Florence Italy

Florence, Italy

The Uffizi made a significant pricing change in 2026: from January 1, there’s now an afternoon discount ticket for entry from 4pm onwards at just EUR 16 on-site (or EUR 20 online), compared to the standard EUR 25 walk-up price. That’s the kind of information that should go at the top of a Florence guide, because the real problem this city has always had is not the art – the art is extraordinary – but the crowds fighting to see it simultaneously between 10am and 3pm.

Florence covers a lot of ground fast, which is one of its advantages and one of its problems. The Uffizi, the Accademia, the Duomo complex, the Bargello, Palazzo Pitti – all within a 20-minute walk of each other, all genuinely important, none of them visitable at the same level of attention in a single day. This is a city that rewards choosing over cramming.

The Uffizi

Book at uffizi.it. Early bird entry at 8:00am to 8:55am is offered at a discount of around EUR 6 off the standard online price, making the early slot not just less crowded but cheaper. The afternoon ticket from 4pm at EUR 16 on-site is the other smart option. The collection runs roughly chronologically from pre-Renaissance through to Caravaggio. Botticelli’s Primavera and Birth of Venus are in adjacent rooms about halfway through. Allow at least 2.5 to 3 hours; the museum is large and the Botticelli rooms are dense. The museum is closed every Monday.

The Accademia

Michelangelo’s David, booked via galleriaaccademiafirenze.it. The statue is 5.17 metres tall and significantly larger than imagination suggests. The quality of the carving – the tension in the hands, the specificity of the facial expression – is best appreciated from floor level before the room fills. The four unfinished Prisoners (Schiavi) in the gallery leading to the main room are compelling specifically because they show a figure only partially emerged from the block, which tells you something about how Michelangelo thought about stone.

Duomo Complex

The combined ticket covers the cathedral, Brunelleschi’s dome, the Baptistery, the Campanile, and the Museo dell’Opera del Duomo. The dome climb (463 steps) brings you face-to-face with Vasari’s Last Judgement fresco on the interior surface and delivers the view over the terracotta roofline of the city. The Museo dell’Opera holds the original Ghiberti Gates of Paradise bronze panels – the Old Testament scenes in relief that Michelangelo famously called worthy of being the gates of paradise itself – and Michelangelo’s unfinished Bandini Pieta, which he intended for his own tomb and later attacked with a hammer.

Eating

The streets immediately around the Duomo and San Lorenzo market are overpriced for what you get. Cross the Arno to Oltrarno for better restaurants at realistic prices. Trattoria Sostanza on Via del Porcellana has been serving Florentine food since 1869 – the butter pasta is the thing to order, not because it sounds impressive, but because it doesn’t and still is. Trattoria Da Ruggero in the quieter part of Oltrarno is cheaper, more local, and doesn’t take reservations; arrive at 12:30 when it opens for lunch.

Lampredotto sandwiches – boiled tripe on a roll – are the Florentine street food. Nerbone inside the Mercato Centrale on Via dell’Ariento does them properly. If you’re the kind of person who would skip the lampredotto because tripe sounds unappealing, you’re the kind of person Florence will partially defeat.

Getting Around

The historic centre is largely traffic-restricted and walkable. Firenze Santa Maria Novella (SMN) connects by Frecciarossa to Rome in 1h30m and Milan in 1h45m. Pisa airport is one hour by train from SMN; Florence’s own Peretola airport is small but expanding.

Piazzale Michelangelo, 15 minutes’ uphill walk from Ponte Vecchio, has the view that appears on every postcard. Get there 20 minutes before sunset and stay until the light fades. The walk back down through the San Miniato neighbourhood, past the San Miniato al Monte church with its green-and-white marble facade, is better than the walk up.