Italy with Isa

Florence

Tuscany

Capital of Tuscany and the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, with a compact UNESCO-listed historic center laid out along the Arno.

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Around Florence

Activities

What to do

Galleria dell'Accademia

Art~75 min

San Marco

Ticket price & opening hours
€16 plus a €4 online reservation fee (€20 total). Reduced €2 for EU citizens 18-25; free on the first Sunday of the month, when booking is not possible and you queue on site.
Entry
Timed entry — arrive on time
Ticket validity
Timed entry — arrive on time

Advance booking required

Houses Michelangelo's David, moved here from Piazza della Signoria in 1873 and displayed under a purpose-built skylit tribune, along with his unfinished Prisoners. Also holds a large collection of Florentine Gothic panel painting and a museum of historical musical instruments.

Tickets & availabilityBackground

Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore

Gothic~30 min

Duomo

Ticket price & opening hours
Free entry to the nave, no booking required; expect a security queue. Closed to visitors on Sundays and during religious celebrations. The dome, campanile, Baptistery and museum are all separately ticketed.

Usually works as a walk-in

Begun in 1296 to Arnolfo di Cambio's Gothic design and consecrated in 1436, with a polychrome marble facade completed only in 1887. The nave interior is comparatively bare, its focus being Vasari and Zuccari's Last Judgement frescoed inside the dome.

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Brunelleschi's Dome Climb

Ticketed~60 min

Duomo

Ticket price & opening hours
€30 Brunelleschi Pass, valid 3 days and the only ticket that includes the dome climb; it also covers Giotto's Campanile, the Baptistery, the Opera del Duomo museum and Santa Reparata. A timed entry slot must be reserved.
Entry
Timed entry — arrive on time
Ticket validity
Timed entry — arrive on time

Advance booking required

463 steps rise between the inner and outer shells of Brunelleschi's 1436 dome, passing a walkway at the base of the Last Judgement frescoes before reaching the lantern. There is no lift and the upper passage is narrow and steep.

Tickets & availabilityBackground

Giotto's Campanile

Ticketed~45 min

Duomo

Ticket price & opening hours
€20 Giotto Pass, valid 3 days, covering the campanile, the Baptistery, the Opera del Duomo museum and Santa Reparata. The €30 Brunelleschi Pass includes all of these plus the dome climb.
Ticket validity
Valid 3 days

Advance booking recommended

A 84.7 m Gothic bell tower begun by Giotto in 1334 and finished by Andrea Pisano and Francesco Talenti, faced in the same white, green and pink marble as the cathedral. 414 steps lead to a terrace that gives the best close view of the dome itself.

Visit informationBackground

Baptistery of San Giovanni

Romanesque~30 min

Duomo

Ticket price & opening hours
€15 Ghiberti Pass, valid 3 days, covering the Baptistery, the Opera del Duomo museum and Santa Reparata; the €20 Giotto and €30 Brunelleschi passes also include it. The vault mosaics are under restoration and partly obscured.
Ticket validity
Valid 3 days

Advance booking recommended

An octagonal Florentine Romanesque building of the 11th-12th centuries, long thought by Florentines to be a converted Roman temple. Its ceiling carries 13th-century gold-ground mosaics, and the bronze doors on site are copies, the originals being in the Opera del Duomo museum.

Visit informationBackground

Palazzo Vecchio

Palaces & villas~90 min

Piazza della Signoria

Ticket price & opening hours
€18 full museum admission, reduced €12; the Torre di Arnolfo is a separate €20 ticket. Under-18s enter free but still need a timed booking. Closed early on Thursdays (9:00-14:00).
Entry
Timed entry — arrive on time
Ticket validity
Timed entry — arrive on time

Advance booking recommended

The seat of Florentine government since 1299 and still the city hall, rebuilt inside for Cosimo I with the vast Salone dei Cinquecento frescoed by Vasari. Holds Donatello's Judith and Holofernes and Michelangelo's Genius of Victory.

Tickets & availabilityBackground

Piazza della Signoria

Free~30 min

Piazza della Signoria

Ticket price & opening hours
Free and open at all hours; the Loggia dei Lanzi sculptures are open-air and require no ticket.

Usually works as a walk-in

Florence's civic square since the 14th century, lined with open-air sculpture including a copy of Michelangelo's David and Ammannati's Neptune Fountain. The adjoining Loggia dei Lanzi shelters Cellini's Perseus and Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women.

