Insight Guides Pocket Florence (Travel Guide eBook)

How To Use This E-Book

Getting Around the e-Book

This Pocket Guide e-book is designed to give you inspiration and planning advice for your visit to Florence, and is also the perfect on-the-ground companion for your trip.

The guide begins with our selection of Top 10 Attractions, plus a Perfect Itinerary feature to help you plan unmissable experiences. The Introduction and History chapters paint a vivid cultural portrait of Florence, and the Where to Go chapter gives a complete guide to all the sights worth visiting. You will find ideas for activities in the What to Do section, while the Eating Out chapter describes the local cuisine and gives listings of the best restaurants. The Travel Tips offer practical information to help you plan your trip. Finally, there are carefully selected hotel listings.

In the Table of Contents and throughout this e-book you will see hyperlinked references. Just tap a hyperlink once to skip to the section you would like to read. Practical information and listings are also hyperlinked, so as long as you have an external connection to the internet, you can tap a link to go directly to the website for more information.

Maps

All key attractions and sights in Florence are numbered and cross-referenced to high-quality maps. Wherever you see the reference [map], tap once to go straight to the related map. You can also double-tap any map for a zoom view.

Images

You’ll find lots of beautiful high-resolution images that capture the essence of Florence. Simply double-tap an image to see it in full-screen.

About Insight Guides

Insight Guides have more than 40 years’ experience of publishing high-quality, visual travel guides. We produce 400 full-colour titles, in both print and digital form, covering more than 200 destinations across the globe, in a variety of formats to meet your different needs.

Insight Guides are written by local authors, whose expertise is evident in the extensive historical and cultural background features. Each destination is carefully researched by regional experts to ensure our guides provide the very latest information. All the reviews in Insight Guides are independent; we strive to maintain an impartial view. Our reviews are carefully selected to guide you to the best places to eat, go out and shop, so you can be confident that when we say a place is special, we really mean it.

© 2019 Apa Digital (CH) AG and Apa Publications (UK) Ltd

Table of Contents

Florence’s Top 10 Attractions

Top Attraction #1

Top Attraction #2

Top Attraction #3

Top Attraction #4

Top Attraction #5

Top Attraction #6

Top Attraction #7

Top Attraction #8

Top Attraction #9

Top Attraction #10

A Perfect Day In Florence

Introduction

Trials and Tribulations

A Brief History

From the Carolingians to the Republic

Guelphs and Ghibellines

Evolution of Florentine society

Florence’s golden age

The Renaissance

The Medici

Bonfire of the Vanities

The 18th and 19th centuries

Early 20th century

World War II to the Present Day

Historical Landmarks

Where To Go

Piazza del Duomo

The Duomo

The Campanile

The Baptistery

Loggia del Bigallo

Museo dell’Opera del Duomo

Piazza della Signoria

Palazzo Vecchio

Loggia dei Lanzi

The Gucci Garden

The Uffizi

The Museo Galileo

The Bargello and Santa Croce

The Bargello

Badia Fiorentina

Piazza Santa Croce

Cappella dei Pazzi

Casa Buonarroti

The Horne Museum

Piazza della Repubblica

Via Tornabuoni and Piazza Santa Trinità

Palazzo Davanzati and Mercato Nuovo

Orsanmichele

San Lorenzo

The Medici Chapels

The Mercato Centrale and Palazzo Riccardi

San Marco

Galleria dell’Accademia

Piazza della Santissima Annunziata

The Foundling Hospital

Museo Archeologico and Tempio Ebraico

Santa Maria Novella

Santa Maria Novella

Museum and Cloisters

Museo Marino Marini and Cappella Rucellai

Ognissanti

The Oltrarno

Ponte Vecchio

Palazzo Pitti

Palatine Gallery and Royal Apartments

The Modern Art, Costume and Medici Treasures Museums

The Garden and the Porcelain Museum

Giardino Bardini

Santo Spirito

Santa Maria del Carmine

Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato al Monte

Excursions

Fiesole

Piazza Mino

Between Fiesole and Florence

Pisa

Siena

Piazza del Campo

Piazza del Duomo

Santa Maria della Scala

San Gimignano

What To Do

Shopping

Fashion

Antiques and Reproductions

Ceramics

Gold and Silver

Inlays and Mosaics

Leather

Perfumes

Street Markets

Entertainment

Theatre and Music

Nightlife and Cinema

Sports

Children’s Florence

Calendar of Events

Eating Out

Where and When to Eat

What to Eat

Antipasti

Primi

Secondi

Contorni

Dolci

What to Drink

Reading the Menu

To Help You Order…

…and Read the Menu

Restaurants

Centro Storico (Centre)

