What to See in Florence: Between Art, Wonder, and Timeless Views

Florence is known worldwide as one of the Italian cities where art and architecture take center stage. Walking through the streets of this wonderful town, you will be enchanted by the vast amount of works displayed before your eyes. The historic center of Florence is a true open-air museum, and we recommend visiting it as thoroughly as possible. This guide will be useful for understanding what to see in Florence and what to do, illustrating the 10 things to see in Florence in one day and beyond.

Discover Florence on video

Florence as you have never seen it: art, emotion, and beauty told by the official video of Italian tourism. A perfect introduction to the city.

What to visit in Florence, attractions not to miss

The 12 Most Famous Attractions in Florence

Florence is an open-air museum: every corner tells a part of its great artistic history. Here is a selection of the 12 attractions to start your exploration.

To visit all the places of interest and attractions in Florence, several days would be needed, but don’t be scared. If you have little time available, you can visit Florence in one day, prioritizing the visit of some monuments over others.

We thought of creating a guide for you, to help you understand what to do in Florence based on the time you have available. Obviously, there are many things to see in Florence, but especially if you have little time, you should not miss these. Here are the most important places to visit in Florence and what not to miss in Florence.

What to See Absolutely in Florence

1 Piazza Duomo

Piazza Duomo in Florence must be the first thing to visit in Florence. It is a true open-air museum in the heart of the city. With a single ticket, you can access several monuments: the Duomo, the Opera del Duomo Museum, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the Brunelleschi’s Dome, the Giotto’s Campanile, the Baptistery of San Giovanni.

The Brunelleschi’s Dome of the cathedral of Florence is a monument open to the public, where you can see up close the Brunelleschian architectural structures, the 16th-century frescoes inside, and enjoy from above a spectacular panorama of the city.

The Giotto’s Campanile, of the Cathedral of Florence, is a monument open to the public where you can see up close the 14th-century architectural structures and enjoy a beautiful view of the city from the panoramic terrace located at the top of the building.

2 Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore

The Cathedral Santa Maria del Fiore, whose construction was designed by Arnolfo di Cambio, is the third and last Florentine cathedral, dedicated in 1412 to Santa Maria del Fiore with a clear allusion to the lily, symbol of the city. It was built over the second cathedral, which paleochristian Florence had dedicated to Santa Reparata. The Museum of the Opera of Santa Maria del Fiore was established to preserve and display the works of the cathedral complex. It was expanded and renovated in 1999.

3 Ponte Vecchio

The Ponte Vecchio of Florence is surely one of the most famous bridges in the world, wonderful, romantic; a photo souvenir from this point of Florence is a must. In the past, it connected Palazzo Vecchio, also called Palazzo della Signoria, the political heart of the city, to Palazzo Pitti, and then to the Boboli Gardens.

4 Palazzo Pitti

Originally the Palace was the residence of the Grand Dukes of Tuscany. Currently, it is a monumental area used as the seat of several museums and as a place for major exhibitions in Florence.

Palatine Gallery and Royal Apartments. In the eighteenth century, some representative rooms of the grand dukes’ palace of Tuscany began to be used as a picture gallery until the collection was opened to the public at the beginning of the nineteenth century. The Gallery illustrates the taste of Medici and Lorraine collecting, both in the setup, inspired by the decorative and representative principles of a princely gallery, and in the preference for 16th and 17th-century art represented by artists such as: Raphael, Andrea del Sarto, Pontormo, Titian, Tintoretto, Veronese, Caravaggio, Rubens, Van Dyck, Velazquez. The Gallery is attached to the monumental apartments that conserve the furnishings of the period when they were the residence of the Italian royal family.

Costume Gallery. The museum is dedicated to the history of fashion. It hosts collections of costumes and accessories from the eighteenth century to today and theatrical costumes, including the restored funeral clothes of Cosimo I de’ Medici, Eleanora di Toledo and don Garzia. Exhibitions for biennial selections and temporary shows.

5 Boboli Gardens

The Boboli Garden, inside Palazzo Pitti, is wonderful and makes this place one of the unmissable points on the list “Florence what to visit”. Started in 1549, designed by Tribolo, for the Duchess Eleonora di Toledo, it was expanded and modified in the following centuries. Used for the courtly entertainments of the grand ducal court, it was opened to the public in 1766 during the time of Pietro Leopoldo of Lorraine. It was musealized in 1992. It represents one of the major examples of Italian garden, which gives rational order to nature and enriches the geometries of the avenues and plants with grottoes, statues, and fountains. Of particular artistic importance are the ancient Roman statues and those of important Renaissance sculptors such as Baccio Bandinelli and Giambologna. The grottoes, fountains, amphitheater where court shows took place.

