Boboli Gardens
The Boboli Gardens behind the Pitti Palace are one of the earliest formal Italian gardens, covering a hillside with grottoes, fountains, and cypress-lined paths. Entry is paid at a modest price.
City in Italy
Florence
23 things to see
Florence hands you the Renaissance for free: the marble exterior of the Duomo, the medieval Ponte Vecchio, the open-air leather and food stalls around San Lorenzo, and the statue-lined Piazza della Signoria all cost nothing to wander. The single best budget move is the Piazzale Michelangelo viewpoint, open day and night with the city’s definitive panorama and no admission charge. On the first Sunday of every month the state museums run free entry, so the Uffizi, Pitti Palace, and the Boboli Gardens open their doors at no cost, though queues are long and arriving early pays off. Eat where the locals do at the Mercato Centrale, where a lampredotto or porchetta sandwich runs only a few euros. Florence packs in tight with Pisa, Lucca, Siena, and Bologna, all short, cheap regional train hops, and it sits on the fast line between Rome and Venice. Travel in late autumn, winter, or early spring for thinner crowds and softer accommodation prices.
What to see
Things to do in Florence
What each one costs, where the cost is known.
Florence Baptistery
The Baptistery of San Giovanni is an octagonal Romanesque building directly facing the Duomo, famous for Ghiberti's gilded bronze "Gates of Paradise" doors. Entry requires a ticket (included in the Duomo complex pass).
Florence Cathedral
The Florence Cathedral (Santa Maria del Fiore) is the heart of the city, topped by Brunelleschi's dome. Entry to the cathedral itself is free.
Galleria dell'Accademia
The Galleria dell'Accademia houses Michelangelo's David, one of the most famous sculptures in the world. Entry is paid.
Medici Chapels
The Medici Chapels (Cappelle Medicee) are the funeral chapels of the Medici dynasty behind the Basilica di San Lorenzo. Entry is paid.
Medici Riccardi Palace
Palazzo Medici Riccardi was the first Medici family residence and the prototype for Florentine Renaissance palace architecture. The courtyard is free to enter.
Oltrarno
Oltrarno is the neighborhood south of the Arno, reached by crossing Ponte Vecchio. Free to wander.
Orsanmichele
Orsanmichele is a former grain market converted into a church, with an exterior ringed by sculptures from Donatello, Ghiberti, and Verrocchio (copies; originals in the upstairs museum, free). The ground-floor church is free to enter and houses a spectacular Gothic tabernacle by Orcagna.
Palazzo Vecchio and Loggia dei Lanzi
The Palazzo Vecchio is the medieval town hall of Florence with its 94-meter tower dominating the Piazza della Signoria. The exterior and the Loggia dei Lanzi (an open-air gallery of Renaissance and Roman sculptures, including Cellini's Perseus and Giambologna's Rape of the Sabine Women) are free.
Piazza della Repubblica
Piazza della Repubblica is a large square in the center of Florence, built in the 19th century on the site of the old Roman forum and the medieval Jewish ghetto. Free.
Piazza della Signoria
Piazza della Signoria is Florence's political heart, an open-air sculpture gallery dominated by the Palazzo Vecchio and a copy of Michelangelo's David. Free.
Piazzale Michelangelo
Piazzale Michelangelo is the hilltop terrace south of the Arno with the postcard panorama of Florence: the Duomo, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio, and the Tuscan hills beyond. Free.
Pitti Palace
The Pitti Palace is a massive Renaissance palace on the south bank of the Arno, housing the Palatine Gallery (Raphael, Titian, Rubens), the Royal Apartments, the Costume Gallery, and the entrance to the Boboli Gardens. Entry is paid (combined tickets with Boboli available).
Ponte Vecchio
Ponte Vecchio is the medieval stone bridge across the Arno, lined with jewelry shops since the 16th century. Free to cross.
Porcellino Fountain
Il Porcellino is a bronze boar fountain at the edge of the Mercato Nuovo, one of Florence's most popular free photo stops. Rubbing its snout and dropping a coin is said to guarantee a return to the city.
Rose Garden
The Rose Garden (Giardino delle Rose) is a terraced garden on the hillside below Piazzale Michelangelo, with over 350 varieties of roses and contemporary sculptures by Jean-Michel Folon. Free.
Basilica di San Lorenzo
San Lorenzo is the burial church of the Medici family, with a plain brick facade that was never completed and an interior designed by Brunelleschi. The church charges a modest fee.
San Lorenzo Leather Market
The San Lorenzo Market is an outdoor market surrounding the Basilica di San Lorenzo, famous for leather goods (jackets, bags, belts, wallets). Free to browse.
San Lorenzo Market
The San Lorenzo Market is Florence's central market area, with an outdoor leather market (free to browse) and the Mercato Centrale food hall inside a 19th-century iron and glass building. The ground floor sells fresh produce, meat, and cheese.
Piazzale Michelangelo to San Miniato Walk
San Miniato al Monte is a Romanesque church above Piazzale Michelangelo with a green and white marble facade and a medieval crypt. Free to enter.
Basilica di Santa Croce
Santa Croce is the largest Franciscan church in the world and the burial place of Michelangelo, Galileo, Machiavelli, and Rossini. Entry is a modest fee.
Basilica di Santo Spirito
Santo Spirito is a Brunelleschi-designed church on the Piazza Santo Spirito in the Oltrarno, with a plain facade that hides one of the most perfectly proportioned Renaissance interiors in Florence. Free to enter.
Uffizi Gallery
The Uffizi Gallery is the most important collection of Renaissance art in the world, housed in a 16th-century building designed by Vasari. Entry is paid.
On foot
Walks and free tours in Florence
Tip-based tours and self-guided routes, which is usually the cheapest orientation there is.
Florence Arno Evening Walk
The Florence Arno Evening Walk follows the south bank of the Arno from Ponte Vecchio upstream through the Oltrarno neighborhood to the Rose Garden and Piazzale Michelangelo. Free. The defining sunset panorama of Florence is the payoff.
Florence Free Tour
The SANDEMANs Free Tour of Florence covers the historic center from Piazza della Signoria to the Duomo and Ponte Vecchio. It is the standard guided introduction for budget travelers arriving in Florence for the first time.
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