What to See in Florence: Complete Guide 2026

Daniel and I left Prague at four in the morning. Because of the stops and the distance, we didn’t reach Florence until six in the evening – right at the hour when the Italians come alive. The traffic was pretty hellish. Fourteen hours on the road, you’re looking forward to parking the car and going for dinner, and instead you’re crawling through a city that’s just waking up for its second shift. The following year we’d learned our lesson and broke the journey with a night in northern Italy, then drove the rest of the way to Tuscany without any stress. 🙂

That’s exactly why in Florence we went looking for cheap accommodation outside the centre – and it was one of the best things we did on this whole trip. We ended up in the district of Statuto. A hotel with no parking of its own, but a car park ten minutes’ walk away for €10 a day with plenty of spaces. For Florence, that’s a very good price.

And it paid off twice over. Not only did we save money – we also got to know the non-touristy Florence, where the pizza is legendary and an Aperol costs five euros instead of twelve. It took us about half an hour to walk to the old town, and a bus and a tram both ran close to our accommodation, so we could take our pick.

So when it comes to what to see in Florence, the biggest lesson isn’t about money or a list of sights. It’s this: here, everything has its own hour. In the morning there are a handful of people on Ponte Vecchio, at noon you’re shuffling along in a crowd. The same spot, a completely different experience.

In this article you’ll get everything we learned here: current admission prices, how to handle Florence by car without a ZTL fine, where to find the legendary wine windows, and where to stay. Florence is a stop in our Italy guide that you mustn’t skip.

Quick summary for those in a hurry

• Ponte Vecchio: go between 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning. By 10:00 the bridge is packed.
• The Duomo complex: Brunelleschi Pass €30 (cupola + bell tower + baptistery + museum), Giotto Pass €20, Ghiberti Pass €15. Entry to the cathedral itself is free, but on Sundays it’s closed to tourists.
• Battistero di San Giovanni: It has the longest opening hours of the whole complex.
• Uffizi €25 on-site / €29 online, Accademia (David) €20 – both closed on Mondays. Every ticket has a specific time slot, but buying it in advance is strongly recommended, not compulsory.
• Mercato Centrale: the food hall on the upper floor, daily 9:00–23:00, the ground-floor grocery market Mon-Fri 7:00-14:00, Sat 7:00-17:00, and closed on Sundays.
• Wine windows: a little window in the wall – you ring the bell and take your wine away with you. A verified address: Babae, Via di Santo Spirito 21r.
• Public transport: a ticket is €2.00 for 90 minutes on both bus and tram, €3.00 from the driver.
• From the airport: Peretola on tram T2 for €2.00, from Pisa the PisaMover €6.00 plus a train, from Bologna the Marconi Express €12.80 plus a train.
• Parking outside the ZTL: Parterre €15/day, Villa Costanza P+R €7 for 10-24 hours + tram into the centre.
• ZTL: active Mon-Fri 7:30-20:00 and Saturday 7:30-16:00, not on Sundays. In summer it’s also active on the nights Thursday-Friday, Friday-Saturday and Saturday-Sunday, between 23:00 and 3:00. The fine is €83–332.
• Key tip: stay outside the centre. You’ll save on the hotel and on parking, and you’ll get to know the Florence most people never see.

Why Florence is worth more than one day

You can “do” Florence in a day. You see the Duomo, cross Ponte Vecchio, photograph David, and move on. I know the feeling – but that’s not how Florence works.

The historic centre is tiny, and you can walk all of it. So the entire crowd that pours in every day is squeezed into a few hundred metres. Want to see what Ponte Vecchio looks like with nobody standing on it? Then you have to spread the same route across the day: early morning where it’s narrow, the afternoon where the big squares are, and a break in between.

In Florence it isn’t what you see that matters. It’s what time you get there.

And then there’s the second thing: Florence is the perfect base for Tuscany. We arrived here as part of a road trip, with both Siena and the thermal cascades within reach from here. If you’re driving, it’s worth staying in one place for two to three nights and taking day trips from there, rather than repacking your suitcases every day.

Where to stay in Florence: centre vs. outside the centre

This is the biggest decision of the whole trip, and there’s no single right answer. It mostly depends on whether you’re arriving by car or by train.

We stayed in Statuto, and we got it right

Statuto is a district north of the centre, administratively part of Quartiere 5 (Rifredi), separated from Fortezza da Basso by just the Mugnone stream. It even has its own train station, Firenze Statuto, on the belt line between Rifredi and Campo di Marte. But above all – it isn’t the centre, and that’s why everything there is different.

It took us about half an hour on foot to reach the old town. But a bus and a tram both ran close to our accommodation, so when we didn’t feel like walking, we simply hopped on.

