Things to do in Florence
Florence is a compact open-air museum. The Uffizi, the Accademia (with Michelangelo's David), the Duomo, the Baptistery, Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens sit within a walkable historic centre, all a short stroll from evening concerts in the city's churches and chapels.
Our editors' pick of the ten sights to build a first visit around — with an evening concert to close the day:
Florence Cathedral (Il Duomo)
Santa Maria del Fiore rises over the historic centre like nothing else in Europe. Filippo Brunelleschi's red-tiled dome, completed in 1436, was the largest masonry dome ever built and remains the defining silhouette of Florence. Climb the 463 steps inside for a close view of Vasari's Last Judgement fresco and a panorama across the terracotta rooftops.
Uffizi Gallery
Cosimo I de' Medici commissioned this U-shaped palazzo as government offices in 1560; today it holds one of the most concentrated collections of Renaissance painting anywhere. Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, Leonardo's Annunciation, Michelangelo's Doni Tondo and Caravaggio's Medusa are all here. Book a timed ticket weeks ahead — queues can consume half a day otherwise.
Galleria dell'Accademia
The Accademia exists in the public imagination almost entirely for one work: Michelangelo's David, carved between 1501 and 1504 from a single 5-metre block of Carrara marble. Standing beneath it in the domed tribune is one of Florence's essential experiences. The adjoining Prisoners — figures half-emerged from raw stone — reveal Michelangelo's process as vividly as any finished work.
Ponte Vecchio
Florence's oldest surviving bridge has spanned the Arno since 1345 and is the only one to have escaped destruction in World War II. Its shops — jewellers and goldsmiths since a Medici decree in 1593 — still hang out over the river. Above them runs the Vasari Corridor, the covered walkway the Medici built so they could cross the city without touching the streets.
Piazza della Signoria & Palazzo Vecchio
The political heart of Florence for seven centuries, and effectively an open-air sculpture museum. The crenellated Palazzo Vecchio houses the vast Salone dei Cinquecento, while the Loggia dei Lanzi shelters Cellini's bronze Perseus, Giambologna's Rape of the Sabines and a full-size marble replica of David marking where the original stood until 1873.
Basilica di Santa Croce
The Franciscan basilica is known as the Temple of the Italian Glories: Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli and the composer Rossini are all buried here. Giotto's frescoes in the Bardi and Peruzzi Chapels remain among the finest 14th-century paintings anywhere, and Brunelleschi's Pazzi Chapel in the cloisters is a small perfect statement of early Renaissance architecture.
Pitti Palace & Boboli Gardens
Across the Arno, this vast Renaissance palace became the Medici residence in 1550 and later home to the Habsburg-Lorraine grand dukes. The Palatine Gallery hangs canvases by Raphael, Titian and Rubens in the original royal rooms. Behind the palace, the Boboli Gardens climb the hill in a sequence of avenues, fountains, grottoes and classical sculpture.
Piazzale Michelangelo
The 19th-century viewpoint on a hill above the south bank offers the definitive postcard view of Florence: Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio and Ponte Vecchio arranged along the Arno with the Tuscan hills behind. A bronze replica of David stands at the centre. Arrive around sunset — the light on the terracotta roofs is worth the climb.
Medici Chapels & San Lorenzo
Attached to the Medici parish church, the chapels are the dynasty's grand funerary monument. Michelangelo designed the New Sacristy, carving the tombs of Lorenzo and Giuliano de' Medici with the allegorical figures of Night, Day, Dawn and Dusk. Alongside lies the Chapel of the Princes, an octagonal space entirely lined in marble and semi-precious stone.
Mercato Centrale
The 19th-century wrought-iron market hall behind Basilica San Lorenzo is Florence's belly. The ground floor is still a working produce market — butchers, cheesemongers, pasta makers, Tuscan olive oil. Upstairs, an artisan food hall serves everything from wood-fired pizza and fresh pasta to lampredotto sandwiches, Chianti and gelato until midnight.