Top things to do in Florence
Attractions, tours and activities in Florence
Recommended museums in Florence
Where to discover culture and the arts in Florence
Florence: the city's best neighbourhoods
Find a great area to stay in Florence
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Florence Historic Centre
In the city centre
Our best advice for exploring the centre? Travel on foot. Pretty as the paintings that adorn its most illustrious galleries, Florence will charm you with stories and beg you to make your own. Get lost among the jewellery makers and trinket buyers of Ponte Vecchio; then tie your love to a lock on the bridge’s fence (for good luck).
Places to stay from £9 per night
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Piazzale Michelangelo
1 miles from city centre
Hot, hungry, and dreaming of pecorino? Sounds like you made it through the tree-lined streets to the heights of Piazzale Michelangelo. The Duomo looms high above the terracotta rooftops. A few flights up, you’ll find the prettiest church in Florence called San Miniato. Picnic among the ornate tombstones of the church’s cemetery (if you dare).
Places to stay from £44 per night
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Santa Croce
0.5 miles from city centre
Pay homage to Galileo and Michelangelo, both buried beneath this Basilica. But don’t pray and run. Giotto’s frescoes decorate the Franciscan church’s interior chapels. French writer Stendhal coined his syndrome of the same here (an illness of “awe” marked by symptoms of intense nervousness caused by seeing great art).
Places to stay from £20 per night
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Santa Maria Novella
0.4 miles from city centre
Ready to cut your teeth on 20th century Italian art? Museo Novecento’s got just the collection. Afterward, let an espresso buzz you through Santa Maria Novella’s Gothic Basilica. Next door is Italy’s oldest apothecary and perfumery (1221), where aromatic elixirs steep in decanted bottles, and chemists still concoct colognes from the past.
Places to stay from £10 per night
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Tornabuoni
0.2 miles from city centre
Gucci certainly approves of the high-fashion boutiques that abound in his hometown. Heels and cobblestone? Not a problem for the Florentine female. This block is a who’s who crash course of Italian high fashion–from Armani to Versace and everyone in between. Even the air smells expensive. Window-shop your heart out, honey.
Places to stay from £29 per night
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Uffizi
0.2 miles from city centre
Both district and world-famous gallery. Art students stand agog in front of masterworks (ah, Botticelli) in the Uffizi Gallery. After a Renaissance morning, buy a gelato from “Perché no!" (the mozzarella with chestnut honey is a must!) and lick it all the way to Piazza della Signoria. Navel-gaze amidst pigeons, people, and sea-coloured statues.
Places to stay from £17 per night
About Florence
Including tips for the best time to visit Florence
Famed by being the birthplace of the Renaissance, Florence is also the capital of Italy's Tuscany region and considered a powerhouse of culture, architecture and the arts.
The entire city is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, so you never have to look far for things to do. The Uffizi Gallery is home to masterpieces like The Birth of Venus and Primavera by Sandro Boticelli, as well as Titian's Venus of Urbino, while the Accademi Gallery is home to Michelangelo's David and the unfinished 'Slaves'. If you're treating yourself to an extended stay in Florence, other notable museums worth visiting include the Bargello, the Gucci Garden and the former palace of the famous Medici family.
In the old town's centre, you'll find the city's wonderful cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore (also known as Duomo di Firenze) and Giotto's Tower, providing a 360-degree view of Florence. You should also stop off at Mercato Central while you're out and about to sample some Florentine cuisine. It's the city's oldest and largest food market, packed with fresh produce, as well as a bookshop and cookery school. You can sample anything from tripe panini and pasta to gelato and Florentine steak.
Florence's Amerigo Vespucci airport is located close to the city centre, with a taxi or bus ride taking around 15 minutes.
