Our Florence travel guide: how many days to stay, the best areas, 2026 Uffizi, David and Duomo tickets, the ZTL, day trips to Siena and Pisa, and food.
Plan three nights in Florence: two full days for the Uffizi, Michelangelo's David, the Duomo and the Oltrarno, and the time to walk a city that is best seen on foot. Two nights is the minimum; four or five turn Florence into a base for Siena, San Gimignano, Pisa, Lucca or the Chianti hills. Stay in the historic center, Santa Croce or the Oltrarno, book the Uffizi, the Accademia and the Duomo dome before you leave home, and never drive into the center: it is a camera-controlled limited traffic zone.
We design Florence stays for first-time visitors, art lovers, food lovers and travelers with limited mobility. This guide covers how long to stay, which area to choose, the 2026 ticket rules, getting around, day trips, what to eat and what we steer travelers away from. If you are still building the whole route, start with how many days in Italy.
| Nights we suggest | 3 (2 at the minimum, 4 to 5 with day trips) |
| Best bases | Centro Storico, Santa Croce, Oltrarno, San Marco |
| Book before you fly | Uffizi, Accademia (David), Duomo dome |
| Closed on Mondays | Uffizi and Accademia |
| Getting around | on foot; tram from the airport to the station |
| From Rome by train | about 1 h 30 to 1 h 35 |
| Best months | April to June, September and October |
Mind the Monday closures when you plan: the Uffizi and the Accademia are both closed, so we keep Monday for the Duomo, the markets or a day trip.
| Area | Why choose it | Watch out for |
|---|---|---|
| Centro Storico (Duomo, Piazza della Signoria) | everything within a 10-minute walk, the classic first stay | crowds from morning to night, street noise |
| Santa Croce | lively squares, the Sant'Ambrogio market, good trattorias | busy bars on weekend nights near the basilica |
| Oltrarno (Santo Spirito, San Frediano) | artisans' workshops, local life, Pitti Palace and Boboli | across the river, some sloping streets |
| San Marco and Santissima Annunziata | quieter, close to the Accademia, on the T2 tram | fewer restaurants in the evening |
| Santa Maria Novella | next to the train station, practical | less charm, busier streets around the station |
For a first visit, we choose the center or Santa Croce. Couples who have been before, or who want a quieter evening with dinner on Piazza Santo Spirito, love the Oltrarno. Families often prefer apartments in the San Marco area. Ask for a room facing a courtyard: Florence's stone streets amplify every sound.
The city tourist tax is paid at the hotel: it ranges from €3.50 to €8 (about $4 to $9) per person per night by hotel category, for up to seven consecutive nights, with children under 12 exempt. These rates have applied since February 2025, and the new regulation in force from November 1, 2026 keeps the seven-night cap and the under-12 exemption.
A ticket costs €25 (about $29) on the day or €29 (about $34) booked in advance with a time slot, and since January 1, 2026, an afternoon ticket for entry from 4 p.m. costs €16 (about $19). The gallery opens Tuesday to Sunday from 8:15 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., and the ticket office closes at 5:30 p.m. If you also want the Pitti Palace and the Boboli Gardens, the PassePartout costs €40 (about $46) and is valid five days. We book the first slot of the morning, with an art historian.
The ticket rose to €20 (about $23) on February 1, 2026, plus a €4 booking fee for a timed entry. Since March 15, 2026, the Accademia opens Tuesday to Sunday from 8:15 a.m. to 6:50 p.m., and a combined ticket with the Bargello, Florence's sculpture museum, costs €26 (about $30) for 48 hours. The visit takes about an hour; we schedule it after lunch, when the morning tour groups have left.
Entry to the cathedral itself is free. The climbs and the museums are sold as passes valid three days:
| Pass | Includes | 2026 price |
|---|---|---|
| Brunelleschi Pass | dome, bell tower, Baptistery, museum, Santa Reparata crypt | €30 (about $35) |
| Giotto Pass | bell tower, Baptistery, museum, Santa Reparata | €20 (about $23) |
| Ghiberti Pass | Baptistery, museum, Santa Reparata | €15 (about $17) |
The dome slot is mandatory, must be on the first day of the pass and cannot be changed, and a photo ID is checked at the dome entrance. The dome climb has 463 steps and the bell tower 414, with no lift for either. The Baptistery's mosaic ceiling has been under a long restoration with scaffolding inside, so check what is visible before you go.
Florence's historic center is a limited traffic zone (ZTL). Electronic gates read every license plate, with a sign that turns red when access is forbidden. The main zone is closed to unauthorized cars from 7:30 a.m. to 8 p.m. Monday to Friday and from 7:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Saturdays, and from the first Thursday of April to the first Sunday of October a night zone also applies on Thursday, Friday and Saturday nights, from 11 p.m. to 3 a.m. Fines are sent by mail, through the rental company when the car is rented. If your hotel is inside the zone and you arrive by car, the hotel can register your plate with the municipal police for the drop-off: tell us, and we arrange it before you arrive. In practice, we pick up rental cars on the way out of Florence, never before.
