Mediciville: Florence in 3 Days

Day 1, Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore

Florence is a remarkably historic city. Most people think of Rome when imagining some of the most historic cities in the world however Florence was at the absolute epicenter during the renaissance period. Some of the greatest artisans who ever lived during the renaissance once called this city home and their work still lives on to this day (and on public display).

When arriving in Florence, I recommend one of the first things you do (if you haven’t done so already online) is purchase a FirenzeCard+. This little card costs about $100 US Dollars (as of July 2019) but it opens a whole bunch of doors in the city - literally. The biggest perk of the card is bypassing all the lines for every museum in Florence and no need to make reservations to visit any of the historic sites. Another huge bonus is the card also grants unlimited use of the public transportation in the city, which is a huge help considering how vast Florence truly is. The card, once activated, gives the user access to all the museums, sites and attractions for 72 hours which is perfect for us since we’re only in the town for two nights.

NOTE: You can purchase the card online in advance however you are able to buy it in person as well but you’ll need to bring your passport to show you are not a local.

Once you have your card, the first historic site/museum you should visit is the Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore or ‘The Duomo’. Located in the absolute center of the city, the Duomo is one of the largest churches in Italy and one of the largest domes in the world. I recommend you visit this beast first because it’s one of the most physically demanding places you will be visiting - quite literally.

The Duomo has multiple attractions for travelers to do but the main three are the museum, the pews and the climb. “The Climb” means that you will go up to the very top of the cathedral. The entrance to the stairs is at an unassuming doorway where a bored looking staff member leans against the wall and waves you in. The first 100 steps are a breeze as they are wide and semi-modern but by the time you get to ¼ of the way, the trouble begins. The staircase gets significantly more narrower and the climb gets steeper and it’s tiring, extremely tiring. Depending on who is in front of you, the climb could be a slow crawl or a straight charge up - I went during the off season so the line in front of us was thin and I was constantly moving upwards. The only break you get when going up the Duomo is about ¾ of the way up where you walk on a narrow balcony from the inside of the dome. This is the hardest part of the climb because there is no one monitoring who goes up and down the trap door to the top - you have to bully yourself in, elbows and all.

Once at the top, the view felt like something from Game of Thrones. There is no time limit on how long you can stay at the top but I recommend about 30 minutes. The only difficult part of climbing back down is trying to get back to the staircase. Since the hatch door is not monitored by a staff member of the Duomo, it’s every man for themselves. In order to access the stairs back down, I literally had to push my butt into someone else’s face that was trying to climb up and force my way down. Once you managed to push yourself through a never-ending stream of people trying to get up, the rest of the journey down is quite lovely. The light is better received on the climb down and you can see a lot more detail in the carving of the stairs and infrastructure of the interior walls on your way out.

NOTE: Despite having the FirenzeCard, this does not grant you to skip the line to climb to the top.

Dinner

There are many places to try for dinner and you might have your own list of restaurants to eat at when in Florence however my personal favorite would be Ristorante del Fagioli. I’m a personal sucker for places that don’t even bother with a paper menu and instead have only daily specials written on a chalkboard near the kitchen. Please note that this place does not take reservations and if you are a group of 3 or less people, most likely you will be paired up with another couple at the same table. Restaurants in Florence like to maximize their profits so if you get seated at a table that can fit four, don’t be surprised if you have two strangers joining you for dinner.

Afterwards, you can either get an apéritif at either I Fratellini or grab some gelato that can be found at practically every corner on your way back to your hotel/airbnb.

Day 2, Medici Palace and a naked man statue

This is the only full day in Florence so hopefully you got a good rest the night before since it’s going to be a long day. Like most Italian cities, Florence doesn’t focus heavily on breakfast and instead the majority of the citizens just have a small pastry and a coffee to start their day. Cafes are as common in this town as pizza shops so I can bet one of the best cups of coffee you can get will only be a few blocks away from your flat.

When visiting the birthplace of the renaissance, an important landmark to visit is the final resting place of the family that financially started the era, the Medici Chapel. The chapel was constructed by Michelangelo and is an extension of The Duomo that houses the tombs of the most prominent members of the Medici family.

