine living feels like. Steps from the apartment are restaurants, shops and a square bustling with locals who are usually up well into the wee hours of the night. There was even a local market one morning in the square filled with Florentine antiques. What more could you ask for?
things to do in florence
Like most European cities, Florence is incredibly walkable with most sights reachable by foot. According to U.S. News you can walk the length of the city in just thirty minutes. In that thirty minutes, you’ll come across the following landmarks and things to do in Florence. You can use these landmarks as a guide to plan out your Florence itinerary.
Climb the Florence Duomo (Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore)
Hands-down, the Florence Duomo should at the top of your sights to see in Florence list. If you’ve seen photos of Florence, you’ve seen the Duomo. The Cathedral of Santa Marie del Fiore, or the Duomo, sits in the city-center and is the most recognizable structure in Florence, thanks to its intricate facade and red-tiled domes.
If you want some of the best views of the city (see proof below), then you need to climb all the way to the top of the Florence Duomo. I will warn you, it’s a solid 463 steps to the top, but there are breaks in between the steps, so you’ll have time to catch your breath. Not to mention you’ll get to walk inside the dome structure, an architectural feat in and of itself.
You can book tickets in advance online, or you can book tours through guides standing in front of the building. We opted for the latter and were really pleased with how knowledgeable (and kind) our tour-guide was!
Watch the Sunset at Piazzale Michelangelo (Michelangelo’s square)
Piazzale Michelangelo, also known as Michelangelo’s square, is (you guessed it) a square overlooking the city of Florence, with amazing views of the rooftops and the Duomo standing proud above them all.
Like climbing to the top of the Duomo, watching the sunset from the Piazzale Michelangelo is going to give you movie-level panoramas of Florence. Again, you will have to climb a decent amount of stairs to get to the top, and I’d recommend heading there early as the area can get pretty crowded. You’ll want to secure a spot on the wall for your breathtaking (COMPLETELY FREE) views. No tickets necessary.
Once you’ve secured your spot, all that’s required is to sit back, relax and take in the remarkable views of this stunning city.
Walk across the Ponte Vecchio Bridge
Odds are as you’re spending the day wandering around Florence, you’ll stumble upon the Ponte Vecchio Bridge. It sits across the river and its history is quite impressive, from its original construction in 966 to its role in World War II. The bridge has been lined with shops since the 13th century, and you can still stroll through similar shops today.
The area around (and on) Ponte Vecchio Bridge tends to get pretty crowded, so do this one early in the morning to avoid the crowds. It doesn’t take very long to either view from afar or take a stroll across and is an easy check off the Florence sight-seeing list.
Stroll through the Boboli Gardens
To build excitement before your trip to Florence, I highly recommend watching the series Medici on Netflix. It’s centered around the Medici family and the role they play in politics and art (including the construction of the Duomo) in Renaissance Florence. The Boboli Gardens, located near the Santo Spirito neighborhood and the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, were designed by the family and are a Florence sight-seeing must. The gardens themselves are the traditional designed landscapes found throughout Europe, inclusive of grand staircases and fountains and spectacular views.
While you’re there, be sure to check out the Pitti Palace!
Barter at the Leather Markets
If you want to bring a souvenir home that’s a little more exciting than your go-to magnet, head to the Florence leather markets. You can find tons of helpful details on this Visit Florence page regarding the history, hows and locations of the markets.
The markets can be a bit overwhelming during your first walk through, so I’d recommend walking through once to try to get an idea of what you want, then coming back through with all of your bartering skills and courage.
See the Statue of David at the Accademia Gallery
Confession - this is the one thing that didn’t make it on our personal Florence travel itinerary. Looking back, I honestly have no clue why, other than maybe my own lack of planning. And we can’t let that happen to you, so I’ve laid out all the details below.
Open from Tuesday-Sunday (closed on Mondays, I repeat closed on Mondays), the Accademia Gallery is located in the center of the city. As you can imagine from a place with such a famous piece of art, thousands upon thousands of visitors flock to the gallery each year, so it is highly recommended to book tickets in advance. Depending on your preference, you can book both a general “entrance time” ticket or a “private tour” ticket. Just remember to book in advance!