What we enjoyed most about it:

• Accommodation was noticeably cheaper than in the centre. That meant we could afford a hotel with no parking of its own and sort out parking separately.
• A car park ten minutes’ walk from the hotel for €10 a day – specifically this car park in the Poggetto area north of the centre. There were plenty of spaces, which in Florence is news in itself.
• Restaurants for locals, not for tourists. Statuto has several pizzerias with a great reputation, and the prices match.
• Aperol for €5. Yes, five euros. That’s the kind of price we love in Italy – for the same drink on Piazza Santa Croce in the centre we paid €12.

The advantages of staying outside the centre: a lower price per night and lower tourist tax, you’re outside the ZTL, cheaper parking nearby, restaurants and bars at local prices, and a normal city instead of a stage set.

The downsides: about half an hour on foot to the centre, or a change onto the tram; after dinner in the centre you have to get back; no “wow” view from the window – and mostly smaller guesthouses and apartments rather than brand-name hotels (which didn’t bother us).

Why a hotel with its own parking is worth it in the centre

Arriving by car and want to be right in the centre of the action? Then there’s exactly one option that solves it all: a hotel in the centre that has its own parking. For me, that’s the most comfortable solution there is in Florence.

The hotel has its own parking, so there’s no hunting for a space or dragging suitcases half a kilometre. And what’s even more important – the hotel can register your number plate in the ZTL system (the so-called lista bianca), so you’re allowed to drive into the zone legally. At the same time you have the Duomo, the Uffizi and Mercato Centrale within walking distance, and you can head back for an afternoon siesta without worrying about transport.

The downsides: you’ll pay for it – a night in the centre can easily be double what you’d pay outside. At most hotels you have to book the parking space in advance, and capacity is limited. And the centre tends to be noisier – we found that out in Siena, where we slept right in the centre.

Our recommendation: if you’re driving and the budget allows it, go for the centre with parking. If you’re watching the money, go to Statuto and park nearby like we did. Both work, just differently.

4 places to stay in central Florence with their own parking

All four have their own parking confirmed right in the amenities list on Booking.com – so not “parking nearby for a surcharge”, but a hotel garage or courtyard.

Careful: even if the hotel has parking, always get written confirmation in advance of which entrance you’re allowed to use to enter the ZTL, and from when your number plate is active in the system. Without that, the camera will fine you even if you’re only unloading suitcases.

Accommodation outside the centre (the Statuto area and around)

This is the same area where we stayed – north of the centre, about half an hour on foot or a few tram stops away. According to Booking, both have their own parking, so you can choose whether to park at the hotel or save money and park nearby like we did.

You’ll find two more places to stay from the same area further down in the parking section. And if you’re planning a whole Tuscan road trip and working out where to sleep at each stop, take a look at our article Italy by car: where to stay.

Want to compare accommodation prices in Florence?

The map is centred on Mercato Centrale, a short walk from the Duomo. Drag it a little north, towards Fortezza da Basso and the Statuto district, and the same map shows you the prices outside the centre too. That gap is exactly why we slept there.

Florence parking and the ZTL: avoiding a fine when you drive

Read this section even if you skip everything else. The ZTL is the most expensive mistake you can make here – and believe me, after a whole day in the car the temptation to drive “just a bit closer” is very strong.

What the ZTL is and when it applies

The ZTL (Zona a Traffico Limitato) is a restricted-traffic zone that covers the whole historic centre of Florence, divided into five sectors (A, B, O, F, G). The entrances are watched by cameras that read number plates.

• On weekdays (Mon-Fri) the ZTL is active from 7:30 to 20:00, and on Saturdays from 7:30 to 16:00. It doesn’t apply on Sundays.
• In summer, night-time hours apply as well: from the first Thursday in April to the first Sunday in October, the zone is also active on the nights Thursday-Friday, Friday-Saturday and Saturday-Sunday, always between 23:00 and 3:00. Not on Sunday evening.
• The fine is €83 to €332 (30% less if you pay within 5 days); with the rental company’s fees and the charge for tracing the registered keeper, it realistically climbs higher. For a foreign number plate, the authorities have 360 days to deliver the notice, not 90 as for Italian cars – don’t relax until a full year has passed (Art. 201 of the Codice della Strada; rates at comune.firenze.it).
• Since 2025 there’s also been Scudo Verde – an environmental zone covering roughly two-thirds of the city, in operation round the clock. It mainly concerns high-emission vehicles.

If your hotel is inside the ZTL, it has to register your number plate in the system. Confirm it in advance by email, so you have it in writing.

Never drive into the ZTL thinking “it’s only for a moment”. The camera doesn’t distinguish between unloading suitcases and parking.

