Holidays in Florence

Each of the famous Italian cities has its own distinctive “image”. Thus, Milan is a city of fashion and luxurious shopping, Venice is a haven for romantics and dreamers, Rome is the famous capital of a great empire. But what about Florence? This city has many merits, but its strongest points are art and science, seasoned with a sauce of excellent Tuscan wines, astonishing architecture, and a powerful fashion industry.

What You Need to Know About Florence

Florence is a renowned Italian city, an important economic, tourist, and cultural center of the country with an exceptionally rich cultural and historical heritage. It is recognized as one of the fashion capitals of the world and is also called the “Cradle of the Renaissance”. Among the natives of the city are Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Donatello, Niccolò Machiavelli, Dante, Galileo, Amerigo Vespucci and a number of other equally outstanding figures of science and art, whose works are preserved in numerous Florentine museums.

Where Florence Is Located

Florence is situated on the Arno River, in the northeastern part of the Apennine Peninsula. The city is the administrative center of the Tuscany region. The province borders Bologna, Ravenna, Siena, Pisa, and several other, smaller provinces. Florence’s connection with the outside world is provided by air via Amerigo Vespucci International Airport (FLR), which serves flights of about two dozen domestic and international airlines. It is easy to reach the city from the airport using regular bus services or by taxi.

When It’s Best to Go to Florence

Florence has a mild Mediterranean climate, with quite hot summers and warm but humid and rainy winters. If you plan to combine your trip to Florence with a visit to seaside resorts, it is worth choosing dates in June or July. If you are more interested in sightseeing and trips through picturesque surroundings, it is better to plan your journey for the second half of spring, as well as September and October. It is not recommended to go to Florence in November and early spring, when there is heavy rainfall, as well as in August, when many establishments, shops, and museums close for the summer holidays.

What to Do in Florence

• Stroll through the Bardini and Boboli Gardens.
• Enjoy a gourmet dinner at the Borgo San Jacopo restaurant, where several Michelin-starred chefs and restaurant critics take part.
• Devote a day to exploring the old town.
• Take part in a pastry master class at the Desinare cooking school.
• Enjoy all the delights of Italian cuisine.
• Visit the Uffizi Gallery, one of the oldest museums in Europe, which houses masterpieces by Michelangelo, da Vinci, Raphael, Botticelli, and other great artists of the Renaissance and later eras.
• Wander around the San Lorenzo market, sample local food, and soak up the local color.
• Eat your fill of the best Italian gelato!
• Take an evening tour of Florence and enjoy the sunset view from Piazzale Michelangelo.
• Create your own museum route, which might include the Museum of Football, the Galileo Museum, the Leonardo da Vinci Museum, or the Santa Maria Novella pharmacy-perfumery.
• Look out over the city from the dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.
• Devote a day to exploring the old town.
• Walk across the famous Ponte Vecchio bridge.
• Rent a car and set off on a trip through the nearby towns and scenic valleys of Tuscany.
• Visit local wineries and take part in tastings of renowned Tuscan wines.
• Go shopping – Florence has everything you need for it and even a little more.

Which Hotel in Florence to Choose

• Hotel Lungarno 5* (Florence)
  The Lungarno Hotel, owned by the Ferragamo family, can be considered a true landmark of Florence. In this exquisitely refined and stylish hotel, located right in the city center, the walls are adorned with original works by famous 20th-century artists, the restaurant serves dishes by a Michelin-starred chef, and the bathrooms, finished in light marble, are stocked with cosmetics by
  Salvatore Ferragamo.
• Villa La Massa 5* (Bagno a Ripoli)
  The five-star country hotel Villa La Massa is the ideal option for those who want to stay close to the bustling city while still enjoying immersion in the surrounding natural beauty. The hotel is a luxurious villa with a swimming pool, spa, terrace restaurant, tennis court, fitness center, classroom for cooking master classes, and a wine cellar.
• Pensione Bencistà 3* (Fiesole)
  Bencistà is one of those traditional guesthouses that are becoming fewer and fewer in Italy every year. It belongs to the Simoni family, who have been running the pension for 5 generations. Simple yet homely and cozy, Pensione Bencistà offers neat rooms, a magnificent view of the olive groves, a spacious dining hall where a buffet is laid out for guests, and a charming outdoor terrace in the shade of trees.
• J.K. Place Firenze 5* (Florence)
  Planning to spend a lot of time walking around the historic center of Florence and make the most of your stay enjoying the beautiful? Stay at J.K. Place and you definitely won’t go wrong. This stylish and elegant hotel is located just a few minutes’ walk from the church of Santa Maria Novella. The hotel offers its guests modern, well-equipped rooms with beautiful views, as well as a restaurant and lounge with terraces on the rooftop and in the inner courtyard.
• Hotel Brunelleschi 4* (Florence)
  Located in a restored medieval church and Byzantine tower, the Brunelleschi Hotel is an excellent combination of attentive service, unique design solutions, and outstanding cuisine presented by two restaurants. In addition, the hotel has its own fitness club, private museum, and rooms for meetings and conferences.
• Soprarno Suites (Florence)
  Soprarno Suites is a modern answer to the classic guesthouses that were once common throughout the country. Elegant and stylish, it is located close to the city’s key attractions.
• Milu Hotel 4* (Florence)
  The Milù Hotel is located in a historic 14th-century building in the center of Florence, just a few minutes’ walk from the famous Uffizi Gallery. The hotel skillfully combines modern facilities with classic décor. It features a terrace with a picturesque view of the surrounding hills and its own library.

Where to Eat Well in Florence

Even if Florence were located outside of Italy, it would still be damn tasty here! To appreciate the culinary self-sufficiency of the city and the region as a whole, be sure to visit:

• Local cafés and small restaurants with open terraces near the main squares, where you can order traditional local dishes and a glass of local wine, for example Trattoria Zà Zà, Trattoria Le Mossacce, and La Casalinga.
• Snack bars with a variety of panini on Via dei Neri.
• Gelaterias with exquisite Italian ice cream, among them Gelateria Perché No!.., Gelateria Fiorentina, La Carraia. You also shouldn’t deny yourself a visit to pastry shops with all kinds of Italian desserts and excellent coffee.
• All sorts of small wine bars, without which the set of gastronomic impressions from a visit to Florence cannot be considered complete!
• Michelin-starred restaurants that offer their guests unique dishes of signature and haute cuisine.

What to Combine a Trip to Florence With

The convenient geographical location of Florence clearly encourages you to include a couple more interesting nearby locations in your travel plan, including the following:

Picturesque small towns that are part of the Tuscany region:

• Siena, located in the legendary Chianti Valley and renowned for its wines and horse races (il Palio).
• Val d’Orcia, whose scenic landscapes are part of the UNESCO cultural heritage list.
• Pienza, the living embodiment of the “ideal city” as imagined by Renaissance thinkers.
• Montepulciano, the birthplace of the grape variety of the same name and a place where you’ll find iconic palazzo-castles built in the Mannerist style in the 16th century.
• Pisa, famous for its photogenic “leaning” tower, as well as the Basilica of San Piero a Grado (San Piero a Grado).
• Elba, with its welcoming sandy beaches.
• Milan, which will be the perfect complement to Florence in terms of fashion and art.
• Rimini, one of the most popular Italian beach resorts on the Adriatic Sea.
• Rome, which is definitely worth visiting regardless of the purpose of your trip to Italy.