The third stop on our big Italian vacation with Dan’s Uncle and Aunt in September 2024 was Firenze (or, Florence)! Dan’s Aunt was an art teacher, so this was her destination selection and definitely her city! We have been to Florence twice before this trip and quite frankly, its not our favorite Italian city. (I know, molto unpopular opinion). In any case, there is a ton to do in Florence, and it is truly a gorgeous city. We squeezed as much as possible into 3 days, one of which consisted entirely of a wine tour through Tuscany. This post explores our trip and provides information to recreate it.

DAY 1: ARRIVAL IN FLORENCE, THE REAL DAVID AND A FOOD TOUR!

We arrived in Florence via a 1.5 hour train from Lucca. And, it was POURING rain. POURING. We called an Uber van from Florence’s Santa Maria Novella train station to our hotel, Palazzo Ridolfi. And we got lucky with the Uber, they are not frequent or easy to get in Florence. Palazzo Ridolfi is located in an old palazzo in the Oltrarno neighborhood, which is the neighborhood across the River Arno from Florence’s tourist center.

Once we settled in, we took a taxi (that our hotel called) to the Accademia museum where we had pre-purchased timed tickets. Due to the rain, which was ongoing, the timed tickets were an hour behind. We waited this out in the cutest little Sicilian gelato shop, Carabe. The gelato was great and the owner was very nice.

An hour after we intended to enter the Accademia, we made our way to the line and got in – phew! The Accademia is a smaller museum, and its main highlight is the original David. We explored the rest of the museum but spent the most time with David. We had to wait a good while to find a taxi to drive us back to our hotel, but we eventually found one. We had a bit of a rest back at the hotel.

This evening we took a food tour through the Oltrarno neighborhood with Eating Europe. We visited 7 spots in and around Piazza Santo Spirito, trying multiple wines and Prosecco, meat and cheese and numerous Tuscan stews, LOL. We had a great time and were stuffed by the tour end. I wrote a sole post about our food tour, but some highlight pics are below. We called it a night after our very fun food tour!

DAY 2: SUNNY FLORENCE, THE UFFIZI, THE DUOMO & PIAZZALE MICHELANGELO

Unexpected for me, I woke up early the next morning and walked around tourist center of Florence to take some pictures of Florence without allllll of the tourists. This was a GREAT idea. I got amazing pictures and only saw a few other people (mostly runners and couples taking wedding photos). I walked by Ponte Vecchio, by the Uffizi and the Florence Duomo.

Once back, we ate breakfast at Palazzo Ridolfi and set out for our big day in Florence with Dan’s Aunt and Uncle. We first walked from Palazzo Ridolfi to Ponte Vecchio for photos and views. This walk was a flat 10 minutes.

We then walked from Ponte Vecchio to the Uffizi museum, about a 5 minute walk. We pre-purchased tickets to the Uffizi for around 10:00 (highly recommend doing this) and got in right around that time. We spent the whole morning at the Uffizi, seeing all of its famous works of art. We ended our Uffizi morning (well now afternoon) with lunch in its rooftop cafe, Cafe Bartolini. Cafe Bartolini was nothing special, but it was fine for lunch. My recommendation is to go up for photos (there is a view point for those not visiting the restaurant) and views and eat lunch elsewhere.

For the bulk of our afternoon, we walked from the Uffizi Gallery to Florence’s most famous site – the Duomo di Firenze! This takes about 7 minutes. Properly the Duomo di Santa Maria del Fiore, the Duomo di Firenze is free to enter, but we did have to wait in a 30 minute line that wrapped around the building. Access to the Duomo’s dome and/or bell tower are both extra and require advance tickets. We spent out 15 minutes visiting the interior of the cathedral. I would also note that IMO the exterior is more impressive than the interior, so I would skip the interior if short on time.

We next walked literally next door to the Baptistery of St. John. The Baptistery is truly the ancient religious center of Florence; this building is old! The most interesting parts of the Baptistery, in my opinion (others will certainly differ) are its gold mosaic ceiling. They are stunning, and have recently be refurbished for the Pope’s Jubliee (2025). The eastern doors, named the Gates of Paradise, are a renaissance masterpiece of Ghiberti and are complete with 10 pictures from the Old Testament. Tickets are required to enter the Baptistery, but it only takes about 10 minutes to see (its small).

After a brief rest, we asked our hotel to call us a taxi to take us to Piazzale Michelangelo to watch the sunset! Piazzale Michelangelo is a public square on a hill overlooking Florence’s old town, and it is a very popular place to watch the sunset. Many, many tourists come here daily to watch the sunset. We took a taxi but those with time can walk, and there is a public bus. We brought a bottle of wine and cups for a BYO Aperitivo. There are also several vendors nightly at Piazzale Michelangelo selling touristy souvenirs, snacks and non-alcoholic beverages (no alcohol for sale that I saw). The sunset was beautiful and we had a great experience. I suggest going early to get a good spot to watch the sunset and watching for pickpockets.

