This fall, some friends and I are renting a villa in Tuscany for three weeks, between Siena and Arezzo. Heaven! Relaxing, cooking, eating, walking, swimming, reading, etc. Not much else ..... other than drinking! ^

At the end of the trip, we are spending 5 nights in Florence at Starwood's Grand Hotel on the Piazza Ognissanti. I would like to spend 3 days in Florence, and then take the train somewhere (maybe Pisa) for a day.

It's been 30+ years since I have been in Florence. I'd like to go back to the Uffizi and the Duomo and appreciate them as an adult. I'd like to go back and visit my friends David and Neptune! Possibly the Pitti Palace.

What would you recommend? If you had three days to visit, what would you recommend. My friends might appreciate part of a day to visit the Uffizi, but I'm not sure if they'll spend much more time there. What are some out-of-the-way places that must be seen? Are there traditional days when things are closed? Best hidden little restaurants?

Can anyone recommend a guide to give us a one-day walking tour, introduce us to the city, and then we can go back and see things on our own?

I highly recommend FT's sister site :http://slowtalk.com/groupee/?s=759607521&cdra=Y . Go to their forum and other areas. A great source of valuable, and discerning, Italy info.

try here:

http://www.hostelworld.com/itinerari...ys-in-florence

or here:

http://www.reidsitaly.com/destinatio...tin_3days.html

The personal favorites I never miss when visiting Florence are the Museo di San Marco, the Cappellone degli Spagnoli in Santa Maria Novella, the Cappella Brancacci in Chiesa del Carmine and the Cappella dei Magi in the Palazzo Medici Ricciardi.
A couple of these have reopened in recent years after restoration so you might have not seen them on your previous visit.
I find the Pitti Palace kind of stuffy, but that's a matter of personal taste.

Piazzale Michelangelo maybe? Great viewpoint of the core.

I'd choose Lucca over Pisa.

+1

I thought of that, too. But there is no Leaning Tower of Lucca!

This is sort of what I have sketched out for our visit to Florence:

• Friday: arrive early afternoon. casual walk around Florence. Ponte Vecchio (maybe by sunset), Santa Maria Novello (and anything else that may be on the list for other days, if we get by there)
• Saturday:City Center North, The Academy (David) opens at 8:30, the farmer's market (opens at 8:00 am, maybe get picnic stuff after Academy and go to a park), San Lorenzo and the Medici Chapels
• Sunday: Oltrarno ("the other side of the Arno River", just a walk across the river from our hotel), Pitti Palace (the Medici family home and apartments) and Boboli park , maybe a picnic, and Piazza Michelangelo (overlooking Florence from the other side of the river), if someone wants to get up early, Mass in the Cathedral???
• Monday: many things are closed in Florence on Mondays, so maybe take the train to Pisa and see if we can un-lean the Leaning Tower
• Tuesday: City Center East, Uffizi, Cathedral, Neptune Fountain, Santa Croce (tombs of Michelangelo, Machiavelli, Galileo, etc), if someone is interested in Galileo's Museum of Science.

I need to figure out the best site for buying advanced tix to Uffizi and Academy .... or of the hotel concierge can do it.

Since you'll be in Italy well before going into Florence, just call and get tickets for the Uffizi. When I went 2 years ago there was a charge for ordering tickets online but I'm pretty sure that if you called you didn't pay until you picked them up. That way if your plans do change for some reason you aren't out any cash.

For the view, skip P.le Michelangiolo (gross - basically an enormous parking lot) and walk a few minutes down the road to the magnificent Basilica S. Miniato al Monte.

The best site (w/o a doubt) for the purchase of Uffizi tickets is the one run by the actual museum. It has a much lower fee that the various online services - and more importantly - gives more accurate information about actual availability. Most online sites will let you choose a ticket for any day/any time and then as you go to check out, tell you it isn't available.

I took this walking tour and I thoroughly enjoyed it as an introduction to Firenze. Poke around their site and you'll see many other options are available.

ContextTravel offers tours in Florence. I've taken many guided tours from them in Rome, but never in Florence. However, my confidence in this organization is such that I'd also recommend them for Florence.

It was this off the cuff remark that alerted me to Lucca. I couldn't imagine spending a lot of time in Pisa, but I will say that the Leaning Tower isn't as kitchy as I thought it would be.

We enjoyed Lucca very much. Thanks for the tip. ^

Download Rick Steves museum tour and walking tours of the cities.

A real dining experience in Florence is Teatro de Sale. You have to pay a nominal fee to join their club and you eat at communal tables. They make what they want to each night and announce (yell) it to the room as they bring out each dish. Great food you cannot go wrong. There is entertainment that follows---music,etc on stage--be careful to go on a night where there is a performance that interests you. A unique experience.