On foot. Almost everything a first visit needs, from the Accademia to the Pitti Palace, is within about 30 minutes' walk. The climb to Piazzale Michelangelo for the sunset view takes about 20 minutes from the river, or a few minutes by taxi.
Tram. Line T2 links the airport to Santa Maria Novella station and Piazza San Marco, and line T1 runs from the station to Careggi and Scandicci. A ticket costs €2 (about $2.30) for 90 minutes since August 1, 2026. Most travelers use the tram only for the airport.
Taxis. Florence's white taxis wait at ranks (the station, Piazza della Repubblica, the Duomo); they are not hailed on the street.
Trains. Santa Maria Novella is in the center. Rome is about 1 h 30 away and Venice about 2 hours: see Rome to Florence by train and Florence to Venice by train.
| Day trip | How we go | Time |
|---|---|---|
| Siena | direct regional train, or a private driver with Chianti on the way | about 1 h 30 by train; Siena station is about 3 km below the old town |
| San Gimignano | private driver, combined with Siena; by bus via Poggibonsi | about 1 hour by car |
| Pisa and Lucca | train | Pisa in under an hour on the fastest trains; Lucca about 1 h 20 on direct regionals |
| Chianti | private driver with two winery visits | Greve in Chianti about 30 minutes by car |
At Pisa, the Leaning Tower is visited with a timed ticket; be on time, since latecomers are not admitted, leave bags at the cloakroom, and note that children under 8 are not admitted. Lucca, with its 4.2 km of Renaissance walls, is the easiest of all on foot. For the countryside itself, Val d'Orcia and Montalcino are too far for an easy day; the Tuscany guide linked above explains where to sleep instead.
Florence cooks plainly and well. The signature is the bistecca alla fiorentina, a thick T-bone sold by weight and served rare, usually shared by two. Try ribollita and pappa al pomodoro, bread and vegetable soups, the lampredotto sandwich from a street stand for the adventurous, and schiacciata, Florence's salty flatbread, filled at a counter for lunch. The Mercato Centrale has an upstairs food hall, and the smaller Sant'Ambrogio market is where Florentines shop. End with cantucci dipped in vin santo.
What we tell travelers to skip: the restaurants with touts and multilingual photo menus around the Duomo and Piazza della Signoria; gelato piled high in bright colors in the window (the good shops keep it in covered metal tubs); a cheap "Florentine steak" on a tourist menu; and lining up at the Uffizi without a booking in spring or summer.
Spring and fall are the best seasons, with comfortable walking weather and the hills green or golden. Summer is hot and crowded, and the stone city holds the heat: we schedule museums in the morning and the evening. Winter, from November to February, is the quietest time, with the shortest lines at the Uffizi and the David. State museums are free on the first Sunday of the month, which we avoid for the crowds. Our best time to visit Italy guide has the month-by-month detail.
The Uffizi has a step-free ramp entrance on Via della Ninna, lifts and accessible toilets on every floor; wheelchairs heavier than 230 kg with the user or longer than 120 cm are not admitted. At the Accademia, visitors with a certified disability and one companion enter free, with priority and without booking. The dome and the bell tower of the Duomo have no lift, but the cathedral floor itself is step-free. The center is mostly flat, but sidewalks are narrow and the paving uneven, and the Boboli Gardens are hilly with gravel paths. We choose hotels with a lift and step-free entrances, and adapted vehicles for Piazzale Michelangelo: our Accessible Rome and Florence itinerary is built around these choices.
Our Rome, Florence and Venice by Train in 10 Days gives Florence three nights, with the Uffizi, the David and a private day in Siena and Chianti. For food and wine, Tuscany Food and Wine in 8 Days starts with three nights in Florence, with a market tour and a day in Chianti, before Siena and four nights in the Val d'Orcia. See all our ideas on the Italy destination page.
Send us your dates and interests, and one of our travel designers will plan your Florence days, with tickets, guides and the train already booked.
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Two full days are enough to see the Uffizi, the David, the Duomo and the Ponte Vecchio, if you book every timed entry in advance. You will not have time for the Pitti Palace, the Oltrarno workshops or a day trip. Remember that the Uffizi and the Accademia close on Mondays, so two days that include a Monday are really one and a half.
Both, if you have a week. Florence works best for two or three nights in the center, on foot, with the museums. The hill towns, wineries and Val d'Orcia need a second base in the countryside for three or four nights, with a car or a driver. Using Florence as the only base means long drives to the south of Tuscany.
Not into the historic center. It is a limited traffic zone watched by cameras on weekdays and Saturdays, and in summer on weekend nights too, and fines reach you by mail through the rental company. Pick up your car on the day you leave Florence, at the airport or a garage outside the center, unless your hotel registers your plate for arrival.
We recommend it from spring to fall. A timed ticket costs €20 plus a €4 booking fee in 2026 and lets you skip the long line of visitors without a reservation. In January and February, the line is often short, but the booking also lets you choose a quiet afternoon slot.
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