Where to park in Florence

Car park	Where	Price	Note
Our choice (Poggetto, north of the centre)	near Statuto	€10/day (our own experience)	Plenty of spaces, 10 minutes’ walk to our hotel
Parcheggio Parterre	Piazza della Libertà, Via del Ponte Rosso 4	€2/hour, €15/day	996 spaces, outside the ZTL, open 24/7, EV chargers (source: fipark.com)
Villa Costanza P+R	by the A1 motorway, access only from the motorway	€2 up to 4h, €5 for 4-10h, €7 for 10-24h	The T1 tram connects directly, about 22 minutes to Santa Maria Novella (source: parcheggiovillacostanza.it)

Our tip: if you’re only coming for the day, leave the car at Villa Costanza. For €5 (the 4-10 hour band) you get the whole day worry-free, no ZTL, and you’re in the centre in 22 minutes by tram. It’s the best price-to-hassle ratio in Florence.

And if you’re after a quieter, cheaper base than the centre, here are two more places to stay from the same area where we were:

Getting around the city

You can walk the whole historic centre. But if you’re sleeping outside it, public transport is worth it.

• The “Urbano Capoluogo” ticket costs €2.00 and is valid for 90 minutes on both bus and tram (source: at-bus.it). Buy it at a tobacconist’s, in the app, or at the till in a Coop.
• From the driver on the bus you’ll pay €3.00. It doesn’t sound like much, but with four rides a day you’ll feel it.
• Tram T2 (Vespucci) runs from San Marco to Peretola airport via Piazza della Libertà and the Fortezza stop – so just a few minutes from where we stayed. From the airport into the city, the ride takes 22-35 minutes.
• Tram T1 (Leonardo) runs from the Villa Costanza car park all the way to Careggi. Line T3 is under construction and doesn’t run yet.

Getting to Florence: Florence airport, Pisa or Bologna?

You can fly straight into Florence, but Peretola is a small airport. The runway is only 1,560 metres, it handles nothing bigger than an A320neo, and Ryanair doesn’t fly here at all – its bases are Pisa and Bologna. All three airports work, they just differ in price and in time more than you’d expect. If you fly into Bologna and want to look round the city itself, we have a separate guide to it.

Airport	Into the centre	Total time	Price per person
Florence Peretola (FLR)	tram T2 straight from the terminal	22-35 minutes	€2.00
Pisa (PSA)	PisaMover to Pisa Centrale, then a train	about 1.5 hours	€15.80
Bologna (BLQ)	Marconi Express to Bologna Centrale, then a train	a bit over an hour	€23+

• Florence Peretola (FLR) is the closest and the simplest. Tram T2, the one mentioned above, stops right outside the terminal, runs on the same “Urbano Capoluogo” ticket and drops you either at Santa Maria Novella station or all the way at San Marco. It runs from 5:00 to 0:30, until 2:00 on Fridays and Saturdays, and every few minutes at peak times (source: at-bus.it).
• Pisa (PSA) works out cheapest. From the terminal the automated people mover PisaMover runs to Pisa Centrale station; the ride takes 5 minutes and a ticket costs €6.00; it runs from 6:00 to midnight, and until 1:00 from June to September (source: pisa-mover.com). From there a Regionale train takes you to Firenze SMN, about 50 minutes on the fast service and 65 to 75 minutes on the ordinary one. The Regionale ticket is a fixed €9.80 (Trenitalia tariff 39/17/Toscana, valid from 1 August 2026). All in, count on around 1.5 hours and €15.80 per person.
• Bologna (BLQ) is the fastest and also the most expensive. From the terminal the monorail Marconi Express runs to Bologna Centrale in 7 minutes; a ticket costs €12.80, and it runs up to eight times an hour from 5:40 to midnight, with bus line Q replacing it at night (source: marconiexpress.it). From there it’s a Frecciarossa or Italo high-speed train to Firenze SMN in 37 minutes, with a ticket from about €10 if you buy in advance. Regional trains run on the old line and take 1 hour 35 minutes to 2 hours 11 minutes, so from Bologna only the fast train makes sense. A bit over an hour in total, and from €23 per person.

Our tip: seven minutes on the Marconi Express costs €12.80, which is almost as much as the whole journey from Pisa to Florence. For two of you, those seven minutes come to €25.60. If you’re not in a hurry, Pisa works out better. If you’re flying in for one night and want to be in the centre by the evening, Bologna justifies the difference.

The tram fare, both airport shuttle lines and the Regionale fare from Pisa come from the operators’ official price lists, checked on 30 August 2026. The high-speed fare from Bologna is a guide price only, and it moves depending on how far ahead you buy.

What to see in Florence: our specific tips

I’m ordering this the way I’d walk it again – by the hour, not by the map.

1. Ponte Vecchio – but really in the morning

The oldest bridge in Florence, completed in 1345 after a flood swept away the previous one (source: Britannica). And there’s just one thing that matters on it: on when you get there.

The thing is, Ponte Vecchio is narrow – because there are shops along both sides. And not souvenir shops. Watches, jewellery, gold. The jewellers’ shop windows take up almost the whole width of the bridge, so what’s left to walk through is a corridor that comfortably fits two people. Not three.

