Florence
 

What are the "big" things to see and do in Florence? We are planning on makeing a reservation to see David, but didn't know what else might need to go on our "must see and do" list. We have a few days to spend in Florence and Venice, before going on to Rome and are trying to split our time. Thanks for the help!

Florence is amazing, you will love it! My top choices are Galleria Uffizi (buy tickets in advance if possible and stay as long as you wish); Ponte Vecciho (I go at night as it us beautiful - gold stores are mostly closed if that is a concern for purchasing gifts - not an issue in my mind as overpriced); Galerria Academia for David statue (less than an hour and buy tickets there if you want, people come and go quickly unlike Uffizi); and just getting lost walking through history with incredible piazzas like piazza del duomo (I go both at daytime and after dark for different look with lights on, bit either time is incredible). Enjoy!

do you have any interests in Renaissance art, or is this sort of a bucket list of must sees and must do's? i am always curious about the people going to italy and gotta do the must sees. the uffizi is full of paintings of gutted saints. the pitti palace is full of portorates by van dyke. there are some church doors that are famous, a dome and the meeting house. the meeting house is famous cause that's where Hannibal Lecter guts and hangs pazzi. the whole place looks like a renaissance town. it is pretty much a replacement, as almost everything was blown to smithereens in ww II.

Am on a long weekend in Florence as I post this.
Staying at the Hotel Delgi Orafi with a private patio on the 4th floor overlooking the Arno and the Ponte Vecchio; lazying watching the world go by. It's The Room With A View as featured in the movie.

Florence is all museums so pick a couple wisely. Don't try to see all pictures in each gallery. Get a guide book, decide which artwork you want to see and play "treasure hunt". It's more fun. Otherwise hire a private guide so you can get the full educational experience. There is too much to see here and it is hard for anyone to know what you are interested in.

There are also Segways tours, horse carriage rides, loads of gelato shops to choose from, cooking experience, chocolate factory tours, boating in the river in town and a few designer outlet malls for shopping outside town.

It's all about your interests.

Thanks, I know that we want to see some of the art, David, and just get the
feel of the city.

+1

Go up Giotto's tower as well! It's a really nice view of the city from the center of town.

OTOH, one can get a view of the center of the city from the outside at Boboli Gardens. And easily spend half a day there relaxing about.

For food, I highly recommend the Ristorante Leonardo (self service). It's very close to the Duomo and can find super cheap, good Italian food.

Leaf through a city guide and see what appeals to you. The must see must do is travel in a can.

why not ask fellow FTers? i found city guides often contains lots of paid advertisements and little useful info.

go to library and get a fodor and a frommer guide to italy. they have a section on the must see, must doez. book does not have to be current. nothing new in italy the past century or two.

Thanks for the help and the resturant suggestions,

OP, what time of year are you going? This will help us provide some suggestions beyond the basics.

There's plenty to do around Firenze besides museums and galleries (although them, plus churches, are the crux of the city), but I do recommend spending a considerable amount of time in them. The Bargello is often overlooked in the tourist rush. I'm a big fan of this old school prison. For views of the city without taking a bus to Fiesole, I recommend a walk up to Piazzale Michaelangelo. You may choose the winding roadways up or the back way via steps at the base of the hill behind apartments. Cross over the Ponte alle Grazie and head east along the river. You'll find it if you're adventurous enough. A climb up the Campanile or Duomo is a must as well. Ross King wrote a great book (IMO) entitled 'Brunelleschi's Dome'. If you have the time and are a reader at heart I recommend taking this on before visiting the Duomo.

Check out the Mercato Centrale to stock that picnic basket. A walk around there is an experience in itself. If the Viola are in town, assuming it's football season, go see a match at the Artemio Franchi. It's a 30-45 minute walk from the city center over by the 'Campo di Marte' train station.

A considerable amount of time should be spent enjoying apertivo and the countless hole-in-the-wall food & vino places.

If you need any help with Rome I'm sure you can find it here as well. Just let us know!

