5 Days in Florence: First-Timer Itinerary
Five days is where Florence stops feeling like a checklist. The first four days keep the same core as our shorter itineraries, Duomo complex, Uffizi, Santa Croce, Accademia, San Lorenzo, a full Oltrarno day, and day five adds the Bargello and Medici Chapels plus real time to just wander. Tighter schedule? Drop to 4 days . More time? Move up to 6 or 7 days .
Book these before you go
- Duomo dome climb: your timed slot only exists at the official Duomo site
- Uffizi Gallery: reserve on GetYourGuide , about a month out
- Accademia Gallery (David): book through b-ticket.com , 3-8 weeks out depending on season
- Hotel: compare five nights of options on Booking.com
| Day | Focus |
|---|---|
| Day 1 | Duomo complex, Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio |
| Day 2 | Uffizi, Santa Croce, Oltrarno evening |
| Day 3 | Accademia, San Lorenzo, Mercato Centrale |
| Day 4 | Full Oltrarno day, Piazzale Michelangelo sunset |
| Day 5 | Bargello, Medici Chapels, slow wander, farewell dinner |
Day 1: The Duomo Complex And The Historic Core
- Booked Brunelleschi Pass slot up the dome, 463 steps, then the Baptistery and Giotto’s Campanile on the same three-day pass
- Piazza della Signoria, the free open-air statue gallery; the outdoor David is a 1910 replica, the original lives in the Accademia
- Cross Ponte Vecchio, goldsmiths since 1593, for an Arno-side evening
Day 2: The Uffizi And Santa Croce
- Morning timed slot at the Uffizi (EUR 25), three hours minimum for the Botticelli rooms and the full circuit
- Afternoon at Santa Croce (EUR 9.50-10), tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli, plus the Pazzi Chapel
- Dinner in the Oltrarno, quieter and cheaper than the Duomo side
Day 3: The Accademia, San Lorenzo And Mercato Centrale
- Morning slot at the Accademia, book this further ahead than the Uffizi given its smaller capacity
- San Lorenzo market and Mercato Centrale lunch, ground floor until 14:00 Mon-Sat, upstairs food hall until midnight daily
- A slower afternoon around Via Tornabuoni before the evening’s plans
Day 4: A Full Day In The Oltrarno
- Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens (EUR 22 combined same-day, EUR 25 booked ahead)
- Santo Spirito piazza and its artisan workshops, leatherworkers, goldsmiths and bookbinders in small storefronts
- A Chianina bistecca alla Fiorentina dinner, priced by the kilo (EUR 45-95/kg), shared and served rare
- Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset, free, arrive 45 minutes early; walk up from Ponte Vecchio in 30 minutes or take bus 12 or 13
Is 5 days too long for Florence? Not if you use the extra day for the second-tier museums and a genuinely unhurried pace rather than cramming in a Tuscan day trip. Five days lets every neighborhood get a real visit instead of a rushed pass-through, which is exactly what the first four days of this itinerary already start to feel tight on.
Day 5: The Bargello, Medici Chapels And Slowing Down
- Morning at the Bargello, where Donatello’s bronze David, cast decades before Michelangelo’s marble version, sits alongside Cellini’s bronzes; it pairs with the Accademia on a combined 48-hour ticket if you plan ahead
- The Medici Chapels in San Lorenzo, Michelangelo’s tomb sculptures for the Medici family, covered by the same 72-hour six-museum pass (EUR 38 plus a EUR 4 fee) that adds the Bargello
- An unhurried afternoon, an enoteca wine tasting (Chianti by the glass runs EUR 5-8) or just retracing a street you liked on day one
- A farewell dinner back in whichever neighborhood won you over, Duomo-side energy or Oltrarno quiet, both are valid answers
Five days is enough that you don’t need to fight for a Uffizi slot on the same morning as your Accademia one, spread the two galleries across separate days and the whole trip feels less like a queue and more like a visit.