Tonight
From £52 per night
This weekend
From £119 per night
Next weekend
From £104 per night
| Most popular time to visit | October–December |
| Cheapest time to visit | January–March |
| Local currency | € 10 = £8.93 |
| Language | Italian |
| Average weekend price | £126 per night |
| Average weekday price | £125 per night |
| Typical stay | 2 nights |
Points of interest in Florence
Stay near the top sightseeing spots in Florence
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Ponte Vecchio
0.2 miles from city centre
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Uffizi Gallery
0.2 miles from city centre
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Pitti Palace
0.5 miles from city centre
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Piazza della Signoria
0.1 miles from city centre
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Artemio Franchi Stadium
1.6 miles from city centre
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Santa Maria Novella
0.3 miles from city centre
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Strozzi Palace
0.1 miles from city centre
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Parco delle Cascine
1.1 miles from city centre
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Palazzo Vecchio
0.2 miles from city centre
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Piazzale Michelangelo
0.8 miles from city centre
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Florence reviews
What other travellers say about Florence
We were spending two days for a Colloquium for an...
7 February 2023
We were spending two days for a Colloquium for an international group with visits to the Bargello Museum and the Palazzo Stefano Baldini. I selected this property due to the location for walking to the museum. I consider it good value - the layout of the apartment is practical and neat. I own www.fontemagia.com in Umbria and have been working with Booking.com for several years. Angelika Weller
I absolutely loved Florence!
6 February 2023
I absolutely loved Florence! The food, the people, and the narrow little streets were amazing. But my absolute favorite part was getting to see Renaissance masterpieces such as La Primavera and David.
The most beautiful and interesting city in Italy if not the...
6 February 2023
The most beautiful and interesting city in Italy if not the whole of Europe…. If you’ve been, you’ll know, if not, you MUST visit Everywhere you go there are beautiful things to see and really interesting (both historic and also modern such as Banksy exhibit) things to do. Spend at least 3 days here, you won’t be disappointed
Florence needs do nothing but simply exist: of all cultural...
1 February 2023
Florence needs do nothing but simply exist: of all cultural and tourist destinations it is the tops in my humble opinion. I have been here countless times over the years and never cease to be fascinated - like millions of others - by the ease with which one is drawn into the stories of the rulers of the past, the lives of the artists whose works grace the Uffizi, the palaces, the landscape and all the surrounding countryside. Every piazza, church, cafe and restaurant is a reminder of the majestic capacity of the human spirit for invention, intrigue, power and compromise. Flabbergasted every time.
FLORENCE IS BEAUTIFUL AND EASY TO WALK AROUND.
1 February 2023
FLORENCE IS BEAUTIFUL AND EASY TO WALK AROUND.WE ENJOYED QUITE A FEW NICE RESTAURANTS, DID NOT CARE FOR THE BREAD THE TASTE WAS NOT WHAT WE WERE USED TO, BUT WITH A LITTLE OLIVE OIL, BALSAMIC VINEGAR AND SALT IT WAS FINE ALSO IT WAS GREAT TO SOAK UP ANY EXTRA SAUCE.
Wear sensible shoes!
29 January 2023
Wear sensible shoes! Take the tram from the airport for 1.30 Euros. Go up to Piazza Michelangelo rather than climb up the Duomo. The Piazza is free and higher, and it’s a nice walk. Good place to eat is Trattoria da Guido in Via Faenza. Good value and nice food and service, and they are open all day. Conrad is a good supermarket. Palazzo Medici is disappointing for the entrance fee. The San Lorenzo Church is much better. There’s not much to see in the big Cathedral. You’ll probably spend more time queuing to get in than actually in there. It’s free so don’t buy a ticket.
Popular places to stay in Florence
Stay in some of the best accommodation Florence has to offer
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Dépendance Machiavelli - Apartment and Wine Florence Historic Centre, Florence
From £190 per night
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La Firenze Sogna Florence Historic Centre, Florence
From £126 per night
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BB Hotels Aparthotel Collection Il Michelangelo Campo Di Marte, Florence
From £105 per night
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