Florence, Italy

Things to Do in Florence: 24 Ideas by Area

Florence at a glance

Things to do in this guide: 24
Areas and themes covered: 8
TRIPLR journeys including Florence: 4
TRIPLR suggested stay: 3 days

Things to do in Florence

Photo by Niko Lewman on Unsplash
Florence Cathedral (Duomo)
Florence Cathedral fills Piazza del Duomo with its green, white and pink marble, vast nave and the unmistakable rise of Brunelleschi’s dome. The exterior delivers the drama first, while the interior is more restrained, drawing attention to scale, structure and the painted dome above.
- Duomo Area
- About 2 hours
- Free
Photo by Vladislav Glukhotko on Unsplash
Brunelleschi Dome Climb
The dome climb takes you through the structure of Brunelleschi’s great cupola, past narrow passages, steep stairs and close views of the vast frescoed interior before emerging above the roofs of Florence. The reward is not only the panorama, but the physical sense of how the dome was built.
- Duomo Area
- About 1.5 hours
- Mid-range
Photo by Yilei (Jerry) Bao on Unsplash
Piazzale Michelangelo
Florence opens out from this broad hillside terrace in one of the city’s clearest panoramas: Brunelleschi’s dome, Giotto’s bell tower, Palazzo Vecchio, Santa Croce, the Arno and the bridges all align beneath the Tuscan hills.
- Piazzale Michelangelo
- About 1 hour
- Free
Photo by Gene Gallin on Unsplash
Uffizi Gallery
The Uffizi Gallery is Florence’s great Renaissance art sequence, housed in Vasari’s former administrative complex between Piazza della Signoria and the Arno.
- Centro Storico Core
- About 3 hours
- Splurge
Photo by Vicky T on Unsplash
Boboli Gardens
Boboli Gardens spread up the hillside behind Palazzo Pitti in a sequence of formal avenues, fountains, groves, sculpture, grottoes and terraces. The visit is physically expansive: travellers move from the palace’s monumental rear to shaded paths, open lawns, theatrical garden rooms and elevated views over Florence.
- Oltrarno
- About 2.5 hours
- Mid-range
Photo by Vicky T on Unsplash
Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio carries a dense mix of jewellery shops, enclosed upper passages, medieval massing and river views within a very short span.
- Arno Riverside
- About 1 hour
- Free
Photo by Casey Lovegrove on Unsplash
Medici Chapel
The Medici Chapel complex reveals the dynastic ambition behind Renaissance Florence through funerary architecture, sculpture and highly controlled symbolism.
- San Lorenzo
- About 1.5 hours
- Mid-range
Photo by Francesco Bonistalli on Unsplash
Santa Croce Basilica
Santa Croce Basilica is one of Florence’s most important churches, combining Franciscan Gothic architecture with art, tombs, chapels and cloisters of exceptional historical weight.
- Santa Croce
- About 1 hour
- Mid-range
Photo by Nicolò Canu on Unsplash
Piazza Santa Croce
Piazza Santa Croce is one of Florence’s great civic rooms, a broad open square dominated by the marble façade of the basilica and lined with palaces, cafés and public life.
- Santa Croce
- About 1 hour
- Free
Photo by Kayleigh Cornell on Unsplash
Pisa Cathedral
Pisa Cathedral is the architectural heart of the Piazza dei Miracoli, with marble arcades, a richly decorated interior and the confident Romanesque language that made medieval Pisa a major artistic centre.
- Day Trips
- About 1 hour
- Free
Photo by Ivo Sousa Martins on Unsplash
San Miniato al Monte
High above Florence, San Miniato al Monte rewards the extra climb beyond Piazzale Michelangelo with a serene Romanesque interior, a patterned marble façade, raised sanctuary, crypt and terraces overlooking the city.
- Piazzale Michelangelo
- About 1 hour
- Free
Photo by Sasha Matveeva on Unsplash
Cinque Terre Day Trip
A Cinque Terre day trip from Florence is a long but dramatic shift from inland Tuscany to the Ligurian coast, where colourful villages cling to steep cliffs above small harbours and terraced slopes.
- Day Trips
- About 5 hours
- Splurge
Photo by Nicholas Loh on Unsplash
Oltrarno Streets Walk
