Things to do in Florence
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Galleria degli Uffizi
Reason enough to come to Florence, this fabled museum contains quite simply the world’s finest collection of Renaissance art, including both 12th- to 14th-century forebears and 16th- and 17th-century inheritors. Its 50-plus rooms are crammed with more than 1500 works, nearly all of them masterpieces. Part of the museum’s mystique is the difficulties it presents: long lines, crowded galleries, a daunting combination of quantity and quality. There are two tricks to enjoying your experience: pre-book tickets and concentrate on select artists or periods. While signage is less than satisfying, the museum is laid out chronologically, and largely over a single floor. For a…
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Galleria dell'Accademia
A lengthy queue marks the door to this gallery, built especially to house one of the greatest masterpieces of the Renaissance, Michelangelo's original David.
Fortunately, the most famous statue in the world is worth the long wait. The subtle detail (not quite as illuminated on copies) of the real thing - the veins in his sinewy arms, the muscles in his legs, the change in expression as you move around the statue - is impressive. Carved from a single block of marble already worked on by two sculptors before him (both of who gave up), Michelangelo's most famous work was also his most challenging - he didn't choose the marble himself, it was veined and its larger-than-life…
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Trattoria I Fratellini
Amid all the high-flying dining in Santa Croce, this combination grocery shop, wine bar and trattoria seems to have changed little since it opened in the 1950s. Even prices remain stuck in time. Two courses (perhaps minestrone followed by rotisserie chicken) and a glass of quaffable Chianti cost under €10. And you won’t regret the calories in the homemade tiramisu.
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Ponte Vecchio
The first documentation of a stone bridge here, at the narrowest crossing point along the entire length of the Arno, dates from 972. The Arno looks placid enough, but when it gets mean, it gets very mean. Floods in 1177 and 1333 destroyed the bridge, and in 1966 it came close to being destroyed again. Many of the jewellers with shops on the bridge were convinced the floodwaters would sweep away their livelihoods; however - fortunately - the bridge held.
They're still here. Indeed, the bridge has twinkled with the glittering wares of jewellers, their trade often passed down from generation to generation, ever since the 16th century, when Ferdinando I de' Medici ordered them…
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Duomo
Not only is Florence's duomo the city's most iconic landmark, it's also one of Italy's 'Big Three' (with Pisa's Leaning Tower and Rome's Colosseum). Its famous red-tiled dome, graceful campanile (bell tower) and breathtaking pink, white and green marble facade have the wow factor in spades.
Begun in 1296 by Sienese architect Arnolfo di Cambio, the cathedral took almost 150 years to complete. Its neo-Gothic facade was designed in the 19th century by architect Emilio de Fabris to replace the uncompleted original, torn down in the 16th century. The oldest and most clearly Gothic part of the cathedral is its south flank, pierced by Porta dei Canonici (Canons' Door), a…
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Il Santo Bevitore
Reserve in advance or arrive at 7.30pm to snag the last of the remaining tables at this raved-about address, an understated ode to stylish dining where gastronomes dine by candlelight in a cavernous whitewashed, wood and bottle-lined interior. The menu is a creative reinvention of seasonal classics, and different for lunch and dinner: hand-chopped beef tartare, chestnut millefeuille and lentils, pureed purple cabbage soup with mozzarella cream and anchovy syrup, acacia honey bavarese (type of firm, creamy mousse) with Vin Santo-marinated dried fruits …
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Colle Bereto
The local fashion scene's bar of choice, uberstylish Colle Bereto is where the bold and the beautiful come to see or be seen for breakfast, lunch or at aperitivo hour.
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Amon
Pop in to this family-run joint for what are possibly the best kebabs in Florence. Refreshingly nongreasy, they’re served on pita bread fresh from the oven. Admire the Egyptian kitsch on the walls while you wait.
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Santo Spirito Organic Market
This monthly market attracts artisans and organic farmers from around Tuscany, with stands devoted to fresh produce, hand-painted crockery, spices gathered from Chianti hillsides and much more.
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Freya's Florence
Recommended Australian-born, Florence-based private tour guide; pay admission fees on top of guiding fee.
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Osteria del Gatto e la Volpe
On the corner of Via de' Giraldi, this is a small and welcoming spot where the food is reasonable and the prices are stable. It gets its fair share of tourists, but this hasn't yet ruined what's on offer at the 'Cat and Wolf'. It's closer to a genuine Florentine experience than most of the places that line this much-trampled city.
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Palazzo Pitti
This vast palace was begun in 1458 for the Pitti family, rivals of the Medici. Cosimo I and Eleonora di Toledo acquired it in 1549 and it remained the official residence of Florence's rulers until 1919 when the Savoys gave it to the state.
The ground-floor Museo degli Argenti (Silver Museum) hosts temporary exhibitions in its elaborately frescoed audience chambers.
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 the 1st-floor Galleria Palatina . Highlights include Filippo Lippi's Madonna and Child with Stories from the Life of St Anne (aka the Tondo Bartolini; 1452–53) and…
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Basilica di Santa Croce
When Lucy Honeychurch, the heroine of EM Forster's A Room With a View, is stranded in Santa Croce without a Baedeker, she first panics and then, looking around, wonders why it's thought to be such an important building. After all, doesn't it look just like a barn ('a black and white facade of surprising ugliness')?
