A Day Trip to Florence

After spending an afternoon in Florence to pick up our rental car two days prior, I couldn’t wait to get back and explore more of this famous Italian art city.

We were staying in a Tuscan villa about 30km to the south of Florence near Figline Valdarno, so rather than drive into the city and worry about parking, we just caught the train in. The short train ride through the beautiful countryside and villages of Tuscany brought us into Santa Maria Novella Station, right in the heart of Florence.

Since we only had one day to explore the city, we made an early start to try and see as much as possible. We made our way straight to the Uffizi Gallery, one of the great art galleries of the world. Luckily enough, we were able to buy tickets for the afternoon, so we would have all morning to see the sites. *Update (2024): These days it’s best to book your tickets in advance online.

A street chalk artist in the streets of Florence

Attempting to see Michelangelo’s David

The other art gallery that we wanted to see was the Galleria dell’Accadamia, where Michelangelo’s David is on display. Knowing that it would be a popular attraction we headed there next to try our luck at getting tickets.

After taking a few wrong turns I soon found out that we were in the right place, because there was a huge line of people stretching along the street. I figured it wasn’t that long, but went forward to take a closer look. What I thought was the end of the line turned out to be where the line took a turn down another street. There were literally hundreds of people lined up to get into the gallery. David is one popular sculpture!

I noticed some people heading straight to the front of the line to a separate booth, which turned out to be for those who booked tickets in advance. There’s the moral of the story right there. If you want to see Michelangelo’s David, book your tickets online at least a few days in advance.

We had the option of waiting in line all day to possibly see the sculpture, which I’m sure we would have to fight the hoards of the tourists to actually get a view of, or we could spend the day wandering around Florence. We chose the latter and headed straight to the Piazza del Duomo.

The Florence Cathedral (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore)

Exploring Florence Cathedral (Duomo di Firenze)

The Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore) is a magnificent site. Its construction began in the late 13th century and was completed in 1436. The exterior of the cathedral is stunning, with green, pink and white panels of marble, red brick domes and a beautiful Gothic facade.

Located next to the cathedral is the Florence Baptistery which dates back to the 11th century, and the 85m high Giotto’s Campanile (bell tower).

The front facade of the cathedral and Giotto’s Campanile

After exploring the piazza we waited in line to view the interior of the Duomo, which to my surprise wasn’t a very long wait. After seeing the beauty of the churches in Rome, the interior of the Florence Duomo was kind of plain. That’s not to say that the Gothic architecture isn’t magnificent. It just lacks the art that other churches have. The only part of the church that could match those of Rome is its magnificent Dome, which is covered in beautiful fresco artwork by Giorgio Vasari and Federico Zuccari.

Inside the cathedral

There is only a certain amount of time that I can spend in crowds of tourists, so we wandered away from the Duomo down some quieter streets, where we found a nice little café and enjoyed some delicious focaccias and cappuccinos for lunch. A little quiet time to relax before re-entering the crowds.

The Uffizi Gallery

Glad to have bought our tickets to the Uffizi Gallery earlier in the day, we skipped straight past the line of tourists to the advanced booking line, which only took about 10 minutes to get through and into the gallery.

Like most art galleries, photography is prohibited in Uffizi, but I can tell you that their collection is quite impressive, particularly if you enjoy Renaissance art. The gallery holds pieces by some of the greatest artists of all time included Leonardo da Vinci, Michelangelo, Sandro Botticelli and Raphael. The highlight for me was The Birth of Venus by Botticelli, one of the world’s most famous art pieces.

The building itself, a 16th century palace, is architecturally beautiful and is characterized by its long halls and large rooms that house the artwork.

A street performer outside the Uffizi Gallery

Piazza della Signoria

Just around the corner from Uffizi is the Palazzo Vecchio, an old palace and now town hall of Florence. We had passed the town hall twice so far in Florence, so it was definitely time to go and explore the area more thoroughly.

Palazzo Vecchio

The 14th century palace is now a museum, but also the town hall containing the offices of the Mayor of Florence. Outside of the Palazzo Vecchio in the Piazza della Signoria is a wonderful collection of sculptures, one being a copy of Michelangelo’s David, where the original once stood.

The interior of the palace is as expected – extravagant. I particularly love the medieval feel of the palace courtyards that I found in several different places in Tuscany. The Palazzo Vecchio is no different.

A centaur sculpture in the gallery of sculptures

The first courtyard in Palazzo Vecchio

By now it was time to start heading back to the train station, but not before doing some shopping at a market, where we bought some excellent quality leather products, and of course we had to have some gelato!

Market

Gelato…but which one?!

Now with weary legs and full stomachs we made our way past the beautiful 14th century Santa Maria Novella church, located near the train station of the same name, and caught the train back to our villa.

Florence is one of the great cities of Italy, and an art lovers paradise. I can’t wait to get back to see more!

Tip: Book everything in advance

If you want to see the art galleries of Florence, I strongly suggest that you purchase tickets in advance either online or at the galleries themselves. Here are some to choose from, including combination tickets.

Have you been to Florence? What was your impression?