In the morning it’s quiet here. By around noon you’re walking in a stream of people and the whole experience suddenly feels a lot more cramped – you’re not looking at the Arno, you’re looking at the backpack in front of you. We were there around eight in the morning and we passed a handful of people. By around ten the bridge fills up fast. We came back in the afternoon and were honestly disappointed: wall to wall people, and the realisation that those windows really do hold nothing but gold. Gold jewellery and nothing else.

Our tip: get up, grab an espresso at a bar for a euro and change, and get to the bridge before eight. You’ll see a completely different city.

2. The Duomo in Florence: cathedral, dome and baptistery

The Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is the reason most people come to Florence. And here’s something few people know: entry into the cathedral itself is free and needs no booking. You only pay once you want to go higher up or deeper down.

The system runs on three passes (prices from the official price list at tickets.duomo.firenze.it):

Pass	What’s included	Adult	Child 7-14
Brunelleschi Pass	Dome, bell tower, museum, baptistery, Santa Reparata	€30	€12
Giotto Pass	Bell tower, museum, baptistery, Santa Reparata (no dome)	€20	€7
Ghiberti Pass	Museum, baptistery, Santa Reparata (no bell tower or dome)	€15	€5

Battistero di San Giovanni stands on Piazza San Giovanni, which flows straight into Piazza del Duomo – so yes, the baptistery and the adjoining square form one whole right opposite the cathedral. And here’s the difference from Ponte Vecchio: the square is large and people spread out across it. The streets in the centre here are also wide, so you don’t get the human traffic jams that swallow you up in the alleys by the river – at least that was our experience. So feel free to come here in the afternoon or early evening; the baptistery has the longest opening hours of the whole complex.

And now the dome – because this is the part people underestimate most often. For Brunelleschi’s dome there’s no standalone ticket. The only way up is with the Brunelleschi Pass for €30, or a guided tour from the Opera’s official e-shop. There’s no other way.

You can buy the ticket for the Duomo directly HERE. It includes entry to the dome.

And then there’s the booking, which is stricter than you’d expect:

• The time slot is mandatory, and once it’s issued it can’t be changed or cancelled. No rescheduling, no cancelling. You’re buying a specific hour.
• The ticket is issued in your name. When you buy it, you fill in the first name, surname and nationality of everyone who’s going up – and the names can’t be changed afterwards. Staff check them at the entrance.
• Arrive 10 minutes early at the gate Porta della Mandorla on the north side of the cathedral. If you’re late, they’ll wait 5 minutes at most.
• There’s no skip-the-line option for the dome and according to the Opera there won’t be one – the booked time slot already does that job.

And the climb itself? 463 steps and no lift, the whole visit takes roughly 45 minutes. The staircase runs through the cavity between the dome’s two shells, so in places it’s literally shoulder-width, and the climb up to the lantern is on a spiral iron staircase. The Opera explicitly advises against the climb for anyone with heart trouble, vertigo or claustrophobia, and for pregnant women.

To be honest with you: we didn’t go up. Everything in this section comes from the Opera’s own rules and the official price list, not from having climbed it ourselves. If you’ve been up the dome, let us know whether it checks out.

WATCH OUT for two things that only hit you once you’re there: minors may only go up accompanied by an adult (children under 6 get in free, but still need their own booked time slot). And they won’t let you up with a backpack or larger luggage – the Opera has a free left-luggage office nearby on Piazza Duomo 38/r, where you have to leave them.

Our tip: book your slot as soon as you know the date. It’s not just that it sells out – once it’s issued you can’t move it, so pick a time you’re certain you’ll actually make.

And this is what Piazza del Duomo looks like if you don’t come early in the morning. Suitcases, selfie sticks and a stream of people – exactly what timing lets you avoid.

Duomo and baptistery – TICKET for a visit to the Opera del Duomo museum with an e-ticket.

3. The Uffizi Gallery in Florence

One of the most famous galleries in the world – Botticelli’s Birth of Venus, Leonardo, Michelangelo, Caravaggio. If you’re like me and can manage two hours in a gallery rather than six, plan it for the morning, while you still have energy.

• Admission €25 on the spot, €29 when booked online in advance. Yes, it’s pricier online – you’re paying for the certainty of a set time and for not standing in the queue.
• Open Tue-Sun 8:15-18:30, last entry 17:30. Closed on Mondays.
• Since September 2025, every ticket is time-slotted and entry is only through Gate 1 – the old voucher-exchange point at Gate 3 no longer operates.
• Since October 2025 the ticket has been issued in your name and at the gate it’s checked against a physical ID. A photo on your phone or a copy won’t be accepted, and if the name doesn’t match, they won’t let you in and won’t refund you either. If you’re buying tickets for several people, fill in the names correctly.

Uffizi – all collections with skip-the-line entry – ticket with audio guide – priority entry, audio guide included. NOTE: this deal is non-refundable.

4. Galleria dell’Accademia and David

Michelangelo’s David, including its carved pedestal, measures 517 cm and weighs over five and a half tonnes (source: galleriaaccademiafirenze.it). Photos don’t prepare you for it.