This evening we dined at Trattoria da Ruggero just outside of Florence’s old Roman walls (which I didn’t even know Florence had!). We found Trattoria da Ruggero listed on a few foodie bloggers that I follow and I selected it based on it being “somewhat local.” The restaurant turned out to be mostly tourists lol, but it was very good and we did eat early by Italian standards. I had amazing pici pasta with local sausage and seasonal black cabbage. We also enjoyed the famous Florentine steak and a dessert of peaches in white wine! I would not categorize Trattoria da Ruggero has a “local spot” by any means, but I would return. I found Trattoria da Ruggero to be particularly good food in touristy Florence.

DAY 3: A WINE TOUR THROUGH TUSCANY AND GLUTEN FREE PIZZA

Our final day in Florence was another sunny one (lucky!) and after breakfast at our hotel, we took a wine tour through the Tuscan countryside with Grape Tours on its Super Tuscan Wine Tour. The tour lasted most of the day and visited two wineries, Corzano e Paterno and Poggio al Sole, and included lunch at the famous butcher Dario Cecchini. I’ll be writing a separate post on our wine tour, but it was really great and an excellent way to spend a Tuscan afternoon.

We did some edible souvenir shopping at an Italian supermarket on our return before walking across the Arno River for dinner in the touristy heart of Florence. The sunset was really beautiful this evening.

As Dan’s Aunt is gluten free, we ended our day dining at Ciro & Sons. Ciro & Sons is a well-known gluten free restaurant that even makes gluten free pizza. Ciro & Sons also makes regular food and pizza (i.e. with gluten) but it has a whole separate kitchen dedicated to cooking gluten free and it can make its entire menu, which is large, gluten free. We were happy for Dan’s Aunt to have pizza in Italy, and the regular (gluten) pizza was very good. I definitely recommend Ciro & Sons for those with gluten allergies or intolerances looking to try some of the well known Italian dishes that usually contain gluten.

Dan’s aunt and uncle went to bed after dinner, but Dan and I snuck out to Rasputin, which is one of Florence’s best cocktail bars. It was cool and the drinks were very well prepared. I highly suggest a recommendation, as Rasputin is small and books up!

WHERE WE STAYED: PALAZZO RIDOLFI

We stayed at the historic Palazzo Ridolfi in the Oltrarno. Palazzo Ridolfi is a noble palace dating back to the 15th century. The rooms have all been recently redone, and they are modern with a bit of old Florence charm. Palazzo Ridolfi is located within an easy walk of Florence’s most famous sites (15 minutes or less max). The hotel offers air conditioning, wifi, a lovely bath and complimentary breakfast in the building across the street. If you are interested in staying here, book far in advance as there are only a few rooms.

TIPS AND TRICKS FOR FLORENCE

1. Pack your patience. Florence is extremely crowded, very largely with tourists.
2. Do not expect the most authentic Italian experience in Florence. Its, again, incredibly touristy.
3. For the best of Florence, get up at sunrise and walk around without the crowds.
4. Buy advance tickets for everything you can.
5. Avoid Florence’s museums on rainy days – they are a total mess.
6. Watch out for pickpockets and tourist scams, especially in the historic center.
7. Do research for good food; it’s hard to find in Florence. Again, loads of tourist traps.
8. Walking is the best way to get around Florence if you can do it. Uber does not work. There are taxis and a public bus.
9. Check to ensure your hotel has an elevator and AC if those things are important.
10. There are lots of easy and worthwhile day trips from Florence. Add in an extra day if this interests your party.

STEAL OUR TRIP

Palazzo Ridolfi: This is the hotel’s website. Book directly for the best deals.

Carabe: Via Ricasoli, 60/R, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy. Open Tuesday – Sunday 12:00 – 18:45, closed Monday.

Accademia Gallery: Via Ricasoli, 58/60, 50129 Firenze FI, Italy. Open daily 8:15 – 18:45. Closed Monday. Advance tickets are almost mandatory.

Eating Europe Florence Sunset Food and Wine Tour: This is the tour that we took at 119 euro per person and included everything mentioned.

Uffizi Gallery: Piazzale degli Uffizi, 6, 50122 Firenze FI, Italy. Open 8:15 – 18:30. Closed Monday. Highly, highly recommend buying tickets online in advance directly from the Uffizi Gallery website under “Biglietti”.  The cost is currently 25 euro per person from the Uffizi’s website. Third-parties will sell tickets at a much higher price.

Cafe Bartolini: The Uffizi’s rooftop cafe. Reservations not accepted. The menus is below for those curious.

Piazzale Michelangelo: Overlooking Florence in the Oltrarno district.

Trattoria da Ruggero: Via Senese, 89 Rosso, 50124 Firenze FI, Italy. Open Thursday – Monday 12:00 – 14:30 and 19:00 – 22:00, closed Tuesday and Wednesday. Reservations recommended and can only be made by calling Trattoria da Ruggero at +39 055 220542.

Grape Tours: We took the Super Chianti tour for 215 € per person. It included wine tasting at two wineries and a substantial lunch with wine.

Ciro & Sons: Via del Giglio, 28/r, 50123 Firenze FI, Italy. Open 12:00 – 15:00, 18:00 – 22:30. Closed Sunday. Casual but reservations recommended.

Rasputin: Borgo Tegolaio, 21R, 50125 Firenze FI, Italy. Oped daily 19:00 – 2:00. Reservations suggested.