Saturday, June 1, 2024
Everything is easily walkable in Florence. You can walk from one end to the other in 25 minutes. We started our morning with a visit to the top of the Duomo/Cupola (Brunelleschi Pass – 30 Euro/adult – tickets booked online in advance). The timeslot to climb to the Dome is fixed, but you can visit the main church and baptistery at any time over the following two days.
Our walk to the Duomo was only about 10 minutes, so after our morning pastries and coffee, we were on our way. The area in front of the Duomo would soon be full of tourists, but at 8am things were just starting to open up and it was easy to walk around.
The entrance to climb the dome was on the north side of the building. They usher you through the church, which was not yet open and up the staircase to begin the climb of 463 steps. This climb is no joke, so get your legs ready.
After the initial climb, you pop out onto a walkway that is underneath the dome, high above the church floor. There are designated “sushers” on each end to shh you into silence, since this area is open and any noise would resonate into the church. The paintings on the underneath of the dome are beautiful.
Once on the other side, it was back to climbing even more stairs, but the view from the top was worth it. One of the tallest spots in Florence, you could easily see the entire city. After soaking in the view and walking back down, the square below was already starting to fill up with tourists. It had only taken us an hour in total to climb up and back down, which gave us a little extra time to walk around the square and admire the architecture of the church. With our Brunelleschi Pass, we could also have climbed the Campanile Bell Tower, but our legs were shot, so this was off the agenda. We did visit the Baptistery, which was worthwhile and only took about 10 minutes.
Next up was our free walking tour. Anytime I travel to a new city in Europe, I always try to take a tour and learn something about the history of the city. I find it much more fulfilling to understand the context of the things I see in the city. There are plenty of pay-versions (I like WithLocals) but often you’ll find free versions as well, where the guides work on tips only. This was one of those tours.
We met the guide in San Lorenzo Square. Our group was around 20 people and he walked us through the city while telling the story of the Medici family and their ties to government, wealth and the Roman Church, very interesting. He pointed out things you would never notice by yourself, like the remaining wooden bolsters on most buildings where balconies used to be, the history behind why the “first” floor in Europe is really on the second floor and the importance of corners in old cities.
We worked our way South and East, stopping at all the landmarks along the way, and even popping into a hidden alleyway away from the crowds briefly. The tour lasted 2 hours and was definitely worth the time. We ended the tour near a food truck, where the guide pointed out one of the delicacies of Florence, the Lampredotto. It is a sandwich where the main ingredient is the 4th stomach of a cow. I tried it at one of the stands in Mercato Centrale and would definitely recommend, but it’s very messy so grab alot of napkins.
It was just after noon and our next activity was the Accademia Gallery at 1:45pm, so we grabbed some sandwiches from Carpe Diem (directly beside our Airbnb) and took them back for a quick lunch in our place. The Accademia Gallery had several long lines when we arrived, divided out by entry times and those that did not purchase tickets in advance (recommend purchasing these in advance). We stood in our appropriate line and entered within 15 minutes.
The main attraction here is Michelangelo’s David statue, but they also have other artwork, paintings and violins. The kids thought it was funny how many naked statues were all over Europe.
After the gallery, we walked over to the Mercato Centrale. Plenty of shopping stalls outside selling mostly leather goods and souveniers. Inside is a two-story area full of stalls which are mostly restaurants. We had originally planned to eat lunch here, but the timing didn’t work out, so we just grabbed a couple drinks and I tried the Lampredotto from Bambi.
We hadn’t eaten gelato yet in Florence, so you can guess what we did next. After leaving the Mercato Centrale, we heard alot of commotion coming from the train station. It was hard to tell what was going on, alot of people cheering and busses dropping someone off. Our best guess was the local futbol team.
Once on the other side of the river, we grabbed some Gelato at Gelateria Della Passera and tried to find a shady spot to sit and eat. Our reservation at Boboli Gardens was not until 5:30pm, but they allowed us to enter early without any issue.
Boboli Gardens is basically a park with fountains, statues and plenty of shady spots to sit under the trees. The entry way is a steep uphill climb and at the very top is a nice garden with good views south of the city onto the countryside. There were couples in the park with photographers getting engagement photos taken.
When we left the gardens, we exited on the river side instead of the main front entrance near Palazzo Pitti. We wanted to try and get over to Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset. Once we had that in sight, we saw how much more of an uphill climb it was and the area was already crowded several hours prior to sunset, so we chose to skip this adventure for now.
Instead, we walked back down to the riverside and made our way to Ponte Vecchio, where we grabbed a few drinks and shopped for souvenirs. Our Airbnb had a couple balconies and we wanted to watch the sunset from there, so we had pizza delivered by deliveroo, did some laundry and rested the remainder of the evening.
Logistics
- 8:15a – Florence Duomo/Baptistery – Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore
- 10a – Free walking tour – GuruWalk: The Best tour in Florence: Renaissance and Medici tales
- San Lorenzo Square
- Riccardi Medici Palace – outside only
- House of Dante – outside only
- Palazzo Vecchio
- Uffizi Gallery – outside only
- 1:45p – Accademia Gallery – Michelangelo’s David
- 5:30p – Boboli Gardens
- Piazzale Michalangelo sunset – skipped
Restaurants
- Mercato Centrale – Bambi – Lampredotto
- Carpe Diem – Quick sandwich lunch
- Gelateria Della Passera – Gelato
Gleitz Well Traveled 