Florence 2-day itinerary

The sunset quarter — climb past rose gardens to Piazzale Michelangelo's postcard view, catch the Gregorian vespers at San Miniato, then descend to wine bars built into the old city gate.

1. 08:30
   Piazzale MichelangeloViewpoint, 30m

   The classic postcard view of Florence — the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio and the Arno's bridges laid out below a bronze replica of Michelangelo's David. Free, no ticket, open all day and night; sunset is the famous time to come and it gets genuinely crowded April–October, so arrive at least 30 minutes early to claim a spot at the rail, or come at sunrise or mid-morning instead for the same view with almost nobody around. Bus 12 or 13 reaches the piazzale directly for anyone who doesn't want to climb the steps up from Oltrarno; food and drink stalls at the top are priced for the view, not the quality.

2. 09:30
   San Miniato al MonteChurch, 30m

   Florence's oldest church (consecrated 1018), a green-and-white marble Romanesque facade a steep climb above Piazzale Michelangelo — and quieter than the crowds at the viewpoint just below it. The resident Olivetan Benedictine monks sing Vespers in Latin Gregorian chant every evening at 18:30, open to anyone who walks in and sits down; weekday Mass at 18:00 is also chanted, and Sunday adds services at 8:30, 10:00 and 11:30 with Gregorian chant again at the 17:30 Mass. Entry is free, no booking needed. The scenic route up is a monumental staircase with no ramp; visitors who need step-free access should instead approach via Via delle Porte Sante, where a car can drop off at the gravel forecourt and a ramp plus portable platform lead into the church.

3. 10:20
   Boboli GardensGarden, 1h 15m

   The Medici's formal amphitheatre garden behind Pitti Palace, terraced up the hillside with cypress avenues, grottoes and a view back over the Boboli obelisk to the Florence skyline. Unlike the Palace, Boboli opens on most Mondays — but it's closed on the first and last Monday of every month (plus 25 December and 1 January), a quirk that trips up a lot of visitors. Hours shift with the season: roughly 8:15–16:30 in deep winter, stretching to 8:15–19:10 in June–August as shown here (last admission always an hour before closing). A standalone Boboli-only ticket runs €10 same-day / €13 in advance. The gravel-and-pebble paths and slopes up to 20% are hard going in a wheelchair unaccompanied, though the gardens' Accessibility Department can arrange an easier route by request.

4. 11:50
   Basilica of Santo SpiritoChurch, 25m

   Brunelleschi's last work and, to many architects, his purest — a calm grid of grey pietra serena columns inside, a deceptively plain façade outside that never got its planned marble front. General entry is free; a €2 add-on unlocks the sacristy and Michelangelo's wooden crucifix, carved around age 17. Open Monday, Tuesday, Thursday–Saturday 10:00–13:00 and 15:00–18:00; Sunday and holidays 11:30–13:30 and 15:00–18:00 — but closed all day Wednesday, an easy day to get caught out on. The piazza outside is one of Oltrarno's liveliest, especially at evening aperitivo hour.

5. 12:30
   Lunch Trattoria Sostanza (Il Troia)1h

   A no-frills 1869 institution a short walk from Santa Maria Novella station — white-tiled walls, marble communal tables, yellowed photographs, and two signature dishes that draw people back: petto di pollo al burro (chicken breast pan-fried whole in butter) and a classic bistecca alla fiorentina. It's tiny and fills every service, so book at least a few days ahead — a week out in high season — since walk-ins are routinely turned away. Open Monday-Saturday for lunch (12:30-14:00) and dinner (19:30-21:30), closed all day Sunday; the vegetarian option (an artichoke tart/omelette) is well known enough locally to ask for by name even if it's not always on the written menu.

6. 13:30
   Ponte VecchioLandmark, 20m

   Florence's oldest bridge, and the only one the retreating German army didn't blow up in 1944 — lined with gold and jewellery workshops since Grand Duke Ferdinando I evicted the butchers and tanners in 1593. The bridge itself is free and open around the clock; the shops generally trade about 10:00–19:30 and close on Sundays or Monday mornings depending on the workshop. Come at dawn to see it without the midday crush, or after the shops shutter for a quieter view over the Arno from the small terrace at its centre — the Vasari Corridor runs invisibly above the shops, a private passage once used by the Medici.

7. 14:05
   Basilica of Santa Maria NovellaChurch, 1h

   The Dominican basilica facing the train station square, its green-and-white marble facade a Renaissance landmark in its own right and its interior holding Masaccio's Trinity fresco, an early landmark of perspective painting. A single €7.50 ticket (€5 reduced) covers the basilica, museum and cloisters together since a 2012 agreement between the church authority and the city. Hours vary meaningfully by day: Mon-Thu 9:00-17:30, Friday and religious holidays 11:00-17:30 (later opening), Saturday 9:00-17:00, Sunday and religious holidays 13:00-17:00 (afternoon only) — last entry is an hour before closing, so a Sunday morning visit won't work. Closed to visitors on Good Friday and Holy Saturday.

8. 15:20
   Santa Maria Novella Perfume-PharmacyMuseum, 30m

   The world's oldest working pharmacy, founded by Dominican friars in 1221 a few steps from the basilica that gives it its name — frescoed Renaissance and neo-Gothic salons you can wander through completely free, no ticket needed, browsing perfumes, soaps and herbal remedies made to centuries-old formulas whether or not you buy anything. Open daily 9:00-20:00 with no weekly closure, so it's an easy fallback if a timed-ticket sight nearby is fully booked. It's a working shop as much as a museum — expect it busy with both tour groups and shoppers by mid-morning; the historic back rooms are quieter than the front retail salon.