6 The Uffizi and the Cabinet of Drawings and Prints

The Uffizi: this is another unmissable place in Florence. It is the most visited Italian museum in the world, attracting more than a million visitors every year. The line to enter will be quite long, but don’t be discouraged; the wait will be rewarded by the wonders you will find inside. The Cabinet of Drawings and Prints of the Uffizi is located on the first floor of the Vasarian complex of the Uffizi and hosts one of the most important graphic collections in the world. The collection, started around the mid-17th century by Cardinal Leopoldo de’ Medici, has been expanded over the centuries and is still continuously growing. The works (almost 150,000, between drawings and prints) date from the late 14th century to today. Renaissance artists prevail, particularly Florentine and Tuscan, foreign schools are significantly represented, and the presence of contemporary artists is constantly increasing. Also important is the architectural drawing heritage. The Institute organizes periodic exhibitions, accompanied by scientific catalogs, which are presented to the public in the Exhibition Hall.

To skip the Uffizi line, choose to buy tickets in advance. Here’s how.

7 Santa Maria Novella

The Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, adjacent to the homonymous railway station, is wonderful both outside and inside. It is part of Florence’s history and inside you can observe, among other things, the crucifix painted by Giotto. It requires a visit that we recommend you take.
The church of Santa Maria Novella, while maintaining free access to a chapel reserved for prayer and masses that take place on weekdays at 7:30 a.m. and 6 p.m., on holidays at 8:30 a.m., 10:30 a.m., 12 p.m., and 6 p.m., has been musealized with the institution of an entrance ticket and predetermined visiting hours, to ensure an orderly visit of the church with wider and more convenient hours, to guarantee the protection of works of art, and respect for the religious function of the monument.
The Santa Maria Novella Museum consists of a part of the monumental complex of the Dominican convent of Santa Maria Novella with its pictorial decorations. Since 1983, a selection of sacred furnishings belonging to the Basilica has been exhibited in the refectory.

8 Piazza della Signoria

Piazza della Signoria is located in the center of Florence, in front of Palazzo Vecchio and you will surely recognize it by the David (N.B.: the original is found at the Galleria dell’Accademia) by Michelangelo placed on the right side.

9 Monumental Complex of Santa Croce

After the 1966 flood, the environments and works were restored and the museum was renovated in 1977. Linked to the Santa Croce museum is the permanent exhibition of about 300 pieces among papers and engraved woodcuts of xylographic works by Pietro Parigi (1892-1988). Since 2002, even the church of Santa Croce has been musealized and the visit to the basilica with its works of art is part of the museum route.

10 Baptistery of San Giovanni

The Baptistery of San Giovanni, masterpiece of Florentine Romanesque art. With an octagonal plan, entirely covered with white and green marble slabs from Prato, the Baptistery is covered by an eight-segment dome resting on the perimeter walls, masked on the outside by the elevation of the walls above the arch of the second level and by a flattened pyramid roof.

Florence, places of interest

11 Palazzo Medici Riccardi

The first museum established in the Palazzo Medici Riccardi was the Mediceo Museum, in the ground floor rooms, dedicated to the history of the Medici family. The current museum route includes the Chapel with frescoes by Benozzo Gozzoli, the Michelozzo courtyard, the garden, and the Gallery frescoed in the seventeenth century by Luca Giordano. The rooms of the former Mediceo Museum are now used for temporary exhibitions.

12 Cenacolo di Sant’Apollonia

The museum occupies part of the ancient monastery of the Benedictine Sisters of Sant’Apollonia, founded in 1339 and enlarged in the fifteenth century. Around 1447 Andrea del Castagno frescoed the back wall of the refectory with the Last Supper, the Crucifixion, the Deposition, and the Resurrection. The museum also exhibits other detached frescoes by Andrea del Castagno with their related sinopie, and paintings by Paolo Schiavo and Neri di Bicci, originating from the monastery.

13 Casa Giorgio Vasari in Florence

After a restoration that lasted several years, the Florentine residence where Giorgio Vasari spent the last years of his life and died in 1574 is open to the public. The house is located inside a sixteenth-century palace in Borgo Santa Croce, not far from the homonymous square. The house has undergone numerous interventions over time, but the Sala Grande has been spared, the only one remaining today among the rooms frescoed by the master and his collaborators.

14 Church of San Benedetto

The first news of the church dates back to 1002, when it was defined as Ecclesia Sancti Benedicti extra muros civitatis Florentiae. In fact, at that time the church was located outside the Carolingian city walls. It was one of the 36 ancient Florentine parishes, equipped with economic assets outside Florence, and some of its Rectors are mentioned in various documents since 1127. San Benedetto is the only Church in Florence dedicated to the Saint founder of Western Monasticism, today also patron of Europe: Benedict of Nursia (480-547).

