Why Italy

Florence, Italy?

I'm going on a cruise in June-July. Once we come back, we are spending some time in Venice, Italy, but we are also going to go to Florence for 2 days tops. I'm wondering where the best places to go in Florence in such a short time frame. I dont know where to go in the short period of time that I have in Florence. Please help! Thanks!!

Public Comments

1. 2 days in Florence are just enough to give a short look to all the best places but then you need to go back there in the following since you'll fall in love with all of them. I'm living in the neighbours of Florence and I know that when you'll be there the best thing to do is to take a tourist bus (there are a lot of them) and make a quick tour of the town. Florence is not so big and with a map you can walk it to visit deeply what you've glimpsed by bus. Unfortunately 2 days will be not sufficient to look at what has hit yr interest. The worthiest places are : Santa Maria del Fiore e Campanile di Giotto (same place) - Palazzo Vecchio (called also Palazzo della Signoria) - Ponte Vecchio (the Old Bridge) - Santa Croce (with the tombs of a lt of famous italian artists)- Galleria dell'Accademia (you'll find there the famous DAVID of Donatello). I don't think you've time enough to visit the museum Galleria degli Uffizzi (to have a chance you should book the ticket in advance but aside the monday,when it's closed same as all the museums in Italy,it's always full of visitors with huge queues lasting even 4-5 hours- I suggest you to forget it). Go instead preferably by bus (taxis in Italy are extremely expensive !!) to the Piazzale Michelangelo. It's a large square on the hill over Florence and from there (helped by a map in yr hands) you can have a general look of the town and its main monuments. If you have further time you'll decide by yourself where to go since after 1 day you'll know already this for sure. Bring a white hat with you (mainly if you come in July) since temperature in summertime is really hot in Florence. Have a nice trip !!
2. Florence is on of the most romantic places in Europe (personal opinion). I visited Florence 3 times for 2 days each. The day number one you have to walk the center of the town. It's marvelous, old buildings, classic stores but also crowd streets. The second day you can visit some great museums and of course the magnificent Giardino di Boboli (huge garden-park). If you want to visit also another city during your staying in Florence, you can even travel to the leaning tower of Pisa. It's very closed to Florence by train (about one hour). You can watch some video clips from Florence at the following links.
3. You'll find great tips in the Italy travelogues on our web site: http://www.thetravelzine.com Happy Travels!
4. Make sure you buy Florence leather. Florence is known for leather and gold. There is a store right in the "center" of Florence that has a lot of great variety.
5. Here you can check what to see in Florence: http://www.tuscanweb.com/news/?ID=51