• Admission €20, reduced to €2 for EU citizens aged 18-25 (source: galleriaaccademiafirenze.it).
• Open Tue-Sun 8:15-18:50, last entry at 18:10. Closed on Mondays.
• Since 15 March 2026 there has been a combined Accademia + Museo del Bargello ticket for €26 valid for 48 hours.

Galleria dell’Accademia and David – skip-the-line ticket – separate entrance, free cancellation up to 24 hours in advance, wheelchair accessible. We bought this ticket too, and we didn’t queue at all.

5. Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria

Palazzo Vecchio is Florence’s town hall, and it looks like a castle, while Piazza della Signoria in front of it is essentially an open-air gallery. In the Loggia dei Lanzi stand Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa and Giambologna’s marble giants – the statues are visible from the square day and night, free of charge. WATCH OUT for something new: since 23 January 2026 you need a free ticket, collected on site, to go inside the loggia (source: uffizi.it).

• Museum €18 (reduced €12), Arnolfo Tower €20 (reduced €13) – source: cultura.comune.fi.it.
• Museum open Mon-Wed and Fri-Sun 9:00-19:00, on Thursdays only until 14:00. Tower until 17:00, on Thursdays until 14:00.
• The tower closes in the rain, booking is mandatory, and children under 6 aren’t allowed on it at all.

Palazzo Vecchio – skip-the-line ticket with audio guide – priority entry, audio guide included.

6. Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens

This is our tip for an afternoon when the centre has already worn you out. The Boboli Gardens are enormous, they have trees, and above all they have space – after two hours in the alleys around the Duomo, that’s a relief.

• Boboli alone €10 on the spot / €13 in advance, reduced €3.
• Pitti + Boboli combined €22 on the spot / €25 in advance.
• PassePartout (Uffizi + Pitti + Boboli) for €40, with the Vasari Corridor €58, valid for 5 consecutive days. Source: uffizi.it.
• Boboli’s opening hours are seasonal: June-August 8:15-19:10, April-May, September and October until 18:30, after the clock change (late October) and in March until 17:30, in winter until 16:30. Last entry is always an hour before closing – so in winter the last admission is at 15:30. Closed the first and last Monday of the month.

Planning on both the Uffizi and Pitti? Then the €40 PassePartout is worth it – separately you’d pay €25 + €22 = €47.

Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens – combined ticket with skip-the-line – includes 7 museums in Pitti plus the Bardini Garden. NOTE: non-refundable booking.

7. Wine Windows in Florence: the most Florentine thing you’ll find

For me, the biggest draw in all of Florence, and a tip you can’t skip here. Buchette del vino – wine windows – are small hatches set into the walls of palazzi, about the size of a sheet of paper. You ring a little bell, the window opens, you order, and someone hands you a glass of wine or an Aperol through it. Then you take it with you and carry on. No bar. No seating. Just a window in the wall. We had our Aperol from the window at Buchetta del Vino (Wine Window) at Via dei Benci 38, just off Piazza Santa Croce. It cost €10 – and it’s exactly the ritual described above: you ring, the window opens, you get a glass, and you move on. No seating, the whole thing takes half a minute. We sat down with it on the steps of Basilica di Santa Croce across the street, and it was the best half hour of the whole trip – a €10 Aperol, steps warm from the sun, and the whole square laid out in front of us.

And it’s not a tourist gimmick. The windows were used on a mass scale during the plague epidemic of 1630-1633, when the buyer didn’t have to come into contact with the seller. In 1634 the Florentine scholar Francesco Rondinelli described how sellers took payment with a metal scoop and disinfected the coins in vinegar right away.

Where to find them (all checked – these windows really do work):

• Babae, Via di Santo Spirito 21r – the best-known working wine window. Wine in a cup €8, pay €5 extra and you get to keep the glass as a souvenir. They announce the window’s opening times on Instagram, usually in the evening.
• Il Latini, Via dei Palchetti 6/r – the window is right by the entrance, and it operates during the restaurant’s opening hours (closed on Mondays).
• Osteria delle Belle Donne, Via delle Belle Donne 16/r – the place bills itself as one of the last working windows in the city.

The complete map is maintained by Associazione Culturale Buchette del Vino at buchettedelvino.org. One thing to watch for: most of the windows in the centre are now bricked up or closed – the often-recommended Osteria delle Brache, for instance, has closed – a different restaurant now occupies the space. It’s best to check the exact hours on the venue’s Instagram, and bring small change.

Wine windows tour with tasting – wine windows walk with Tuscan produce – max. 10 people, an intimate little vibe 🙂

8. Mercato Centrale and the markets outside it

We love a good market hall, and here we had two porchetta sandwiches back to back – and then topped it off with arancini, those fried Sicilian rice balls (one is an arancino, that’s how it’s spelled). They also sell local wine, fruit and cheese here.