15 Brancacci Chapel

Following the restoration of frescoes by Masaccio, Masolino, and Filippino Lippi, the Brancacci Chapel has been musealized, isolating it from the church of the Carmine and allowing access to visitors through the Cloister and the chapter house of the convent.

16 Cloister of the Scalzo

17 Basilica of San Lorenzo

The Basilica of San Lorenzo, while retaining its function of worship and parish, has been musealized allowing visits at set times and with ticket payment, in order to allow better conservation and enjoyment of the artworks preserved, respecting the religious function of the monument.

18 Crypt of Santa Reparata

Accessible from inside the Duomo are the archaeological excavations that brought to light the ancient cathedral of Santa Reparata, destroyed following the construction of the new Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore.

Museums of Florence

The museum consists of the public rooms (Hall of the Five Hundred, Hall of the Two Hundred, Hall of the Lilies, and the Audience Hall) and the so-called Medici quarters of the Elements and Eleonora, which are located in the Palazzo della Signoria. The visit route also includes the mezzanine where the Loeser collection is displayed.

21 Dante’s House Museum

The museum, arranged according to modern museology criteria, reconstructs the political-economic and cultural environment of the time of the illustrious Florentine. The exhibition path retraces the life of the Supreme Poet through his works, the events of his family, his exile, and the Florence of that time.

22 Gallery of Modern Art of Florence

The Gallery of Modern Art of Florence preserves works of art (paintings and sculptures) mainly related to Tuscan figurative culture within analogical limits ranging from the late 18th century to the period between the two world wars. It illustrates the evolution of Tuscan art from the neoclassical, romantic, and purist period, centered on celebratory historical themes, to the anti-academic reform carried out after the mid-century by the Macchiaioli group, based on painting with patches of colors and light contrasts with prevalent attention to subjects of nature and daily life.

The 19th-century itinerary concludes with expressions of decadence, symbolism, post-impressionism, and divisionism. Among the various artists present are F. Hayez, S. Lega, T. Signorini, G. Fattori, C. Pissarro, M. Rosso, G. Boldini, A. Magnelli.

23 Pietro Annigoni Museum

The Pietro Annigoni Museum was born from the acquisition by the Ente Cassa di Risparmio di Firenze in agreement with the Fondazione Parchi Monumentali Bardini e Peyron of a significant part of the rich collection of works of art created by the master that were property of his children. It consists of about 6000 pieces including paintings, drawings, lithographs, engravings, and sculptures that represent the highest concentration of materials related to the broad artistic production of the Milanese-born painter.

24 Museum of the Santa Maria Novella Perfume Workshop

The museum was strongly desired to give light and life back to the machines and ancient instruments used long ago, which the Workshop has jealously and attentively preserved through the troubled vicissitudes of the centuries. This is not only aimed at showing the preparations of Santa Maria Novella products but is also intended for those simply interested in visiting a museum of tradition.

25 Porcelain Museum

The Porcelain Museum, functionally linked to the Silver Museum and the Boboli Gardens, collects collections of porcelain tableware from the reigning houses that succeeded at Palazzo Pitti, from the Medici to the Lorraine to the Savoia. The first room displays porcelains from the Royal Factory of Naples, the Doccia Manufacture founded by the Ginori family. French porcelain is represented by examples from the Vincennes and Sevres factories. The second room displays Vienna porcelain brought by the Lorraines. The third room exhibits porcelains from Meissen and other German manufacturers.

26 Gucci Museum

Designed by Gucci Creative Director Frida Giannini, the Gucci Museum is a living space that embodies the brand’s “Forever Now” philosophy. The permanent exhibition of the Gucci archive, preserved and expanded over the years in its richness and cultural relevance, will be accompanied by a series of contemporary art installations, selected with the support of the Pinault Foundation. The museum path will also be complemented by shops dedicated to Gucci’s iconic products and gifts, a bookstore, and a café.

Florence: places to visit

27 Medici Villa of Careggi

The fifteenth-century villa, where Lorenzo the Magnificent died, built to a design by the architect Michelozzo, houses the offices of the Careggi Hospital Company, but it is a monument open to visitors who are offered a brochure containing historical notes in Italian and English. It preserves much of the original architectural lines and seventeenth-century pictorial decorations.

28 Collections of the Ximenian Observatory

At its inception, the observatory, founded by the Jesuit father Leonardo Ximenes in 1756, mainly dealt with astronomy and hydraulics, but soon, with the transition to the Piarist Fathers (1773), it focused on meteorology and seismology studies. At the end of the 1700s and early 1800s, important mathematical and cartographic studies were conducted, which led, among other things, to the creation of the Geometric Map of Tuscany. Studies still continue actively today and the laboratory carries out meteorological surveys and is part of the Seismic Network of the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology.