Depends on which ones you buy ;)

Reason I suggest having a look at what you can see in Florence, is that it is very much a matter of personal taste.
Lock me up for a day in Cappella Brancacci or Museo di San Marco and I'm the happiest FT bunny, but I do realize that other FTs may get bored after about 15 minutes.

We will be in Venice, Rome and Florene in May of 2013. Loving the suggestions!!!

Can't provide too much guidance on Venice but what's your stay in Rome looking like? If you could provides a total number of days, what days of the week, where are you staying, when you say "we" do you mean just you and your other half, are there kids involved, plan on staying in Rome or do you want to take a day trip to the beach, etc. The more details the better and we can help you out.

I've found the City Secrets series to be very helpful in pointing out some sights that even many locals are unaware of. Try your library or pick up a copy from Amazon cheaply.
Florence, Venice

There will be 4 of us traveling. (2 couples). We are in our late 50's early 60's. We will arrive in Italy on a Sunday and will leave the next Sunday for a 7 day cruise, then 1 or 2 more days in Rome before we fly home. We can divide the days between Venice, Florence and Rome as we wish. Right now we have reservations at Marriotts in all cities, until we finalize our flight schedule. Any suggestions would be great.

it there a marriot in florence? i think the only one near venice is at the airport and maybe the same thing is true of florence.. i presume you are staying on points. if not, or if you can afford, stay in venice and florence. the airport ihotels are just like the airport hotel in peoria. also in rome, if you are at the flora, fine. if you are at one of the hotels on the park, you should consider finding a place in the city.

We are staying at the A/C hotel in Florence on points. In Rome we are staying at the Marriott GrandFlora on points. We are actually going from Florence to Venice just for the day. Not enought time to stay in all 3 cities before the cruise.

Day trip to from Florence to Venice will be tough, but it's what thousands of cruise tourists do. We're in Venice now on a 4 night stay. There are many cruise ships coming and going each day. Piazza San Marco was packed this afternoon with tour groups from at least 7 different cruise ships in town.

I think all you'll be able to do is walk around Piazza San Marco (maybe line up to see the Basilica and Palazzo Ducale), take a tour of Grand Canal (either by public boat - 7 euros per person or private taxi).

There is a public bus that goes up to Piazzale Michelangelo where the view over Florence is just beautiful. There is a very old beautiful small church nearby (creator of Pinocchio is buried there), and if weather permits, walk downhill afterwards towards Ponte Vecchio.

Have gelato (Grom!) and have fun!

Thanks for all the suggestions. I am making a list of all the information I am learning on this site.

I lived in Florence for 4 months and I kept getting drawn back to the Boboli Gardens (Giardini Boboli). The gardens go on forever and there are sculptures all around and beautifully manicured landscapes. Its breathtaking. Skip the Pitti Palace in front although some like the decadence of it.

Florence is very small so you can walk from one end to the next which is what I would recommend. The market is known for leather goods and I found the best thing to buy is leather gloves. The quality was great.

Depending on the hotel you stay at the Concierge should make reservations for you at the Uffizi Gallery and to see the David. They might be able to provide you with passes to skip the long lines.

Enjoy the food. Its amazing!!!!

The OP provides little indication of what's really important in answering questons about a place like Florence (unless you're on a guided tour), which is background. My wife and I are fortunate in that (even though Americans) we are Catholic and old enough to have had a traditional education, and we both had an interest in history and art that predated any foreign trips. This always strikes us when we see tourists walking through something like the Accademia or Bargello in Florence or Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy and realize from the glazed expressions that they have no real idea what they're looking at.

So any effective answer must depend on background. That said, Accademia, Uffizi, Museo del Duomo, Bargello, Duomo, Baptistry, Santa Maria Novella, and a personal favorite of mine- the Brancacci Chapel in Santa Maria del Carmine, where you can see in Masaccio's frescos the birth of Renaissance painting. And more. And don't forget some limoncello after dinner.

We definately want to see David and will make our reservations so we don't have to wait in lines. Knowing that we will not have a lot of time in Florence (probably only 2 days) we won't be able to see many things, but don't want to miss the "must see places". Thanks for all the suggestions.

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And go to the opera in the just-opened Opera Theater:

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