Take a Tuscan Vespa Tour & Wine Tasting From Florence
The more I’ve traveled, the more I’ve learned how important it is to stay in a city for longer than 24-hours. Sure, you can “usually” cram in the highlights, but you won’t necessarily get the full, robust, rich experience that is waiting for you if you slow down and stay a little longer.
When planning our full Italy itinerary, we set aside the most time for Florence. It was still nowhere near enough, but we knew we wanted an entire day to see the Tuscan countryside. Again, through experience, I’d recommend giving yourself MUCH more than a day to do so, however, if you only have one day to see Tuscany from Florence, a Wine Tasting/Vespa Tour is a good option.
We booked our Vespa/Wine tour through TripAdvisor, with the Fun in Tuscany company. The morning of the tour, we checked in at the base-camp office in Florence and the trip started with a bus ride out of the city to the winery gravel lot where our “vespa training began.” The tour hosts spend around 30-minutes teaching you the ins and outs of riding your Vespa so you’re safe for the trip ahead.
Once trained, everyone helmets up and heads out into the beautiful Tuscan countryside. During the tour, there were plenty of opportunities to stop and take photos with the rolling, green Tuscany scenery.
We meandered our way to the town of San Gimignano where we had roughly an hour to explore the city and to taste the World’s Best Gelato at Gelateria Dondoli.
After, we headed back to the vineyard and kicked off our Italian wine tasting. It was such a fun experience trying all of the different wines and being fed family recipes while doing so.
where to eat in florence
Figuring out where to eat in a country that drastically influenced how we eat in America can be a bit paralyzing. You’re in pasta region, the options are endless, and you want to make every meal count. Odds are, anywhere you end up is going to have good food and good wine. That’s just the Italian way. However, if you’re shooting for the best of the best, do like we did and trust the recommendations of your favorite foodie travel-loving friend. If you don’t have one, you can borrow mine. Her name is Rosie and she spent six months in Florence taste-testing all of the below recommendations, just for you.
Don’t always trust TripAdvisor food recommendations. TripAdvisor is great for sights and hotel reviews, but when it comes to food, the top picks are usually just the ones nearest the tourist attractions. In NYC, for example, all of the top restaurant recommendations are near Times Square. Are they the best? No. Do they get the most foot traffic and therefore reviews? Absolutely.
Here are Rosie’s top picks (and where we had time to try - some so good we went twice), with photos to make your mouth water included. Buon appetito!
Mercato Centrale Florence: located near the leather markets, a food hall with good options for lunch. We had a delicious cannoli here.
Trattoria 13 Gobbi: For a romantic dinner or night out with friends. Would recommend making a reservation.
Ditta Artigianale: A modern coffee shop - one of our favorites from our time in Florence.
Osteria Santo Spirito: So good we ate here twice. Outdoor seating and delicious affordable Italian classics.
La Menagere: A beautiful restaurant, with Anthropologie like vibes.
Eduardos: For your daily gelato fix.
Santa Trinta: Also for your daily gelato fix.
Gusta Pizza: For your pizza fix.
STICK AROUND FOR A WHILE
Need help planning the rest of your trip through Italy?
If Florence is part of a larger Italian travel itinerary, check out our travel guides to Rome, Venice and the Amalfi Coast. And if you still need a hotel or accomodations in Florence, see our favorite Airbnbs in the ciyt in this Florence Airbnb roundup.
FOLLOW ALONG
For all of our live travel content and BTS, be sure to follow us on social media. You’ll get to see what our life looks like as expats in Paris and get to virtually come along with us whenever we are exploring somewhere new.
In this complete travel guide to Rome, Italy you will find everything you need to plan your trip to the Eternal City, with details including what to do (Roman Colosseum, Vatican City, Trevi Fountain), what to eat (like where to find the best Tiramisu in Rome) and where to stay. Read the full post to get all of the details and start planning your trip to Rome.