29 State Art Institute Plaster Cast Gallery

The Plaster Cast Gallery of the Florence Art Institute holds the most interesting collection of plaster models in Italy, especially of models of Tuscan Renaissance art. The largest core comes from the purchase, in 1922, by the then director Mario Salvini, of the collection of Oronzio Lelli.

30 Enzo Pazzagli Art Park

The Enzo Pazzagli Art Park, located in the southern area of Florence, bordered by the Arno and surrounded by a splendid landscape, is a large space dedicated to contemporary art. Thanks to its remarkable exhibition capacity (the total surface exceeds 23,000 square meters), it aims to be an active center for the promotion of both local and international artists. In addition to temporary exhibitions, it hosts a permanent “en plein air” collection of sculptures by Master Pazzagli and 10 other artists, surrounded by 300 cypress trees.

Other Museums in Florence Not to Be Missed

31 Medici Chapels Museum

The Medici Chapels museum route includes the Chapel of the Princes and the New Sacristy by Michelangelo. The former houses in the crypt the tombs of the members of the Medici dynasty, in the lavish room upstairs the cenotaphs of the grand dukes and in two rooms flanking the altar the treasure of San Lorenzo, consisting of reliquaries and other furnishings, masterpieces of Renaissance and Baroque goldsmithing. The New Sacristy was designed by Michelangelo and began in 1521, later completed by Vasari. It contains the tomb of Lorenzo the Magnificent and his brother Giuliano with the statue of the Madonna and Child and the tombs of Lorenzo Duke of Urbino and Giuliano Duke of Nemours with statues of the two dukes and those of Day, Night, Dawn, and Dusk.

32 Instruments Museum of the Military Geographic Institute

The Museum of the Military Geographic Institute houses a rich collection of instruments for geodesy, astronomy, topography, and physics. The number of artifacts totals over 400 units. The core of the collection originated from the gathering of instruments existing before 1861 at the topographic-cartographic offices of the various pre-unification states. Later, with the establishment of the Military Geographic Institute, the collection expanded, often with instruments designed by internal staff and built at the institute’s mechanical workshop. Even today, the Museum is enriched with all the instrumentation of the relevant sectors as they become technologically outdated.

These are the main points of interest to see in Florence if you only have one day available, but if you have more time, keep this additional list in mind on “Florence museums” and “Florence, monuments”:

• Palazzo Strozzi, one of the most beautiful Renaissance palaces in Italy.
• Church of Santo Spirito, one of the most beautiful basilicas in Florence.
• San Miniato al Monte, a church located at the highest point of the city.
• San Lorenzo and Santa Croce, historic basilicas of Florence, magnificent.
• Brancacci Chapel, a masterpiece of the Renaissance. Unmissable.
• Oltrarno, a characteristic quarter linked to art and craftsmanship.
• Bargello, a very interesting museum dedicated to sculpture.
• Museum of the History of Science, located next to the Uffizi, a mandatory stop for science lovers.

Information in brief: how to get around, where to stay in Florence, where to eat. Don’t miss visiting Florence at Christmas and at Easter, with the “explosion of the cart”.

33 Firenze Card

To visit a greater number of museums, we recommend purchasing the Firenze Card, which will allow you free entry to the museums included in the circuit and, with a minimal additional cost, the use of public transportation completely free of charge.

34 How to get around Florence

Florence is accessible by plane, arriving at Florence Amerigo Vespucci Airport which is 4 km from the city, or by train, arriving directly in the center at the Florence Santa Maria Novella station. There are also 2 major bus stations: Florence Piazzale Montelungo and Florence Rifredi. Once in the center, the best way to get around is definitely on foot. We do not recommend using a car as parking in Florence is not that easy to find.

35 Where to Eat in Florence

Where to Eat in Florence: for your lunches and dinners, we recommend choosing a good restaurant, perhaps in the center, where you can taste a good Florentine steak, a fettunta, or a ribollita.

36 Where to sleep in Florence: central areas and budget solutions

Staying in Florence is a unique experience, but to avoid spending too much it is essential to choose the right area. If you want to save without sacrificing quality, read our complete guide on where to sleep in Florence without spending too much: you will find practical advice, recommended areas, and local tips.

Our advice? Look for accommodation in the historic center, so you can move on foot between museums, churches, squares, and markets. The offer of hotels and B&B is very wide: welcoming structures, often housed in historic buildings, with excellent value for money.

🛏️ Tip: also check out our selection of hotels and lodging in Florence on FullTravel.

💡 Or look for deals on: Booking.com

All that remains is to pack your bags, bring your camera, and reach a wonderful place that we assure you, you will never forget.

Frequently Asked Questions about What to See in Florence