Practical info, because the market hall runs on three different schedules:

• Food hall on the upper floor: daily 9:00–23:00 (source: mercatocentrale.it). This is where you eat.
• Covered food market on the ground floor: Mon-Fri 7:00-14:00, Sat 7:00-17:00, closed on Sundays. This is where the locals shop.
• The outdoor street market around the market hall (Via dell’Ariento and the surrounding streets): roughly 9:00–19:00, but it’s closed on Sundays and, according to several sources, on Mondays too. If you’re mainly going for the leather, don’t plan it for a Sunday morning.

And that outdoor market is a thing in itself. In front of the market hall you’ll find classic stalls full of clothes, shoes and handbags – and there I was in seventh heaven all over again. Leather goods, bags, belts. Haggling is expected here, so don’t be shy. 👜

We can’t remember the exact prices of the porchetta and arancini anymore, and they change from stall to stall anyway. Roughly: food at the Mercato comes to roughly 5 to €20 per person depending on whether you get a panino from a stall or a full plate.

Food tour of Mercato Centrale and the San Lorenzo market – tasting of cheeses, cured meats and wine – 3 hours, small group, free cancellation.

9. Piazzale Michelangelo at dusk

The best view of Florence, and free entry, because it’s simply a public square overlooking the city. At sunset you’ll see the whole city, the Duomo’s dome included, glowing orange.

• By bus: lines 12, 13, 23 (and 23B, 370A) from the centre.
• On foot: from Piazza Poggi it’s about 15 minutes up the Rampe del Poggi steps, though it’s uphill. From Piazza della Signoria via Via di San Niccolò it’s roughly 20-25 minutes. Take this as a rough range – it depends a lot on where you set off from.

A sunset bike ride to Piazzale Michelangelo – 2-hour guided tour – bike included!

10. Churches in Florence worth your time, starting with Santa Croce

Once you’ve ticked off the main sights, here are three you can fit in without any queue drama:

• Basilica di Santa Croce – €10 adult, €6 children 12-17 and students, children under 12 free (+€1 online booking fee). The price includes the basilica, museum, cloisters and the Pazzi Chapel. Buried here are Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli and it’s the largest Franciscan church in the world. Open Monday to Saturday 9:30-17:30, on Sundays and religious holidays only from 14:00, closing at 17:30 – but last entry is at 17:00, even if you already have a ticket (source: santacroceopera.it).
• Basilica di Santa Maria Novella – €7.50 full price / €5 for children aged 11-17. Right next to the station. Watch out for the opening hours: Monday to Thursday 9:00-17:30, on Fridays only from 11:00, Saturday 9:00-17:00, and on Sundays only from 13:00, last entry always an hour before closing (source: smn.it).
• Basilica di San Lorenzo – €9 including the Old Sacristy, cloisters and crypt, open Monday to Saturday 10:00-17:30 (source: sanlorenzofirenze.it). The Medici Chapels (Cappelle Medicee) are NOT included in this ticket – they’re a separate €11 (+€3 booking fee, the price went up on 1 February 2026), and the entrance is on the other side, at Piazza Madonna degli Aldobrandini 6 (source: bargellomusei.it).

Where to eat in Florence

There’s a simple rule in Florence: the further you get from Piazza della Signoria, the better you eat for less. We solved this the simplest way possible – we ate where we slept.

Cipiglio Pizzeria – Ristorante (Statuto)

This one was recommended to us at our accommodation, and we’re happy to pass the recommendation on. Via Raffaello Lambruschini 15/r, right in our own neighbourhood of Statuto. According to TheFork you’ll pay around €20 per person on average for a starter and a main without drinks, which isn’t bad for a pizzeria with this kind of rating. They also do pizza made with wholegrain spelt dough.

Here I had courgette pizza for the first time in my life and it was excellent.

They’re only open in the evening, 19:00-24:00, and closed on Tuesdays (the kitchen closes at 22:30, source: cipigliofirenze.it). They don’t serve lunch on any day – factor that into your planning. We recommend booking, as it’s a popular spot.

How much things cost

In Statuto we had an Aperol for €5. At Piazza Santa Croce, right in the centre, the same drink cost us €12 – more than double, and that’s the whole difference between staying in the centre and just outside it.

Item	Approximate price
Espresso at the bar	around €1.20
Cappuccino at the bar	around €1.40
Pizza + drink at a pizzeria	around €13-14
Ice cream, small cone in the tourist zone	up to €5 for one flavour, €7 for two
Aperol from the window (Wine Window, Via dei Benci 38)	€10 (our experience)
Aperitivo in the centre (Piazza Santa Croce)	€12 (our experience)
Aperol in Statuto	€5 (our experience)

Take these prices as a guide. And a rule that applies right across Italy: standing at the bar is always cheaper than sitting at a table.

