How to Spend 24 Hours in Florence, Italy

When Matt and I decided to visit Rome for New Year’s during our holiday trip, our main motivation was meeting up with a couple of friends — Emily and James. But it was a little too expensive to fly back to Madrid from Rome, so I started checking out other airports in Italy. About four hours north of Rome is Bologna, which ended up having the best ticket prices. And halfway between Rome and Bologna is Florence.

After hearing about Florence as one of Italy’s must-visit cities for years, it was the perfect opportunity to check it out myself.

Although we definitely didn’t have as much time as I would have liked, we were still able to see a lot of the big sites and still do some random exploring on our own. Florence is a beautiful city, and it’s worth visiting — whether you have 24 hours in Florence or more!

1. Florence Cathedral

Trust me when I say that I’ve been to a minimum of a million (1,000,000) different cathedrals throughout Europe. Having multiple impressive cathedrals is pretty much a requirement of being a European city. But the Florence Cathedral — formally the Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore — definitely takes one of my top spots for most beautiful cathedral based on its exterior. (Basílica de la Sagrada Familia in Barcelona being the other one.)

Located in the Piazza del Duomo, it’s amazing how the colors of the façade seem to change based on the sunlight. Sometimes, it seems staunchly white with black details; other times, you’ll find it accented with pink and green.

Even if you don’t have time to go inside, this is the top site you absolutely can’t miss in Florence. It would be like going to Paris and not seeing the Eiffel Tower.

2. The Duomo Museums

The Duomo is the larger-than-life dome of the Florence Cathedral, which is also a truly amazing sight to behold. But did you know — you can actually go inside the Duomo itself?

That’s right — with a ticket to the Duomo Museums, you have the opportunity to climb the Duomo or the bell tower, Giotto’s Campanile. Since we were there on New Year’s Day, everything was extra crowded and we weren’t able to go inside the Duomo because everything was sold out already. However, we did climb the bell tower, which was what I wanted to do the most anyway! That’s how you get the amazing view of the Duomo (pictured above).

The Duomo Museums ticket includes access to five different museums:

• Galleria dell’Opera di Santa Maria del Fiore (Museum of the Works of the Cathedral)
• Brunelleschi’s Dome (Duomo)
• Giotto’s Bell Tower
• Baptistery of San Giovanni
• Ruins of Santa Reparata

You can also get a skip-the-line ticket to make sure you don’t miss out, especially when you only have a limited time in Florence.

(Side note: the famous statue of Michelangelo’s David is not part of the Duomo Museums — it’s in the Galleria dell’Accademia di Firenze, which is a nearby art museum.)

3. Piazzale Michelangelo

We stumbled across this on accident. We were wandering around the hilly southwest part of Florence, near the Boboli and Bardini Gardens, trying to get a good view from above the city. And we noticed a large crowd of people who seemed to have a great lookout point, so we decided to see what it was all about.

We’d found the Piazzale Michelangelo! Turns out, this is hands-down the best panoramic view of Florence. Again, it was extra crowded with all the holiday visitors. But we were eventually able to fight our way to the front of the masses to get some beautiful photos. We were also there near sunset, which gave an ultra-romantic vibe to the cityscape.

4. Ponte Vecchio

This famous site was another one that we found accidentally. Florence is set against the Arno River, which means it’s got plenty of interesting bridges (pontes) spanning its banks.

Ponte Vecchio is unlike any other bridges that I can remember seeing before. And that’s precisely what makes it famous. Not only is it the oldest bridge in Florence — thought to date back to Roman times — but it has houses built right into the sides of the bridge! These days, the houses operate as shops, mostly jewelry and art sellers, and souvenirs. So yes, it’s a little bit tourist-trappy. But it’s worth it to wander across the most interesting bridge in Florence.

5. Eat Gelato

Please tell me you’re not considering a visit to Italy and not planning to consume as much gelato as humanly possible?

There is some confusion as to where the true origins of gelato began. While the Italian island of Sicily is sometimes considered the birthplace of gelato, Florence native Bernardo Buentalenti was often credited with the creation of the sweet dessert, more or less how we know it today.

There are plenty of gelato shops throughout Florence, so indulge to your heart’s desire. Many shops give free samples, so you can try a few flavors before making your decision. However, be aware that many places will upcharge you if you decide to enjoy it alla tavolo — at the table — so you might want to take your gelato to go.

Bonus Things to See: Depending on how you schedule your time, you might be able to squeeze in a few more things. Personally, with the holiday crowds, we didn’t have time to do them. But my parents went to Florence over the summer and recommended these to me!

6. Pitti Palace

Located atop a hill across the Arno River, the Pitti Palace is a gallery full of important collections of sculptures, paintings, art, and more. The monumental complex includes several museums, making it largest in Florence. You might not be able to see everything, but you’ll just have to come back another time!

7. Boboli Gardens

Near the Pitti Palace, you’ll find the Boboli Gardens, an outdoor museum which is one of the largest and most elegant Italian-style gardens in the world. Looking at the pictures now, I really wish we’d had time to go there because it looks really beautiful.

Find more things to do in Florence.

One More Very Important Thing

If you’ve traveled around Europe before, you might already know about this. If not, I will tell you now: many European countries’ transportation networks are based on the honor system. What does that mean? Well, it means that you’re able to board buses, trains, etc. without a ticket. However, a transport officer may ask you to produce your ticket on demand at any moment, and in that case, you’d better have a ticket.

After buying tickets all over Germany, Austria, and Italy for two weeks (and never being asked for them), Matt and I boarded an extremely crowded bus from Piazza de Michelangelo to the city center. Many buses have ticket machines in the front and the middle; we boarded in the middle and then found that there was no ticket machine there. But we could not get to the front of the bus in that moment. Intending to wait until the crowd dissipated, we rode without a ticket. And guess what happened? Yep, we got stopped by the police and had to pay a €50 fine.

I tell you this because, apparently, Florence particularly is infamous for doing ticket checks. Throughout all my time in Europe, I’ve never seen this happen before. But on our very first bus ride in Florence, the only time we didn’t have a ticket, it happened. So be aware — the stakes are higher here.

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I had a really good time in Florence, and I wish I’d had more time — and the holiday crowds hadn’t been so bad. Italy is a country I don’t think I’ll ever get tired of visiting, so I am sure I will be back to spend even more time and have more adventures!

What are your favorite things in Florence, or what else do you want to know about? Let me know in the comments!

-Cathy

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Originally Published on March 2, 2020.