A walk through Oltrarno reveals the Florence that continues behind the headline monuments: narrow streets, artisan doorways, neighbourhood cafés, modest churches, residential façades and piazzas that fill gradually through the day. The pleasure is in noticing texture rather than ticking off sights.
- Oltrarno
- About 1.5 hours
- Free
Piazza della Signoria
Piazza della Signoria is Florence’s civic stage: an irregular medieval square where Palazzo Vecchio, the Loggia dei Lanzi, monumental fountains, replicas and original sculptures form an open-air narrative of power.
- Centro Storico Core
- About 1 hour
- Free
Photo by Luca Lago on Unsplash
San Lorenzo Basilica
San Lorenzo Basilica rewards travellers who look beyond its unfinished exterior with a calm Renaissance interior shaped by proportion, rhythm and Medici patronage. The nave, chapels and associated artworks create a more measured experience than the spectacle of the Duomo nearby.
- Duomo Area
- About 1 hour
- Mid-range
Photo by Casey Lovegrove on Unsplash
Fiesole Viewpoint
Fiesole’s viewpoint gives Florence its wider setting: the dome, towers and terracotta roofs appear below, framed by the Arno valley and surrounding hills. From this height the city feels less like an isolated museum capital and more like the centre of a broader Tuscan landscape.
- Day Trips
- About 0.5 hours
- Free
Photo by Il Vagabiondo on Unsplash
Siena Historic Center
Siena’s historic centre is the strongest medieval counterpoint to Florence, a dense hill city of brick lanes, steep passages, Gothic façades, neighbourhood identities and sudden openings onto civic and religious spaces. Walking it is physically engaging: streets rise, narrow and turn, revealing the city in fragments.
- Day Trips
- About 3 hours
- Mid-range
Siena Cathedral
Siena Cathedral is one of the great artistic interiors of Tuscany, with striped marble, sculptural detail, a richly patterned floor, chapels, frescoes and works connected to major medieval and Renaissance masters.
- Day Trips
- About 1.5 hours
- Mid-range
Manarola Sunset
Manarola at sunset is the classic Cinque Terre finale: pastel houses stacked above a tiny harbour, cliffs dropping into the Ligurian Sea and evening light softening the village’s edges. The main pleasure is not movement but waiting as colours change across the water and façades.
- Day Trips
- About 1 hour
- Free
Photo by Jonas Smith on Unsplash
Fiesole Hill Town
Fiesole sits on the hills above Florence, combining Etruscan and Roman traces, medieval streets, stone churches, villas and panoramic terraces in a compact half-day excursion.
- Day Trips
- About 3 hours
- Budget-friendly
Siena Tower Climb
The Siena tower climb ascends the Torre del Mangia above Piazza del Campo, exchanging the enclosed medieval streets for a high view over brick rooftops, the cathedral, surrounding hills and the shell-shaped square below. The climb is narrow and physical, but the reward is a clear understanding of Siena’s urban form.
- Day Trips
- About 1.5 hours
- Mid-range
Photo by Green Liu on Unsplash
Pitti Palace
Palazzo Pitti dominates the Oltrarno side of Florence with a severe Renaissance façade, a vast courtyard and a complex of museums, royal rooms and garden access. Built for power and later transformed by the Medici into a dynastic residence, it offers a more courtly counterpart to the civic Florence north of the Arno.
- Oltrarno
- About 2.5 hours
- Splurge
Photo by Leonardo Evaristo on Unsplash
Pisa Field of Miracles
Pisa’s Field of Miracles gathers the Leaning Tower, cathedral, baptistery and cemetery buildings on a broad green lawn, creating one of Italy’s most recognisable monumental settings. The experience is as much about the ensemble as individual buildings: white marble architecture set against grass, sky and city walls.
- Day Trips
- About 1 hour
- Free
Photo by Richard Hedrick on Unsplash
San Lorenzo Market
San Lorenzo Market brings together the district’s open-air shopping streets and the broader market atmosphere around Mercato Centrale. Travellers encounter leather goods, scarves, clothing, souvenirs and everyday bustle, with vendors calling out prices and shoppers moving between stalls.
- San Lorenzo
- About 1.5 hours
- Budget-friendly