Florence

[londongirl12]

we’re going to a wedding in Florence so have a few days to site see. We absolutely loved Rome, so looking forward to being in Florence with the amazing architecture and art. We’ve been so laid back about it though that we haven’t booked anything, as happy to just go and explore. However is there anything that people would recommend we just HAVE to see?

If you can, visit Casa Buonarroti, once owned by Michelangelo and left to his nephew, Leonardo Buonarroti. Was converted into a museum by his great-nephew, Michelangelo Buonarroti the Younger. You can see early sculpture including the Battle of the Centaurs as well as an archive of his drawings and letters. You will be astounded by how talented he was even as a boy of 16. There are also a number of commissions for the museum by later artists include Artemisia Gentileschi and Pietro da Cortona.

Grande Museo del Duomo obviously.

Santa Trinità has a fresco cycle by Ghirlandaio. Medici Palace has a chapel frescoed by Benozzo Gozzoli. Monastery of San Marco has each cell frescoed by Fra Angelico. I think there may be/have been a recent Fra Angelico exhibition. Not sure but I remember seeing it advertised. Fra Angelico not really my bag but generally considered very special.

Academia to see David and the slaves. And all the other tourists…!

Laurentian Library

The Uffizi - you can see Simoni Martini, Piero della Francesca, Botticelli, Leonardo and Michelangelo amongst others.

Worth also looking for a Paper Marbling Workshop, you will need to book in advance.

And like Rome, just wander…and enjoy. So beautiful!!

Love Florence. If you go to see statue of david, its worth getting up 15 mins before opening so you're first in. I got to spend some alone time with him.
If you go to Museo di Palazzo Vecchio its worth booking on the hidden passages tour. Its only a couple euros on top of admission but fascinating. While the public are behind a barrier, your group will come out from a hidden passage, then they open up a different painting/door and you disappear, they also took us up into the attic to see how the huge ceiling paintings are hung.

Must sees for me are Michelangelo’s David in the Accademia & Botticelli’s The Birth of Venus in the Uffizi. I enjoyed walking through Boboli gardens too.

Florence is wonderful, I prefer it over Rome.

The uffizi.
And the gardens.

Don’t miss the Medici chapel it’s like a jewellery box even our teens blown away by it.

Thanks all! We’re not massively into art at all, but appreciate amazing talent, which places like Florence and Rome are full of! Will check these out.

Can I just hop onto this thread.

Do you have to book the attractions months in advance like in Rome, where if you don't you won't get in!

It depends, right now there is quite a lot of last minute availability, but it's early February and definitely quiet season. When we visited late October I had to book at least 2 weeks in advance to climb to the top of Brunelleschi's dome in the cathedral. The Academia for Michaelangelo's David is the second most popular, probably a booked close to a fortnight in advance for that and then finally the Uffizi. I also booked a tour of apartments in the Pitti palace, we enjoyed that. Most other things you can just turn up. You can monitor availability on the official websites and book if/when it seems to be running low. The official websites can be tricky to find, lots of websites to pretty good impressions of looking official but reselling at higher prices.

Piazzale Michelangelo for amazing views of Florence. Well worth the steep climb

If you are knackered after the Uffizi and Ponte Vecchio etc, the Hotel degli Orafi on the riverbank has a lovely cocktail
bar roof garden. Basically saved my relationship when I had museum-knackered-rage.

Also sunset drinks at the bar at the top of the Bardini gardens are lovely - beautiful views over the city.

If you have time and like views and want to get out of the city, Fiesole is beautiful. There is a bus.