Home of Dante, Galileo, the Medici family and the birth of the Renaissance, Florence is a necessary stop on any cultural or historical tour of Italy. The city's narrow, winding streets reveal an architectural mishmash of compact medieval towers, expansive, gleaming white neo-classical squares and majestic Renaissance palazzi adorned with frescoes and sculptures from the period's greatest artists. You can easily stay in Florence for a week and still not make it to all of the major attractions, so make appointments to visit your must-see museums and sites.

Getting There

Travelers can fly to Florence's Amerigo Vespucci airport, about 7 miles outside the city center, although flying into Florence directly is rarely, if ever, the easiest or most economical flight option. Many budget and regional European carriers fly into Pisa's Galileo Galilei airport, which connects directly to downtown Florence via a 1 1/2-hour train ride. Roma Fiumicino and Milan Malpensa, both just under three hours from Florence by train, are economic arrival airports for overseas travelers. The Italian national rail system connects Florence with countless major cities and regional destinations on the peninsula as well as many other European capitals, via its Euronight trains.

Major Sites

Sculpted by Donatello, the lion statue in PIazza della Signoria carries the crest of Florence.

The majority of Florence's major attractions are compactly located within a five- to six-block radius of Piazza della Signoria -- though a "block" is a very relative term in Florence's medieval intercity streets. Piazza della Signoria holds one of the city's three copies of Michelangelo's David, the Fountain of Neptune -- commissioned in the image of Cosimo I de' Medici, the first Grand Duke of Tuscany -- and the Loggia dei Lanzi, an arcade containing sculptures by notable Renaissance artists. In the square, Palazzo Vecchio, the city's Romanesque town hall dating to the 13th century, marks the start of the Medici's private passageway through their offices in the Uffizi and across the Ponte Vecchio to their residence Palazzo Pitti, on the other side of the river. Today, the Uffizi and Palazzo Pitti are world-renowned galleries, best visited by appointment. Florence's cathedral -- officially named Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore but typically called the Duomo -- has gone through several face-lifts since construction began in 1296. Its red, white and green facade was installed in the late 1800s, during Florence's brief tenure as the capital of Italy, but its most stunning architectural feature is Brunelleschi's brick dome, the largest of its kind in the world.


Ponte Vecchio connects downtown Florence to the Oltrarno at the Uffizi.

Florence is a very compact city. If you want to stay in the historic center, you will either have to sacrifice on size or price. Because Florence is such a popular tourist destination, there are a wide range of options: palatial luxury hotels, self-catering apartments for families and student hostels. One of the best ways to stay near the city's main attractions without spending a small fortune is to investigate hotels in the Oltrarno neighborhood, just across the Ponte Vecchio from the historic center.


While many of the general tips for traveling in Italy -- don't wear shorts and sandals in churches, carry cash because small shops and restaurants don't accept credit cards and don't assume everyone speaks English -- apply in Florence, the city has its own quirks. Most notable is the city's street number system. On any given street, two independent sets of street numbers exist. Red numbers, frequently on a cream background, indicate businesses, while blue or black numbers on a white background indicate residences and hotels.

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