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Ponte Vecchio

Free~20 min

Piazza della Signoria

Ticket price & opening hours
Free to cross at any hour. The Vasari Corridor above it reopened in 2024 and is a separate Uffizi ticket (€43 same-day, €47 in advance).

Usually works as a walk-in

A segmental arch bridge of 1345 and the only Florentine bridge not destroyed in 1944, lined with shops that have housed goldsmiths since Ferdinando I expelled the butchers in 1593. The Vasari Corridor runs above its eastern side.

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Palazzo Pitti

Palaces & villas~120 min

Oltrarno

Ticket price & opening hours
€16 bought same-day at the ticket office, €19 booked online in advance. Combined with the Boboli Gardens it is €22 same-day or €25 in advance. Reduced €3.
Ticket validity
Valid all day

Advance booking recommended

A 15th-century palace bought by the Medici in 1549 and later the royal residence of the House of Savoy, now containing the Palatine Gallery, the Royal Apartments, the Treasury of the Grand Dukes and the Museum of Costume and Fashion. The Palatine Gallery is hung salon-style with works by Raphael and Titian.

Visit informationBackground

Boboli Gardens

Ticketed~90 min

Oltrarno

Ticket price & opening hours
€10 bought same-day at the ticket office, €13 booked online in advance. Combined with Palazzo Pitti it is €22 same-day or €25 in advance. Reduced €3; there is little shade, so midday in summer is hot.
Ticket validity
Valid all day

Advance booking recommended

The formal garden laid out behind Palazzo Pitti from 1550, an early model for the Italian garden style, with an amphitheatre, the Buontalenti Grotto and the Isolotto pond. It rises steeply, with views back over the city from the upper terraces.

Visit informationBackground

Piazzale Michelangelo

Free~45 min

San Niccolò

Ticket price & opening hours
Free and open at all hours. Reached by bus 12 or 13, or on foot in 20-30 minutes uphill from Ponte alle Grazie via the Rampe del Poggi.

Usually works as a walk-in

A terrace laid out by Giuseppe Poggi in 1869 on the hill south of the Arno, holding bronze copies of Michelangelo's David and the Medici Chapel allegories. It gives the standard panorama of the historic center with the dome and campanile at its center.

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San Miniato al Monte

Romanesque~45 min

San Niccolò

Ticket price & opening hours
Free entry; donations welcome. The monks sing Gregorian chant at vespers in the crypt most afternoons. A five-minute walk uphill from Piazzale Michelangelo.

Usually works as a walk-in

A Florentine Romanesque basilica begun in 1013 on the hilltop above Piazzale Michelangelo, with a geometric green-and-white marble facade and a raised choir over an open crypt. Still a working Benedictine abbey.

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Basilica of Santa Croce

Gothic~75 min

Santa Croce

Ticket price & opening hours
€10 full price plus a €1 per-ticket booking fee when purchased online; reduced €6. Open Mon-Sat 9:30-17:30 with last admission at 17:00, and from 14:00 on Sundays and religious holidays.
Ticket validity
Valid all day

Advance booking recommended

The principal Franciscan church of Florence, begun in 1294 and holding the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and Rossini. Its chapels contain Giotto frescoes, and the complex includes Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel and two cloisters.

Visit informationBackground

Basilica of Santa Maria Novella

Gothic~60 min

Santa Maria Novella

Ticket price & opening hours
€7.50 full admission to the basilica and its cloisters. A €12 rate applies during special events, with basilica entry included for the duration of the event.
Ticket validity
Valid all day

Advance booking recommended

The Dominican church of Florence, built from 1279, whose upper facade was completed by Alberti in 1470 as an early Renaissance front on a Gothic body. Contains Masaccio's Holy Trinity, one of the first paintings to use systematic linear perspective.

Visit informationBackground

Basilica of San Lorenzo

Renaissance~60 min

San Lorenzo

Ticket price & opening hours
€10 for the full visit covering the basilica, the Old Sacristy, the cloisters, the Treasury museum and the monumental underground. The Medici Chapels next door are a separate ticket. Open Mon-Sat 10:00-17:30, last entry 16:30.
Ticket validity
Valid all day

Advance booking recommended

The Medici parish church, rebuilt by Brunelleschi from 1419 as a founding work of Renaissance architecture and left with a bare stone facade. Includes Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy with Donatello decoration, and Michelangelo's Laurentian Library reached from the cloister.

