Santa Maria Novella
Florence's largest park is dotted with playgrounds and is a great place to let the little 'uns loose. Families take over at weekends and the park is a…
Must-see attractions in Florence
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
Elegantly housed in 14th-century Palazzo della Mercanzia, Gucci Garden is an all-out whimsical ode to the Florentine fashion giant. The practically…
Santa Croce
Opera buffs will adore this museum celebrating more than seven decades of work by the late, internationally renowned, Florence-born film director Franco…
Florence
Anglo-Italian, Florence-born Frederick Stibbert (1838–1906) was one of the grand 19th-century wheeler-dealers on the European antiquities market and…
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
What makes Piazza della Signoria so utterly gorgeous is its wealth of fountains and statues, climaxing with this 14th-century loggia where works such as…
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
Inside the duomo a stairway near the main entrance in the nave leads down to the gift shop and crypt where excavations between 1965 and 1974 unearthed…
Basilica di San Miniato al Monte
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
Five minutes' walk uphill from Piazzale Michelangelo is this wonderful Romanesque church, dedicated to St Minius, an early-Christian martyr in Florence…
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
Raphaels and Rubens vie for centre stage in the enviable collection of 16th- to 18th-century art amassed by the Medici and Lorraine dukes in Palazzo Pitti…
Santa Maria Novella
Stroll along Borgo d'Ognissanti from Piazza Carlo Goldoni towards ancient city gate Porta al Prato, past antiques shops and designer boutiques, to reach…
Piazza della Santissima Annunziata
San Lorenzo & San Marco
Giambologna's equestrian statue of Grand Duke Ferdinando I de' Medici commands the scene from the centre of this majestic square, dominated by the facades…
Santa Croce
This square was cleared in the Middle Ages to allow the faithful to gather when the church itself was full. In Savonarola's day, heretics were executed…
Chiesa della Santissima Annunziata
San Lorenzo & San Marco
Established in 1250 by the founders of the Servite order and rebuilt by Michelozzo and others in the mid-15th century, this Renaissance church is most…
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
Built in 1324, the best preserved of the city’s medieval gates stands sentinel on the banks of the Arno. In summer, with a guide you can scale the steep…
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
Possibly founded by Syrian merchants as early as the 2nd century, the current church is largely a Renaissance construction. Its most extraordinary feature…
San Lorenzo & San Marco
Founded in 1545 to furnish medicine to the Medici, Florence's botanical gardens – managed today by the university – are a wonderfully peaceful retreat in…
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
The Dante House Museum was built in 1910 above the foundations of Dante's dwelling. Up the road, 11th-century Chiesa di Santa Margherita, nicknamed …
Santa Croce
Though Michelangelo never lived in Casa Buonarroti, his heirs devoted some of the artist’s hard-earned wealth to the construction of this 17th-century…
Santa Croce
One of the many eccentric Brits who made Florence home in the early 20th century, Herbert Percy Horne bought and renovated this Renaissance palazzo, then…
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
Paintings and sculptures by 20th-century artists provide a colourful contrast to 16th-century Palazzo Bartolini Salimbeni which this gallery inhabits so…
Chiesa dei Santissimi Apostoli
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
Dedicated to Sts Peter and Paul, this peaceful Romanesque church dating to 1075 is one of the oldest in Florence. Deceased babies that had not been…
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
The site of a Roman forum and heart of medieval Florence, this busy civic space was created in the 1880s as part of a controversial plan of 'civic…
Oltrarno
This eye-catching stone medieval tower is the tallest, and probably best preserved, in Florence. It was built for the wealthy Belfredelli family in the…
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
Tucked beneath the stone arches, on the southern side of the loggia sheltering the city's 16th-century Mercato Nuovo (literally 'New Market'), today a…
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
Forget about Marini, Mertz or Clemente – the collection of Palazzo Pitti's Galleria d’Arte Moderna is dominated by late-19th-century works by artists of…
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
Palazzo Pitti's Appartamenti Reali are presented as they were c 1880–91, when they were occupied by members of the House of Savoy. The style and division…
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
Dante fans will like to know that it was in this tiny 11th-century church, in the poet's old stomping ground, that he is said to have first espied his…
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
This fantastical shell- and gem-encrusted grotto was built by Bernardo Buontalenti between 1583 and 1593 for Francesco I de' Medici; find it in the lower…
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
Delve into Florence of the past in this historic 10th-century abbey hidden in the city centre. Pop by in time for its daily choral service at 5.30pm, or…
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
Walking east from Ponte Vecchio, the first stretch of Via de' Bardi shows clear signs of its recent history. This entire area was flattened by German…
San Lorenzo & San Marco
A mooch around this frescoed Renaissance palazzo is tantamount to a fascinating peek behind of the scenes of a noble family of 18th-century bankers,…
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
Exquisite amber carvings, ivory miniatures, glittering tiaras and headpieces, silver pillboxes and various other gems and jewels are displayed in this…
San Lorenzo & San Marco
Set a little bit back off Piazza della Santissima Annunziata is Florence's archaeology museum. Its rich collection of finds, including most of the Medici…
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
The splendid 13th-century Palazzo Spini-Feroni has been home to the Ferragamo fashion empire since 1938. Anyone with even the faintest tendency towards…
Oltrarno
Composed of three elliptical arches of the utmost elegance – the first of their kind ever used in bridge construction – Ponte Santa Trinità was designed…
Synagogue & Jewish Museum of Florence
San Lorenzo & San Marco
Built between 1874 and 1882, just after the Jewish community in Italy had gained full emancipation after centuries of persecution, this vast Moorish…
Duomo & Piazza della Signoria
Recently restored thanks to a €1.5-million investment by Florentine fashion house Salvatore Ferragamo, Ammannati's monumental fountain is impossible to…
Santa Maria Novella
One of Florence's most beautiful 'small' palazzi, this golden abode was built in 1465 for Giovanni Boni, a very rich member of the Money Changing Guild,…
Oltrarno
It was on the ground floor of 15th-century Palazzo Guidi, across from Palazzo Pitti, that Robert and Elizabeth Browning rented an apartment in 1847, a…
Museo di Storia Naturale – Zoologia La Specola
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
One of several sections of Florence's natural history museum dating from 1775, La Specola showcases 5000-odd animals (out of an unbelievable depository of…
Boboli & San Miniato al Monte
Housed in the 18th-century Palazzina del Cavaliere in the Boboli Gardens, this small museum houses an exquisite collection of European porcelain. Many…