On entering, many visitors to this massive Franciscan basilica share the same reaction. The austere interior can come as something of a shock after the magnificent neo-Gothic facade, which is enlivened by varying shades of coloured marble (both it and the campanile are 19th-century additions). The church itself was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio between 1294 and…
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Piazza della Signoria
Edged by historic cafes, crammed with Renaissance sculptures and presided over by the magnificent bulk of Palazzo Vecchio, this photogenic piazza is the hub of Florentine life, and has been so for centuries.
Whenever the city entered one of its innumerable political crises, the people would be called here as a parlamento (people's plebiscite) to rubber-stamp decisions that frequently meant ruin for some ruling families and victory for others. Scenes of great pomp and circumstance alternated with those of terrible suffering: it was here that vehemently pious preacher-leader Savonarola set fire to the city's art - books, paintings, musical instruments, mirrors, fine clothes…
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Cappelle Medicee
Nowhere is Medici conceit expressed so explicitly as in their mausoleum, the Medician Chapels. Sumptuously adorned with granite, the most precious marble, semiprecious stones and some of Michelangelo's most beautiful sculptures, it is the burial place of 49 members of the dynasty. Francesco I lies in the grandiose Cappella dei Principi (Princes' Chapel) alongside Ferdinando I and II and Cosimo I, II and III. Lorenzo il Magnifico is buried in the stark but graceful Sagrestia Nuova (New Sacristy), Michelangelo's first architectural work and showcase for three of his most haunting sculptures: Dawn and Dusk on the sarcophagus of Lorenzo, Duke of Urbino; Night and Day on the…
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Il Latini
A guidebook favourite built around melt-in-your-mouth crostini, Tuscan meats, fine pasta and roasted meats served at shared tables. There are two dinner seatings (7.30pm and 9pm); bookings mandatory.
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Il Chicco di Caffè
It’s unfortunate that this wonderfully simple corner cafe only opens for lunch, because you couldn’t dine better at these prices. Sate yourself for €10. Eat like a peasant-king for €15. The septuagenarian nonna in the kitchen produces simple but delicious pastas and roasted meats, but the real draw are the contorni (grilled or sautéd vegetables). Tables are communal and water and wine are buffet-style – drink at will.
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La Dolce Vita
A perennial favourite of the city’s status-conscious youth and nearly young, Dolce Vita has stood up to competition from newer offerings such as Noir and Colle Beretto and remains the best place to show off your prowess in selecting designer labels. As weather permits, crowds spill out of the industrial-style interior onto the adjacent piazza, which would be stunning if it weren’t made to double as a car park.
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Enoteca Fuori Porta
Set just outside one of the city’s medieval gates, this mellow old enoteca (wine bar) proffers up to 500 different wines, including dozens by the glass, with a special strength in Tuscan and Piemontese reds. For a light lunch or evening meal, take a seat on the pleasant terrace and order a plate or two from the limited list of pastas, salads and crostoni (grilled, open-faced sandwiches).
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Central Park
Flit between a handful of different dance floors at this mainstream club in city park Parco delle Cascine where everything from Latin to pop, house to drum and bass plays. From May the dance floor moves outside beneath the stars.
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Trattoria Mario
Get here on the dot at noon to ensure a stool around a shared table at this noisy, busy, fabulous trattoria - a legend in its own time that retains its soul and allure with locals despite being in every guidebook. The charming Fabio, whose grandfather Mario opened the place in 1953, is front of house while big brother Romeo and nephew Francesco cook up tasty, dirt-cheap dishes with speed and skill in the kitchen (watch them perform through glass while you eat). Monday and Thursday are tripe days, Friday is fish and Saturday sees local Florentines flock here for a brilliantly blue bistecca alla fiorentina (€35 per kilo). No advance reservations, no credit cards.
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Trattoria La Casalinga
Family run and locally loved, this busy unpretentious place is one of Florence's cheapest trattorias. You'll be relegated behind locals in the queue - it's a fact of life and not worth protesting - with the eventual reward being hearty peasant dishes such as bollito misto con salsa verde (mixed boiled meats with green sauce).
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Twice
Mainstream fun is on tap at this venue that starts the night as a wine bar and then turns into a dance club after 11pm (hence the name). The clientele tends to be Pretty Young Things in search of same. After the aperitivo buffet closes down, the DJs start to arrive with their iPods stuffed with hip-hop and Top 40 dance hits.
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Casa del Vino
Locals keep popping in all day long for a nip or two from a limited but carefully selected list of daily pourings of Chianti at this quintessential Florentine enoteca (wine bar). Its carved wooden cabinetry, no-nonsense service and mini-panini (bread rolls or sandwiches) round out the happy picture.
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Boccadama
Mobbed by tourists during the day, this place and its location are best appreciated in the evenings when the locals reclaim them. There's a small menu of light and original dishes to complement the standard enoteca fare. The young staff are warm and friendly, and you can choose from hundreds of wine labels.
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