1st Time Visitors Guide for Florence
- lisa71541
- Jan 6, 2024
- 10 min read
Updated: Jan 7, 2024
Florence, or as the Italians call it Firenze, is one of the most historic cities in Italy. It is quaint, romantic and so easy to get around by foot. Before you visit Florence for the 1st time, you must read this guide.
Florence Facts
Language:
Is Italian and in the tourist areas and cities you will find most people speak English. However, it is recommended that you learn a few common words in Italian. Knowing a few greetings, please and thank you’s in Italian go a long way with the locals.
Currency:
Like much of Europe, Italy uses euros. We find it is better to get some euros from our bank at home so you can use the ATM in Italy if you need more. You will have to pay an ATM fee and you can only take out about $500 a day. Most places take credit cards, but you will need to pay cash for all taxis. If you are getting money from your bank, make sure to go in about a week before your trip as it could take 5 business days for them to receive your euros as not all banks keep them on hand.
Climate:
Mid-June through August is HOT. Think Disney World, Florida in the summer hot. You will be outside almost all the time. If you must go in the summer, wear loose clothing and comfortable shoes as you will be walking on cobblestones for long periods of time. Also make sure you bring mosquito repellent for the evenings.
Safety:
I felt very safe walking around Florence. I would be cautious to wear flashy jewelry especially at night. I wore my engagement. ring and carried a luxury bag and just made sure I had the bag worn as a crossbody the entire time I was outside of the hotel, including sitting in restaurants. Or you can wrap it around your leg when sitting.
The only time I felt overwhelmed and cautious with my bags was walking through the square by the duomo. It is the most crowded part of Florence, and it was obvious there were con artists trying to get you to buy things and yhere were pick pockets around. You will also find art laying on the ground, make sure you do not step on it or they will follow you around insisting you to pay for it.
Like any destination, be mindful of your surroundings: don’t wander down alleys or low-lit empty streets at night or give away any hotel information.
Getting Around: You will not find Uber or Lyft avail anywhere in Florence so plan to walk or grab a taxi. The hotel or establishment you are in can help you call a taxi, or you can find taxi stands throughout the city. So, plan extra time to be prepared as this is not as easy as in the U.S. However, there are taxis that come regularly to the airport and to the train station so although you will have to wait in line, they are available. It took us about 20 min to grab a taxi at the train station at 10pm at night. During the day you could wait an hour.
How Long Should I Stay in florence
The city itself is so easy to get around you really only need a couple of days here, an extra day if you plan to venture into Tuscany. How to get to Florence Find the airport that has the cheapest flight. If Florence is not it, it is an easy flight from Milan or Rome to Florence. The high-speed train ride from Rome to Florence is 1.5 hours and from Milan to Florence it is 2 hours. The best railway is ItaliaRail. The train station and the airport are about 15 min from the center of Florence hotels.
Where we Stayed in florence
In 2023 we stayed at Hotel La Scaletta. This is in the Ponte Vecchio area. We loved the hotel. The room was spacious and the hotel service was lovely. Be prepared, every hotel we stayed in except for delete for Milan, had a narrow elevator with lots of stairs. Dave and I each had a roller bag, and I also had a weekender. We could both fit in the elevator when we did not have luggage. But to get our luggage upstairs we had to go one at a time in the elevator. Another thing to note, our room was on the 2nd floor, but that was like going up 4 flights of stairs. Be prepared for a good cardio workout.
We booked a Suite with Boboli Garden View room. The bathroom was rather nice size, with a huge shower and a separate enclosed toilet. Like most European hotels there wasn’t any countertop space, but the living area of the suite had a huge bureau that I was able to use. We had a queen size bed. The beds in all the hotels we stayed at our hard, Which is also common in a lot of European hotels. Make sure you are checking the designation of the bed size on a hotel website. Most times if they list a King size bed, it is two twin beds you can push together.
Our flight was delayed due to weather, and we lost over a ½ a day of our scheduled time in Florence. We were supposed to fly directly into Florence and arrive around 11 am but we were re-routed to Milan, and we took a train from Milan to Florence. We did not check into our hotel from the train station until 11pm that night. So, we had not yet witnessed the beauty of this city. The La Scaletta also has a rooftop restaurant and bar. We opted for breakfast our first morning as we wanted something quick to make the most of our time exploring. I am so glad we did, the interior of the restaurant is small, but the waitress let us know there was a rooftop area to eat, we just had to be mindful of the pigeons because they can be a bit aggressive. The view was stunning! I cannot describe the feeling of sitting on this hotel rooftop, drinking a cappuccino, and staring at a 360 view of the beautiful landscape and architecture.
The Ponte Vecchio area is easily walkable to everything you would want to see in Florence and a great are to stay.
Florence Itinerary Guide
Boboli Gardens.
The entrance fee for the gardens is about 10 euros/person. It is not well marked so even using maps you may walk past it. If you see a big stone building that looks like a museum, you are in the right spot. The gardens are through the museum. You are free to bring outside food in and have a picnic. It was relaxing morning to walk around the gardens and see all the statues. There is a coffee shop inside the building at the front entrance and seating in the courtyard. You can also grab a bite there if you are hungry. It started raining as we were leaving the gardens, so we hid out there and watched the rain while sipping on cappuccinos.
Uffizi Museum
This museum is home to priceless works of art from the Italian Renaissance and is one of the most visited museums of the world. Purchase tickets ahead of time so you can skip the line. GetYourGuide is one of my favorite places to buy tours. They are legit, guaranteed and I have had great success with them.
The Statue of David
You will find this well-known statue in The Accademia Gallery. Make sure to purchase tickets ahead of time as well. One of the best things about GetYourGuide is that you can cancel 24 hours in advance, and they will refund your ticket purchase. We had tickets for The Academia to see David but had to cancel due to our flight delay. Our money was refunded promptly and without any hassle. Everything can be done on their app.