Fun fact about the tombs of Giuliano di Lorenzo de’ Medici and Lorenzo di Piero de’ Medici! When Michelangelo carved the statues of the two family members (who were still alive), after completion they complained that it looked nothing like them where Michelangelo responded (in simplistic terms) “No one will care what you look like a 100 years from now”. So when you see these statues, remember that they were purposely made to not look like the two men who are in the tombs.

Once you get your fill of extravagant tombs, head slightly Northwest to Riccardi Medici Palace - the main house of the Medici family. Here you can learn the full story of the family from their ‘humble’ beginnings and their rise to power that ultimately led to a political dynasty that influenced the world. There is a small fee to enter the palace but is free if you have the FirenzeCard+.

lunch

Because you will be in this city for 72 hours, a quick bite is all you need to take a break in between museums. There are a lot of lunch options to choose from, especially if you are on the go, but for a city famous for food it’s hard to recommend just one.

If you are in the mood for sandwiches, a must try is SandwiChic. They are a no-nonsense sandwich shop that has fresh cured meats and even fresher bread. If you are in the mood for pizza, I recommend La fabbrica san marco. A quaint hole in a wall pizzeria where you can grab a slice and walk to your next destination or grab a small table outside to enjoy the atmosphere.

But who am I kidding, you are in Florence and you deserve the best of both worlds so you go to the source of it all - Mercato di San Lorenzo. Also called Mercato Centrale, the market gets quite lively during the afternoon but there are scores of places to try as well as tons of samples too. The vendors in this market are proud of their shops and love interacting with tourists. Out of all the places to visit for food, I recommend going here above everywhere else.

sites and landmarks

Your next stop is visiting a staple of the Florence art scene, Galleria dell’Accademia that houses several large collections of paintings and sculptures including the famous, David by Michelangelo. If you have the FirenzeCard, you can bypass the line and walk immediately inside, no reservation needed. Once inside, you have the option to go either left or right - left is the statue of David so I decided to head right first. The Galleria contains works besides David such as paintings from the High Renaissance period like Paolo Uccello, Sandro Botticellia and the original plaster version for the Rape of the Sabine Women.

Of course, the main attraction is the statue of David and the curator of the gallery was smart to know that location is key for a piece like this. David is located at the end of a long hallway so when you first turn towards the length of the room, you’ll see the statue from the distance. As you approach, the size of the statue grows until you are right at his toes and marvel at the height and craftsmanship - it’s actually quite awe inspiring when seeing it in person as pictures don’t do the size of the statue justice.

You might notice on the map that in between the Medici Palace and the Galleria is the Da Vinci Museum - skip this. It’s tacky and doesn’t have any original pieces of Da Vinci’s work, only recreations. This museum is targeted mostly towards school children and has frequent field trips that crowd the hallways.

Depending on how long you spent at each location, it might be getting dark - if you are up for the journey I HIGHLY recommend you spend your last night going to Abbazia di San Miniato al Monte. You can either get there by bus or cab (or walk if you have the energy for it) and get to observe the monks do their daily prayers in a soft chanting tone. The times the monks do their chants is based on the season where in Summer they begin at 5:30pm and in the winter months they begin at 4:30pm. The chants are for about 30-45 minutes long and once exiting the basilica, you get to step outside and have a sweeping view of the city below. The walk back down to the city center is easier since it’s all downhill but there are buses that can take you down as well.

Dinner

For dinner, I recommend visiting Degusteria Italiana. Degusteria is a beautiful and well laid out restaurant with a good blend of authentic italian food and modern decor that is perfect for couples.

Day 3, The Middle finger of galileo

Depending on where you are staying and the time you are leaving the city, one final museum I recommend you visit is the Museo Galileo. The Da Vinci Museum may be a waste of time but the Galileo Museum is certainly not - filled with original pieces of his work as well as his actual (supposedly) middle finger of Galileo, there is something for everyone here.

I only got to spend a little over an hour while in the museum and had to head back to grab my luggage for my train to Milan. I can only hope that on my next trip to Italy, I will get to spend more than 3 days in this fantastic city.