Visit informationBackground

Medici Chapels

Art~45 min

San Lorenzo

Ticket price & opening hours
€11 full price plus a €3 online reservation fee. Reduced €2 for EU citizens 18-24; free on the first Sunday of the month. A €32 ticket adds Michelangelo's Secret Room.
Ticket validity
Valid all day

Advance booking recommended

The Medici funerary complex attached to San Lorenzo, entered separately from the rear of the basilica. Comprises Michelangelo's New Sacristy with the Night, Day, Dawn and Dusk allegories, and the vast pietra dura Chapel of the Princes.

Visit informationBackground

Museo Nazionale del Bargello

Art~90 min

Piazza della Signoria

Ticket price & opening hours
€12 full price plus a €3 online reservation fee. Reduced €2 for EU citizens 18-24; under-18s free. Booking is advisable April to October.
Ticket validity
Valid all day

Advance booking recommended

A 13th-century fortified palace that served as the city's police headquarters and prison, now the national museum of Renaissance sculpture. Holds both Donatello Davids, works by Michelangelo, Cellini and Giambologna, and the competition panels by Ghiberti and Brunelleschi for the Baptistery doors.

Visit informationBackground

Mercato Centrale

Markets~60 min

San Lorenzo

Ticket price & opening hours
Free to enter. Ground-floor market stalls open mornings Mon-Sat; the first-floor food hall runs daily until midnight, with dishes roughly €8-20.

Usually works as a walk-in

A cast-iron and glass market hall of 1874 by Giuseppe Mengoni, built during Florence's years as capital of Italy. The ground floor remains a working produce, butcher and fishmonger market; the first floor was converted in 2014 into a food hall of independent counters.

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Florentine Cooking Class

Classes~240 min

San Lorenzo

Ticket price & opening hours
Varies by operator and format: roughly €70-120 per person for a half-day class, higher when a market tour, wine pairing or a professional kitchen is included. There is no single official seller.

Advance booking recommended

Hands-on classes covering Tuscan staples such as fresh pasta, ribollita and tiramisu, usually in small groups of eight to twelve. Many operators begin with a guided shop at the Mercato Centrale before cooking.

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Oltrarno Artisan District

Neighborhoods~120 min

Oltrarno

Ticket price & opening hours
Free to explore on foot. Individual workshops set their own prices, keep shop hours and often close for a long lunch; some accept visitors only by appointment.

Usually works as a walk-in

The quarter south of the Arno around Santo Spirito and San Frediano, still home to workshops in leather, gilding, bookbinding, marbled paper and furniture restoration. Piazza Santo Spirito, fronted by Brunelleschi's last church, is the district's center.

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Chianti Wine Country Day Trip

Day trips~480 min

Chianti

Ticket price & opening hours
Varies widely: roughly €80-150 per person for a small-group minibus tour with two tastings and lunch; private drivers cost substantially more. No official seller, as tours are run by independent operators.

Advance booking recommended

The hill country between Florence and Siena, the Chianti Classico zone, reached in under an hour by road and typically visited for two winery tastings with a stop in Greve or Castellina. Coordinates anchor on Greve in Chianti, the usual first stop.

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Hotels

Where to stay

Four Seasons Hotel Firenze

San Marco

High season avg €1,400/night · Low season avg €900/night

Occupies the 15th-century Palazzo della Gherardesca and the former Conventino, reopened in 2008 after a seven-year restoration of its frescoes and stuccoes. Its 11-acre Giardino della Gherardesca is the largest private garden in central Florence.

Rooms & rates

Hotel Savoy

Duomo

High season avg €1,100/night · Low season avg €700/night

A Rocco Forte hotel on Piazza della Repubblica, a few minutes' walk from the Duomo and Piazza della Signoria. The building dates from the late 19th-century redevelopment of the square and was fully redesigned by Olga Polizzi.

Rooms & rates

The St. Regis Florence

Santa Maria Novella

High season avg €1,000/night · Low season avg €650/night

Set on Piazza Ognissanti in a palazzo whose original design is attributed to Brunelleschi, facing the Arno. Sister property to The Excelsior, a Luxury Collection Hotel, across the square.

