The 23 top things to see in Florence, Italy

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Florence is one of the most visited cities in the world and has some of the most visited monuments in the world. Here I bring you 23 of the top things that you can do in this amazing city.

Between exploring their basilicas, renaissance squares and streets, you’ll have an amazing time there.

In Florence city center, you will notice that the major attractions can be found really close by so you can walk easily from one to another. Another option, if you prefer to relax more than walk is the city’s hop-on hop-off bus. A great option is to join a guided tour of the city which allows you to know more about its secretes. To learn more specifically about the great Medici family while seeing the main landmarks of the city, you can join this guided tour instead.

Overview

1. DUOMO complex

In the Piazza del Duomo you can find various buildings belonging to the Duomo Complex. You can visit them with a single ticket that also allows you to climb the Duomo and the Giotto’s Campanile (It was like this when I was there, now, as it looks like on their website, the tickets have to be purchased individually). If you wish to climb to the top of the Duomo you can learn more about the climb in this blog post.

I went in February so there were no lines to buy the tickets or to get into the buildings. You can buy the tickets in 5 official places:

  • Piazza San Giovanni no.7 (opposite the Baptistery entrance)
  • Museum, Piazza del Duomo no.9
  • Bell Tower
  • Santa Reparata
  • Online

In the physical places, you’ll find machines where you scan your ticket and choose the times to climb the Duomo.

Also, note that you can go into the cathedral freely (this was the only place where I had to wait to go in so I assume that in high season it will have huge lines) but it is much prettier outside.

Apart from these buildings you can just walk around the cathedral and appreciate its amazing architecture and details.

There are other basilicas that have the same style of the Duomo throughout Florence. Two of these monuments are the Basilica di Santa Maria Novella and the Basilica di Santa Croce.

2. Basilica and Piazza di Santa Maria Novella

This basilica is a gothic-renascence church located near the main train station and giving it its name (Florence SMN). The piazza where it is located is quite peaceful and open. The pulpit inside the basilica was designed by Filippo Brunelleschi, the same architect that projected the Duomo of Santa Maria del Fiori Cathedral.

To enter the basilica you’ll need to buy the tickets in one of the three official places:

  • The Basilica
  • Online – skip the line ticket
  • Online – museum website (in this website you can also find tickets to other activities such as Palazzo Vecchio or the Forte Belvedere)
  • Online – basilica website

3. Basilica di Santa Croce

This basilica is located on the opposite side of the city. The square where it is located, Piazza di Santa Croce, has an optical illusion that makes us feel like the square is bigger than it really is. The illusion consists of a building that has windows spaced differently. This makes you feel as if the building was bigger and consequently also the square.

You can pick two different guided routes with different prices and duration. The tickets for this monument can also be bought on the ticket line and online.

4. Medici chapel

This chapel is made from 2 structures: the Basilica of San Lorenzo and the Capella dei Principi (Chapel of the princes). It was built by the Medici, in the 17th century.

The Capella dei Principi is an octagonal building with a tall dome. The walls have colored marbles and semi-precious stones. Inside you can find six empty sarcophagi (the Medici remains are in the crypt below) and coats-of-arms of cities that the Medici controlled. The tickets for this chapel can be bought online.

5. Mercato centrale

Florence’s central market or San Lorenzo market has two floors. Below you can find a typical market with vegetables, fruits, fish, cheese… while on the upper floor you’ll find places to eat. Outside you can get great deals in souvenirs and leather products stalls.

6. Fontana del Porcellino

Another famous leather market is located behind the Fontana del Porcellino, the Porcellino market. This is a 16th century covered market. The Porcellino (Italian for piglet) is a statue of a boar. It is said that if you touch its nose and put a coin in its mouth, if the coin falls into the grates you’ll have good luck.

7. Piazza della republica

This square was originally the Roman forum. There you can find an antique carousel that belongs to the Picci family since the beginning of the 20th century.