Santa Croce (East)

San Lorenzo and San Marco (North)

Santa Maria Novella (West)

Oltrarno (South)

A–Z Travel Tips

A

Accommodation

Airports

B

Bicycle Hire

Budgeting for your Trip

C

Car Hire (See also Driving)

Climate

Clothing

Crime and Safety

D

Disabled Travellers

Driving

E

Electricity

Embassies and Consulates

Emergencies

G

Getting There

Guides and Tours

H

Health and Medical Care (see also Emergencies)

L

Language

LGBTQ travellers

M

Maps

Media

Money

O

Opening Hours

P

Police

Post Offices

Public Holidays

R

Religion

T

Telephones

Time Differences

Tipping

Toilets

Tourist Information

Transport

V

Visa and Entry requirements

W

Websites and Internet Access

Y

Youth Hostels

Recommended Hotels

Centro Storico (centre)

Santa Croce (East)

San Lorenzo and San Marco (North)

Santa Maria Novella (West)

Oltrarno (South)

Fiesole

Florence’s Top 10 Attractions

Top Attraction #1

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Santa Croce

This glorious church is full of artistic treasures. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction #2

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Palazzo Pitti and Giardino di Boboli

A sumptuous palace and delightful pleasure-garden that once belonged to the Medicis. For more information, click here or click here..

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Top Attraction #3

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The Duomo

Brunelleschi’s magnificent dome towers above the city; equally impressive is Giotto’s graceful campanile. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction #4

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The Accademia

The gallery’s star exhibit is Michelangelo’s David, perhaps the most famous piece of sculpture in the Western world. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction #5

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Ponte Vecchio

The beautiful medieval bridge still retains the small shops of its artisans. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction #6

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The Uffizi

Home to the world’s greatest collection of Italian Renaissance paintings. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction #7

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Santa Maria Novella

The cavernous church was designed by Dominican architects in the mid-13th century. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction #8

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San Marco

The frescoed dormitory of the monastery is the location of some of Fra Angelico’s finest works. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction #9

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San Lorenzo

The first Renaissance church and home to the glorious Medici Chapels. For more information, click here.

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Top Attraction #10

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Cappella Brancacci

The site of Masaccio’s sublime frescoes. For more information, click here.

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A Perfect Day In Florence

9.00am

Breakfast

Start your day with a cappuccino and cornetto at Caffè Scudieri on the Piazza di San Giovanni (19r). This smart, long-established café/pasticceria is right in the heart of Florence, in the pedestrianised Piazza.

10.00am

The Duomo

Amble around the Piazza, admiring the Baptistery, Campanile (bell tower) and the iconic Duomo (cathedral). Those with stamina can tackle the 463 stairs spiralling to the top of the cathedral’s dome to admire Brunelleschi’s engineering genius and the fabulous views.

11.30am

Via de’Tornabuoni

Take the Via Roma south of the Baptistery for Piazza della Repubblica, home to some of the city’s most elegant cafés. Cross the square for Via Strozzi and at the end turn left onto Via de’ Tornabuoni for the lavish flagship stores of Armani, Gucci and Prada, to name just a few.

1.00pm

Mercato Nuovo

At Piazza Santa Trinità, turn left onto Via Porta, passing halfway along the Palazzo Davanzati. At the end on the right is the Mercato Nuovo; built for the sale of silk and gold, the market is now devoted to leather and souvenirs. Rub the snout of the bronze boar to guarantee your return to Florence and maybe brave a tripe sandwich from the popular stand at the market’s southwest corner.

1.30pm

Piazza art

Since medieval times this expansive piazza has been a hub of city life. Overlooking the piazza is the towering Palazzo Vecchio, former ancestral home of the Medici. Admire the array of open-air sculpture, check out the Gucci Garden, or sit at one of the people-watching cafés. For a juicy bistecca a la fiorentina and a glass of Chianti, head for nearby Frescobaldi (Via dei Magazzini).

3.00pm

Ponte Vecchio

Head south for the river, passing the famous Uffizi Gallery, repository of the world’s finest collection of Renaissance art. At the River Arno turn right for Ponte Vecchio, symbol of Florence and its oldest bridge. Goldsmiths and jewellers have been selling their wares here since 1593.

3.30pm

Boboli

From the bridge follow the flow to the Palazzo Pitti. The vast palace is home to five museums and could occupy a whole day or more. For now just explore the lovely Giardino di Boboli, the formal gardens dotted with loggias, cool fountains, grottos and myriad statues.

8.00pm

Dinner time

Make for Piazza Santo Spirito, just northwest of Palazzo