What 2 nights in Florence cost for two people

Item	Budget (outside the centre)	Standard	Premium (centre with parking)
Accommodation, 2 nights	€140–210	€210–350	€300–880
Tourist tax (2 people, 2 nights)	€24	€24–28	€28–32
Parking, 2 days	€20 (our experience)	€30 (Parterre)	included in the hotel price
Public transport (2 people, 6 tickets)	€12	€12	–
Admissions for 2 people	€80 (Ghiberti + Uffizi on the spot)	€90 (Giotto + Uffizi on the spot)	€118 (Brunelleschi + Uffizi online)
Food and drink (2 people, 2 days)	approx. €85	approx. €145	approx. €220
Total	approx. €361-431	approx. €511-655	approx. €666-1,250

Admission and public transport prices are from the official price lists as of 28 August 2026; accommodation prices are approximate, taken from Booking.com for the hotels in the boxes above (the premium column assumes the Adriatico and up – the cheapest option, the Cimabue at €108/night, fits better under standard). The “food and drink” row is our own estimate, worked out from the items in the table above (espresso around €1.20, pizza with a drink €13-14, aperitivo €5-12). The tourist tax is based on the rates in effect since February 2025: €6 per person per night for three-star hotels and apartments, €7 for four-star. The budget does not include travel to Florence.

One day a month you can see almost everything for free. The Uffizi, Palazzo Pitti, the Boboli Gardens, the Accademia, the Bargello and the Medici Chapels all have free entry on the first Sunday of every month and, in 2026, also on 25 April, 2 June and 4 November. Palazzo Vecchio joins the first Sunday too, as a municipal museum. But there are two catches you need to know in advance: you can’t book a time slot on these days and they’re the busiest days of the whole month, which is the exact opposite of what we recommend in this article. And the Duomo complex is privately run, so it’s never free.

For me, by the way, that ten euros a day for parking was the best money we spent in Florence – it saved us both our nerves and the surcharge for a hotel with a garage.

The best time to visit Florence

Don’t go in July or August if you can help it. The average high in July is 30.5°C, and around 31°C in August and Florence sits in a basin, so the heat lingers. Most of the year’s tropical days fall in exactly these two months.

The best period is mid-April to mid-June, and then September. It’s warm, but bearable, and the evenings are pleasantly cooler. And since you’re on your feet almost all day in Florence, this is a difference you’ll feel in your legs.

Our tip for the drive: if you’re driving from Czechia, don’t do what we did the first time and try to reach Florence in one go. We left Prague at four in the morning and still didn’t arrive until six in the evening, right into the thick of rush-hour traffic. The second time we stayed overnight in northern Italy and drove the rest the next day – we recommend it.

The biggest mistakes you’ll make in Florence

You drive into the ZTL. The most expensive mistake in the city, €83 to €332 – and watch out, it also applies on Saturdays until 16:00. Leave your car outside the zone, or have your hotel register your number plate.

You show up at Ponte Vecchio at noon. Mostly you’ll see other people’s backpacks. Go before nine.

You arrive on a Monday and want the Uffizi or David. Both are closed. On Mondays go to the Duomo complex, Palazzo Vecchio or Boboli (except the first and last Monday of the month).

You want a ticket for just the baptistery. It’s not possible – you need one of the passes, the cheapest being the Ghiberti at €15. And you can’t get into the cathedral at all on Sundays.

You don’t book the Uffizi or the Accademia in advance. You can still get in without a reservation, but you’ll have to queue – and in season it can take hours.

Who Florence is NOT for

I’ll say it plainly, because there’s no point hiding it:

• For anyone who can’t stand crowds. Florence is one of Italy’s most visited cities packed into a very small space. Even with our timing tricks, you won’t avoid the crowds entirely.
• For beach lovers and anyone after peace and quiet. This is a city break full of walking and galleries. If you want water and a sun lounger, head to Lago di Garda.
• For families with small children, for a long stay. Two days, fine; a week is exhausting – and children under 6 aren’t allowed up the Arnolfo Tower at all.
• For anyone who wants to drive right up to the sights. No. Just no. In Florence, you walk.

Our recommended 2-day itinerary

This is how we’d plan Florence if we came back again:

Day 1 (the morning belongs to the bridge): espresso at the bar → Ponte Vecchio before eight, while it’s still empty → Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens across the river → lunch at Mercato Centrale → the street market outside the market hall → an afternoon break back at your accommodation → the Battistero and Piazza del Duomo in the early evening, once the crowds thin out → a wine window → pizza where you’re staying.

Day 2 (galleries and the view): Galleria dell’Accademia right at opening with a reservation → the Duomo complex with a pass (cupola, bell tower) → lunch across the river → the Uffizi with a timed entry → Piazza della Signoria and the Loggia dei Lanzi → bus 12 or 13 to Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset → aperitivo where you’re staying.

Watch out: day 2 must not be a Monday – both the Uffizi and the Accademia are closed.

Day trips from Florence and a Tuscan road trip

Florence is an ideal base. That’s exactly why we built it into our road trip – cheaper accommodation outside the centre, parking for €10 a day, and easy trips onward across Tuscany from here.