8. Piazza della signoria

This square is amazing. It is basically an open-air museum. However, the square gets quite packed sometimes, even in the low season, so if you want to experience it with fewer people it’s better to go there earlier. You can find Loggia dei Lanzi, Palazzo Vecchio, and many sculptures.

Loggia dei Lanzi

This building was built in the 14th century and has 15 artworks, most of them originals. You can read their history and stay for some minutes appreciating all the details in the marble works. Another thing that you can do is to play with perspective in photos featuring the lions and David’s replica.

Palazzo vecchio

This palace had a really important place in the history of the city. Since early this palace was used as the center of the power that ruled the city. In the time of Cosimo, the Magnificent when it was used as the meeting place where the families discussed the problems and laws of the city, with the name Palazzo Della Signoria. When the duke Cosimo I ruled the city, he moved to this palace and the name “Palazzo Vecchio” (old palace) was used when the duke moved again to Palazzo Pitti. This palace is located at the end of the Corridor Vasari, which you can see from Piazza Della Signoria. Near the door, at the right bottom of the building, you can also note a “sculpture” of ahead. It is said that it was made by Michaelangelo.

Inside the palace, you can also see more artwork since it is a museum that you can visit. You can also climb the tower and participate and different activities that are offered on the palace website.

If you are interested in visiting this amazing building, notice that there are various types of tickets for the different activities that can be purchased online or at the palace.

9. Uffizi galery

Right by Palazzo Vecchio, you can find Piazzale degli Uffizi where you can find statues of many important renascence persons such as Donatello, da Vinci, Dante, and so on. It is one of the biggest and more visited museums in the world. The museum has works from the Italian Renaissance. It is opened to the public since the 18th century and is a museum since the 19th. Probably the most recognized artwork in this museum is Sandro Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus, even though you can find in there many other works from famous artists. 

You can buy the ticket for the Uffizi Gallery online or at the museum. You can also combine the Gallery ticket with Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens for a better deal if you are interested, and have the time, to go to the three places.

10. Ponte vecchio

This is the most iconic bridge over the Arno River, in Florence. It is a medieval bridge that has jewelry shops built on each side of it. Because of this feature, it doesn’t feel like a bridge when you are walking between the shops since you can’t see the river. This bridge was the only bridge in the city that survived WWII.

11. Vasari corridor

Above one of the sides of the shops, you find Vasari corridor (that continues on the riverside, before disappearing into privet houses). This place is probably where you can see the larger part of the corridor.

This corridor connects Palazzo Pitti to Palazzo Vecchio and was built by the order of Cosimo I. The construction took 5 months. It was built so that the duke could move freely and securely between the two palaces.

You can also have the opportunity to walk this corridor if it is open, which seems like a really nice experience. The information about the opening times and the tickets can be found here (note that it is expected to be closed at least until 2021).

12. River Arno and its bridges

Over the river, you can find many other bridges, simpler but with great views for Ponte Vecchio. In particular, near Ponte S. Niccolò, and Ponte Alla Carraia you can find two little “dams”, known as Pescaias in Italian. On the side of the river, you can also appreciate different kinds of pretty houses and palaces. There are several ways of seeing this river such as by boat or even by gondola.

13. Academia

This museum was founded in the 18th century. Here you can find the original Michelangelo’s David. You can find replicas in Piazza Della Signoria and in the Piazzale Michelangelo. You can also find other artworks even though not as famous as David.

You can buy tickets for this museum here or in the building.

Near the museum, you can also find the Piazza San Marco and the University of Florence.

14. Piazza della santissima annunziata

Another piazza near the Academia Gallery is the Piazza Della Santissima Annunziata. Its name comes from the church o Annunziata that you can find in the piazza. In this square there are two fountains of marine monsters and a sculpture of Ferdinando I. However, this square is more known for its astonishing view of the Duomo through Via Dei Servi, which shows the enormous dimension of the building.