Rooms & rates

Helvetia & Bristol Firenze - Starhotels Collezione

Duomo

High season avg €850/night · Low season avg €550/night

A 19th-century palazzo beside Palazzo Strozzi, operating as a hotel since 1894 and extended into the adjoining Bristol wing after a recent restoration. Home to the Cibrèo restaurant and cocktail bar.

Rooms & rates

Villa Cora

Oltrarno

High season avg €800/night · Low season avg €500/night

A late 19th-century neoclassical villa on Viale Machiavelli, in the hills above the Oltrarno near the Boboli Gardens. Has a heated outdoor pool set in a 900 sq m Italian garden and a spa.

Rooms & rates

Brunelleschi Hotel

Duomo

High season avg €500/night · Low season avg €330/night

Built into the Byzantine-era Torre della Pagliazza and the medieval church of San Michele in Palchetto, on a quiet square one block from the cathedral. Contains a small private museum of the tower's excavated remains and the two-Michelin-star restaurant Santa Elisabetta.

Rooms & rates

Hotel Calimala

Piazza della Signoria

High season avg €400/night · Low season avg €250/night

A contemporary hotel on Via Calimaruzza, between Piazza della Repubblica and Piazza della Signoria and directly above the Mercato Nuovo. Has a rooftop restaurant and bar with cathedral views.

Rooms & rates

W Florence

Santa Maria Novella

High season avg €900/night · Low season avg €550/night

Occupies the former Grand Hotel Majestic on Piazza dell'Unità Italiana, a rationalist building designed in 1968 by the Florentine architect Lando Bartoli, and opened under the W brand in July 2025. Has 119 rooms and suites, a partly covered central courtyard and a rooftop bar and garden.

Rooms & rates

The Excelsior, a Luxury Collection Hotel, Florence

Santa Maria Novella

High season avg €950/night · Low season avg €600/night

A 15th-century palace on Piazza Ognissanti facing the Arno, across the square from its sister property The St. Regis Florence. Has 171 rooms and a rooftop restaurant and bar; it traded as The Westin Excelsior before moving to Marriott's Luxury Collection.

Rooms & rates

Hotel Lungarno

Oltrarno

High season avg €900/night · Low season avg €550/night

Owned by the Ferragamo family's Lungarno Collection, on Borgo San Jacopo in the Oltrarno with rooms and terraces over the Arno a few steps from the Ponte Vecchio. Home to the Michelin-starred restaurant Borgo San Jacopo.

Rooms & rates

Portrait Firenze

Piazza della Signoria

High season avg €1,300/night · Low season avg €850/night

A 38-room hotel of the Ferragamo family's Lungarno Collection on Lungarno degli Acciaiuoli, on the north bank of the Arno beside the Ponte Vecchio. Most rooms face the river and the bridge.

Rooms & rates

Palazzo Firenze by Baglioni Hotels & Resorts

Santa Croce

High season avg €800/night · Low season avg €500/night

A restored 18th-century palace on Via Ghibellina in the Santa Croce quarter, built for the marquis Giovanni Maria Baldinucci. Has 24 rooms and suites and the Guelfi e Ghibellini restaurant; it traded as Relais Santa Croce before the Baglioni rebranding.

Rooms & rates

Il Salviatino

Florentine Hills

High season avg €900/night · Low season avg €550/night

A 15th-century villa on the hillside at Maiano below Fiesole, about four kilometers northeast of the cathedral, set in five hectares of terraced grounds. Reached by car or hotel shuttle rather than on foot.

Rooms & rates

Villa San Michele, A Belmond Hotel, Florence

Fiesole

High season avg €1,500/night · Low season avg €900/night

A former 15th-century monastery on Via Doccia in Fiesole, its facade traditionally attributed to Michelangelo, standing on the hillside about five kilometers above the city. Has terraced gardens, an outdoor pool and a shuttle down to Florence.

Rooms & rates

Collegio alla Querce, Auberge Resorts Collection

Florentine Hills

High season avg €1,100/night · Low season avg €700/night

Opened in March 2025 in a former Barnabite boarding school founded in 1868, on the hillside at Le Cure about 2.5 kilometers northeast of the cathedral. Has 83 rooms, two restaurants and the school's original chapel and theater.

Rooms & rates

Hotel Balestri

Santa Croce

High season avg €320/night · Low season avg €200/night

A 51-room hotel on Piazza Mentana, on the Arno between the Uffizi and Ponte alle Grazie. It was renovated in 2015 and reclassified from three to four stars.