9. 17:30
   Dinner Procacci 18851h 15m

   A truffle-sandwich institution since 1885 on Florence's smartest shopping street, a 5-minute walk from Santa Maria Novella — small, bite-sized panini tartufati (truffle cream, butter and truffle, prosciutto and truffle cream) served with a glass of wine from the Antinori family, who own the place today. Open daily 10:00-21:00 (Sunday 11:00-20:00), no weekly closure, walk-in only — it's an upright counter-and-small-tables spot for a quick, elegant bite rather than a sit-down meal, and pricier per bite than a standard panino given the truffle and the address. A handy stop for an aperitivo-hour glass of wine plus a few sandwiches between Santa Maria Novella and the river.

The monumental heart — Brunelleschi's dome, the Uffizi and the statue-lined Piazza della Signoria packed into a few pedestrian blocks. Crowded by mid-morning; the trick is timed tickets and early starts.

1. 07:40
   Check out of your stay
2. 08:30
   Sant'Ambrogio MarketMarket, 40m

   Florence's working neighbourhood market, a calmer and far less touristy alternative to Mercato Centrale — fruit and vegetable stalls out front, a covered hall of butchers, fishmongers and delis inside, and a handful of lunch counters (including Trattoria da Rocco) tucked among the produce. Open Monday to Saturday, 7:00–14:00; closed entirely on Sundays, and quietest right after opening or approaching closing time. No entry fee — just come hungry and bring some cash for stalls that don't run card machines.

3. 09:25
   Palazzo VecchioHistoric site, 1h 30m

   Florence's still-functioning town hall, fortress-like from outside and frescoed wall-to-wall inside — the Salone dei Cinquecento alone is worth the ticket, a hall built for a 500-strong council and later reworked by Vasari with monumental battle frescoes for the Medici. Full museum ticket is €18 (€12 reduced 18-25/students, free under 17); open daily 9:00-19:00 except Thursday, when it closes at 14:00 — plan around that if Thursday is your only slot. A separate ticket (€20 full, €13 reduced) climbs the crenellated Torre di Arnolfo for the best rooftop view over the Duomo and Piazza della Signoria, on the same daily schedule as the museum but closing at 17:00 (14:00 Thursdays); the tower shuts to visitors in the rain. Arrive 15 minutes before your booked slot.

4. 11:10
   Piazza della Signoria & Loggia dei LanziLandmark, 40m

   Florence's outdoor sculpture gallery and civic stage, free and open around the clock — a copy of Michelangelo's David stands where the original once did outside Palazzo Vecchio, Cellini's bronze Perseus holds Medusa's severed head, and the open-air Loggia dei Lanzi shelters more Renaissance and Roman statuary under its arches, also free, no ticket or booking. Café tables ringing the square charge tourist prices for the view — a coffee here costs several times what you'd pay standing at a bar counter a few streets away. Come early morning or after dinner to actually see the statues without a wall of phone cameras; by day this is the most crowded square in the historic centre.

5. 12:05
   Lunch Vivoli1h

   Running since 1930 and often called the oldest gelateria in Florence, tucked into an alley just west of Santa Croce — the signature order is the affogato, a scoop drowned in hot espresso (from about €6, more for specialty flavours like pistachio). Closed Mondays; open Tuesday–Saturday 8:00–21:00 and Sunday 9:00–20:00, with summer evenings sometimes running later. The counter moves fast even when the line looks long, but expect a genuine queue at peak afternoon hours.

6. 13:05
   Uffizi GalleryGallery, 2h 30m

   The world's finest collection of Renaissance painting — Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, Michelangelo's Doni Tondo, work by Leonardo, Titian and Caravaggio, in the Medici family's own former administrative offices. Ticket prices split by season: €25 in high season (March-October), €12 in low season (November-February), plus a non-refundable €4 online booking fee either way; since 1 January 2026 a discounted €16 afternoon ticket covers entry from 16:00. Booking isn't strictly mandatory but is close to it in practice — walk-up tickets sell out and queues can run 1-2 hours April-October, while November-March before 10:00 or after 16:00 is usually fine without a reservation. Closed Mondays; the first Sunday of every month is free entry for everyone (arrive early, it's the busiest day of the month) and afternoon crowds thin noticeably after 16:00.

7. 15:50
   Bargello MuseumMuseum, 1h

   Florence's medieval town-hall-turned-fortress holds the city's great Renaissance sculpture collection — Donatello's bronze David, Michelangelo's early Bacchus, and Ghiberti and Brunelleschi's competing Baptistery-door panels displayed side by side. The museum simplified its notoriously confusing calendar in March 2026: it's now simply closed every Monday and open Tuesday–Sunday 8:15–18:50 (last admission 18:00) — many older guidebooks still list the previous alternating 1st/3rd/5th-Monday and 2nd/4th-Sunday closures, so ignore those. The standard ticket is €12, valid 48 hours. Ground-floor rooms are wheelchair-accessible via ramp and lift, with staff assistance for raised thresholds between rooms; only the Chapel and Sacristy are excluded.

8. 17:30
   Dinner Trattoria Le Mossacce1h 15m

   Two steps from the Duomo on Via del Proconsolo, a cramped, elbow-to-elbow trattoria that's been feeding locals and lunching lawyers from the nearby Bargello courts since the 1940s — the daily-changing handwritten menu runs through ribollita, pappa al pomodoro and a genuinely good bistecca alla fiorentina at a fair price for the location. It's closed Saturday and Sunday entirely, open only Monday-Friday lunch (12:00-14:30) and dinner (19:00-21:30), so don't plan a weekend visit around it. No reservations are taken for lunch — arrive right at opening or expect a short wait outside; turnover is fast so the line moves.