Since this piazza is close by the Art Faculty of the University of  Florence you can find here, at least sometimes, student practicing their draws.

15. House-museum of Dante

In this house was born, in the 13th century, Dante Alighieri and now it is a museum dedicated to him. The three floors of the house are dedicated to the three stages of his life.

Outside you can find a bust of Dante on a wall and a profile tracing of him, made in the floor stones (you can see it easily with water).

To enter the museum you should buy the ticket at the entrance. If you wish to find more information such as timetables and prices you can check its official website.

16. Palaces

Spread all over the city you can find many palaces that belonged to the families of the renascence. Most of them are blended very well with the other city houses, and many are museums with permanent or temporary exhibits. Even though they blend you usually can distinguish them because many have rusticated stone  (like the Pitti palace) and a renascence architecture. Even if you don’t find them very appealing it’s always interesting to search the history of the people that lived there since if you are interested in the Florentine history.

17. Piazza and Basilica di santo spirito

This Piazza and Basilica are located in the Oltrano quarter, on the south side of the city of Florence. The basilica has 38 chapels with many artworks. The basilica also has a famous crucifix made by Michaelangelo. This artwork is located in the octagonal sacristy. It is an amazing example of Renaissance architecture.

To visit the basilica as a tourist (it has a specific route for tourists) it is asked to contribute with 2€. You can find all the information available here.

The pizza is a nice place to eat an Italian pizza which you can buy nearby in a place like Gustapizza (there you can buy a heart-shaped pizza).

18. Pitti palace

This huge palace has a typical renaissance architecture. It was the house of the Medici family since 1549. Nowadays it was transformed into a museum as part of the Uffizi Gallery. You can visit it on the south side of the river Arno.

You can buy the tickets online or at the palace, once again, there was no line to enter the museum when I was there (February). To buy the ticket online you can do it here and combine it with Boboli garden and Uffizi Gallery.

 Near the Pitti Palace you can find two gardens: Boboli e Bardini.

19. Boboli garden

It was designed for the Medici family and many European courtyards were inspired by it. Here you can also find many statues like in Piazza della Signoria. The garden had several enlargements and reconstructions. Again, the tickets to enter the garden can be found here and combined with the other activities.

20. Bardini garden

This garden has three parts made in different periods. Near this garden, you also have the Bardini Museum and the Forte di Belevedere. This garden has a really nice view.

The tickets can be bought in the garden and you can find more information about the conditions on their website.

Both gardens are more impressive in the spring/summertime when the weather is nice and the flowers have bloomed.

21. Rose and iris garden

These two gardens are on the same side of the river and surround the Piazzale Michaelangelo. They are also nicer when the correspondent flower is blooming but the view from there is quite nice since they are on the hill.

22. Piazzale michealangelo

There are two places famous for their panoramic views of the city. One of them, and the most popular is the Piazzale Michaelangelo. In this square, you’ll find a bigger replica of Michelangelo’s David. This square is very popular because you can watch the sunset over the city while recognizing its landmarks.

23. Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte

Slightly above the Piazzale Michelangelo, you can find the Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte. Here you have an amazing panorama of the city (in my opinion even better than the previous one). However here you can’t see the sun setting but you might have much more space for yourself.

In this place, you’ll also find a church (the Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte) that has a similar style to Duomo, Basilicas di Santa Maria Novella and di Santa Croce.

Note that when you buy your tickets online, there is, usually, a small fee associated with it.

These are some of the incredible things that you can do in Florence. This city, the capital of Tuscany, can also be the beginning of another adventure. Have you ever wanted to go on a road trip and see everything that one of the most beautiful regions of Italy has to offer? If so, you can check my two-week road trip around Tuscany itinerary. This itinerary starts and finishes in Florence and will show you the beautiful natural features of the region, as well as adorable medieval villages and historic Italian cities.

In case you are wondering, all these pictures were taking with the following equipment:

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