Rooms & rates

Tivoli Palazzo Gaddi Firenze Hotel

Santa Maria Novella

High season avg €550/night · Low season avg €350/night

Occupies the linked Palazzo Gaddi and Palazzo Arrighetti on Via del Giglio, between Santa Maria Novella and San Lorenzo, with 86 rooms and frescoed period interiors. Reopened under Minor Hotels' Tivoli brand after a full renovation.

Rooms & rates

Hotel Santa Maria Novella

Santa Maria Novella

High season avg €380/night · Low season avg €240/night

A four-star hotel on Piazza Santa Maria Novella facing the basilica, in the historic center a few minutes from the main station. A number of its rooms look directly onto the church and the square.

Rooms & rates

The Hoxton, Florence

San Marco

High season avg €350/night · Low season avg €220/night

Opened in 2025 across a 16th-century palazzo built for the Ricasoli family and an adjoining 1980s building designed by Andrea Branzi, on Via delle Mantellate north of San Marco. Has 158 rooms plus a three-bedroom house, a garden terrace and the restaurant Alassio.

Rooms & rates

Il Tornabuoni

Duomo

High season avg €750/night · Low season avg €450/night

A restored 12th-century palazzo on the pedestrian stretch of Via de' Tornabuoni, run by VRetreats within The Unbound Collection by Hyatt. Has 62 rooms and suites and a rooftop terrace bar.

Rooms & rates

Hotel Number Nine

San Lorenzo

High season avg €480/night · Low season avg €300/night

A family-run hotel in a 17th-century palazzo on Via dei Conti, a short walk from the Medici Chapels and the cathedral. Has 40 rooms and suites and a spa and fitness studio.

Rooms & rates

The Place Firenze

Santa Maria Novella

High season avg €900/night · Low season avg €560/night

A 20-room hotel on Piazza Santa Maria Novella and a member of The Leading Hotels of the World, with a terrace on the square and a private rooftop terrace above it.

Rooms & rates

Villa La Massa

Candeli

High season avg €1,000/night · Low season avg €650/night

Three linked historic villas on the Arno at Candeli, in the comune of Bagno a Ripoli about six kilometers upstream from the center. A hotel since 1948 and part of the Villa d'Este group since 1998, with 37 rooms and suites and a shuttle into Florence.

Rooms & rates

NH Firenze

Porta al Prato

High season avg €260/night · Low season avg €160/night

A 152-room hotel on Piazza Vittorio Veneto at the entrance to the Cascine park, about 1.6 kilometers west of the cathedral and a short walk from Santa Maria Novella station. Has a sun terrace and a seasonal rooftop pool.

Rooms & rates

Palazzo Vecchietti

Duomo

High season avg €550/night · Low season avg €350/night

A 16th-century noble palace on Via degli Strozzi, between Palazzo Strozzi and Piazza della Repubblica, run as a period residence with 12 suites.

Rooms & rates

Anglo American Hotel Florence, Curio Collection by Hilton

Porta al Prato

High season avg €450/night · Low season avg €280/night

Built in 1892 as one of the first hotels in Florence, on Via Garibaldi west of the main station, and reopened in spring 2024 under Hilton's Curio Collection after a renovation led by the architect Chiara Caberlon. Has 118 rooms and suites around an internal courtyard.

Rooms & rates

The James Suite Hotel Firenze 1564

Santa Croce

High season avg €800/night · Low season avg €500/night

Opened in July 2025 in a palazzo of 1564 on Via di Mezzo, in the quieter Sant'Ambrogio quarter east of the cathedral, converted by the designer James Cavagnari. Has 14 suites, a restaurant and a lounge bar, and belongs to Small Luxury Hotels of the World.

Rooms & rates

Palazzo Castri 1874

San Marco

High season avg €380/night · Low season avg €230/night

A 19th-century palazzo on Piazza dell'Indipendenza, north of the center and about ten minutes' walk from Santa Maria Novella station, with 58 rooms. Has a walled garden and a wellness center with connected indoor and outdoor pools.

Rooms & rates

Hotel Indigo Florence

Santa Maria Novella

High season avg €300/night · Low season avg €190/night

A 162-room IHG hotel on Via Jacopo da Diacceto, a few blocks north of Santa Maria Novella station. Has a garden, a seasonal outdoor pool and the restaurant Binomio.

Rooms & rates