Shopping
If you are shopping in Florence, you can find all the luxury stores and goods are less expensive in Italy than in the U.S. If you are looking for gold jewelry, Florence has an entire street lined with shops. So, if you are looking for gold jewelry, shop for it in Florence. We did not find this same availability in the other cities in Italy. Piazza di Santa Croce Street.
Gucci flagship Tour
Visit the Gucci flag store and tour the museum. This is located next to the Palazzo Strozzi, which is a Renaissance palace with art exhibits. Afterwards stroll the luxury shops. If you decide to do any luxury shopping in either Florence or Rome, make sure to set extra time as you may have to wait in line to get in the stores. Check out my blog post on how to research shopping before you travel. This also applies to shopping in England, France and Italy.
TIP: If you are also traveling to Milan, wait and do your shopping there, as it is not as touristy, and you will not have to wait in line to go in any of the stores.
Get Lost in the Streets of florence
Florence is the perfect city to explore. Walk the streets, go down the side streets and just explore. The city is fairly small. If you can still see the river Arno you can find your way. One area you may miss, walk over to statue of Cosimo Ridolfi in Piazza Santo Spirito and explore the streets past the statue.
Visit the Central Market
If you live in an area that has large indoor markets with vendors serving pasta, meats, coffee, and other grocery or cooked to order items, this is that same market but in Italy and with delicious Italian food. Make sure you get Biscotti from the store on the 1st floor.
Take a Day Trip to Tuscany
If you can make time in your schedule, clear a day to take a taxi out to Tuscany and book a winery tour. It is about a 45 min cab ride and cost us about $35 each way. The hills are stunning! I would recommend visiting one or both of the below wineries to visit delete to visit Give yourself extra time between spots as nothing is walkable and the beautiful winding roads and hillsides means it takes time to get between wineries.
• Tenute Folonari
• Verrazano Winery (the owner has a bridge named after him in NYC) and the winery is absolutely stunning.
Schedule a Foodie Tour
A foodie tour is a great way to explore areas of the city you might otherwise miss as well as get a sample of multiple local foods and learn a bit about the culture. We booked the Dinner Foodie Tour – Oltarano.
I would schedule the tour before you arrive to ensure there is a spot available. We only had 5 in our tour and our guide was amazing. We hit 5 different stops.
We started with a cheese and meat plate and two different wines in one establishment. The cheeses were amazing. The second spot was so cute inside and we had an array of appetizers and then another wine to try. They will have a red and a white that you can select from at each spot. You can also try both if you like.
Next, we wandered the streets where locals live and we learned a lot about the history of the wine windows. Did you know they started during the bubonic plaque as a way for shop keepers to sell their wine and food with little to no contact with others. At one time there was believed to be 285 wine windows throughout the city. A couple of years ago the wine windows came back to life more for tourists and fun and there are only a handful that are active. Our tour allowed us to ‘skip the line’ for the wine window. There was a line of tourists that went around the building. We waited only about 5 min before it was our turn. What a fun experience.
Our last two stops were a restaurant for Florentine steak, which was delicious, and I would recommend trying while in Florence. I prefer my steak cooked medium with just a little pink. But I always go with the chefs recommendation if they object to my order. LOL. Florentine steak is medium rare with olive oil, salt and pepper. I could not stop eating it.
Our last stop was dessert, of course gelato. A tip when looking for gelato to try. Make sure it is not in mounds above the container or brightly colored, that means it is not fresh and someone added something to give it that coloring. Pistachio should be brown, not green. If you find a gelato shop that has lids covering their gelato that is even better.
Bites we loved
Look for establishments that start with Osteria or Trattoria, that means it is family owned. I have to say we were not as crazy about the food in Naples as we were in the other cities we visited. Rome and Milan were much better. But the wines, cheeses and meats were very good!
A typical breakfast is pastries, cakes and coffee. If you are looking for eggs, pancakes and waffles you will need to go to a breakfast spot at an American chain hotel restaurant or a touristy spot for breakfast.
I usually eat a large breakfast. We were able to find pancakes and eggs at one restaurant in a touristy part of Florence at Piazza della Rupubblica Square. You could tell they were very annoyed at our order.
Below was our favorite place we ate for lunch. We loved the establishment, owners and the food and wine were wonderful!
I would recommend venturing down Via de Neri Street. This is supposed to be one of the most romantic streets in the city. It is very pretty, but it is small and because it draws in tourists, it can be crowded. There is a sandwich shop on this street that has done a great job advertising and is very popular but one thing I have learned while traveling is that popular with tourists usually means good marketing and does not always mean the best food or experience. We opted instead for taking a recommendation of a friend of mine and stopping into La Proscuitteria Frienze a little further down the street. We didn’t know what to order, so we asked the owner to make us a couple of different sandwiches with diff meats and cheeses. As he sliced the meats and cheeses to make our sandwich, we knew we were in for a treat. If you are a wine lover, do not be scared off by the prices in wine in Italy. You will find most glasses of wine will cost you $4-$10 a glass and they are all delicious! Wait staff are great with recommendations if you tell them the type of wine you like to drink. For example, do you like something dry but smooth or do you like more of a complex and full body wine. Cheaper wine in Italy does not mean a headache like it can in the U.S.
After dinner you are always given a digestivo, which is either limoncello or sambuca. The Italians have it figured out. We ate a ton of pasta and cheeses and the after dinner drinks really do help you digest and not feel so full.
Overall, this city is beautiful, romantic and a great couple’s getaway. Unlike Milan and Rome which are very large and busy cities, this one was the perfect spot to just stroll and explore.
What is your favorite part of Florence? Tell me in the comments below.
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