• Siena – roughly an hour and a half by regional train, a fixed-fare €10.80 ticket. A completely different atmosphere from Florence, and we’ve written about Siena separately.
• Pisa – about 50 minutes by regional train on the fast service, 65 to 75 minutes on the ordinary one, and the ticket is a fixed €9.80. Just right for half a day.
• Cascate del Mulino – thermal cascades in Saturnia, among the best things in Tuscany. It’s further south by car, but it’s worth it.

The Pisa and Siena fares both come from Trenitalia’s Tuscany tariff (39/17, valid from 1 August 2026). Regional trains in Italy are priced by distance band, so the price is the same whenever you buy the ticket.

Full-day trip from Florence: Pisa, Siena, San Gimignano and Chianti – a 12-hour trip with lunch and a wine tasting – we did all four places ourselves by car. It was a bit rushed, but San Gimignano is small so it’s doable. If you don’t want to drive, this is the version with transport included.

Our final recommendation

Florence won us over differently than we expected. It wasn’t a ticket or a cupola that did it. It was staying outside the centre, having a €5 Aperol among the locals, and standing on Ponte Vecchio almost alone one morning.

If I had to give one piece of advice, it’s this: don’t try to walk through Florence, try to spread it out across the hours. Mornings where it’s narrow. Afternoons where there’s a square. And in the evening, find yourself a window in the wall.

We saved on accommodation and on parking, and it didn’t make the experience any worse. Quite the opposite.

If you’re continuing on through Italy, take a look at our complete Italy hub – it has every city plus the practical details for driving there. For comparison with the other Italian giants, our guides to Rome and Venice.

Buon viaggio! 🍷

Frequently asked questions

How many days are enough for Florence?

Two full days are enough for the main sights – the Duomo complex, one of the big galleries, Ponte Vecchio, Mercato Centrale and Piazzale Michelangelo. Three days is comfortable, and Palazzo Pitti with the Boboli Gardens fits in too.

Which airport is best for getting to Florence: Peretola, Pisa or Bologna?

The easiest is Florence Peretola: the T2 tram runs from the terminal to the centre in 22 to 35 minutes and the ticket is €2.00. From Pisa, take the PisaMover to Pisa Centrale for €6.00 and then a Regionale train to Firenze SMN for a fixed €9.80, so about 1.5 hours and €15.80 per person in total. Bologna is the fastest but the dearest: the Marconi Express for €12.80 to Bologna Centrale, then a high-speed train to Florence in 37 minutes, which comes to a little over an hour and from €23.

Can you drive to Florence?

Into the city, yes – into the centre, no. Florence’s historic centre has a ZTL (limited traffic zone) active Monday to Friday 7:30-20:00 and Saturday 7:30-16:00; there’s no daytime window on Sundays. In summer it’s also active on the nights from Thursday to Friday, from Friday to Saturday, and from Saturday to Sunday, between 23:00 and 3:00. The fine is €83-332, and on a foreign number plate it can still arrive up to 360 days later. For Florence parking outside the ZTL, try Parterre (€15/day) or Villa Costanza (€7 for 10-24 hours), or pick a hotel with its own car park that registers your number plate with the system.

How much does entry to the Duomo in Florence cost?

Entry to the cathedral itself is free. The climbs and museums are paid for with a pass: the Brunelleschi Pass €30 (including the cupola), the Giotto Pass €20 (bell tower, no cupola), the Ghiberti Pass €15 (museum and baptistery). Prices per the official price list at tickets.duomo.firenze.it, checked 28 August 2026.

What are wine windows in Florence and where do I find them?

Buchette del vino, or wine windows in Florence, are small openings set into the walls of palace buildings, used to sell wine to take away – you ring, the window opens, you order, and you carry your glass off with you. They were used on a mass scale during the plague epidemic of 1630-1633. You’ll find working windows at, for example, Babae (Via di Santo Spirito 21r), Il Latini (Via dei Palchetti 6/r) and Osteria delle Belle Donne (Via delle Belle Donne 16/r). We had a €10 Aperol at Buchetta del Vino (Wine Window), Via dei Benci 38, just off Piazza Santa Croce.

Is it worth staying outside the centre of Florence?

If you’re driving, definitely yes. Accommodation is significantly cheaper, you’re outside the ZTL, and you can find parking for about €10 a day. We stayed in Statuto, it’s about a half-hour walk to the old town or a few tram stops away, and we paid €5 for an Aperol instead of €12 in the centre.

What time should I go to Ponte Vecchio, and what’s closed on Mondays?

Go to the bridge between 7:00 and 9:00 in the morning – it’s narrow because of the shops lining both sides, and it fills up fast by around ten. And bear in mind that both the Uffizi and the Galleria dell’Accademia are closed on Mondays; on a Monday, go for the Duomo complex, Palazzo Vecchio or the Boboli Gardens.