What is the number one thing to do in Florence?

On this site's list: stand in front of Botticelli's Venus at the Uffizi. Then see Michelangelo's David at the Accademia, and climb Brunelleschi's dome on the Duomo. The order is this site's own: what a first visit should do first.

What can you do in Florence for free?

4 of the 20 things on this list cost nothing: Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato, Mercato Centrale and the San Lorenzo market and The Oltrarno and the Brancacci Chapel.

What is there to do in Florence when it rains?

13 of the 20 are under a roof: Uffizi Gallery, Michelangelo's David at the Accademia, The Duomo and Brunelleschi's dome, Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria, Pitti Palace, Bargello Museum, Medici Chapels, Santa Croce, Opera del Duomo Museum and the Baptistery, Santa Maria Novella, Museum of San Marco, Mercato Centrale and the San Lorenzo market and Palazzo Medici Riccardi.

What is there to do in Florence at night?

Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato, Mercato Centrale and the San Lorenzo market and The Oltrarno and the Brancacci Chapel are all at their best after dark.

How many days do you need in Florence?

The 17 things on this list that are in the city add up to between 22 and 36 hours of visiting, by this site's estimates, without the time to get between them. At about six hours of visiting a day, that is 4 to 6 days for all of them, and three or four days for the first ten.

What are the best day trips from Florence?

Chianti wine country (25 km south), Siena and San Gimignano (70 km south) and Pisa and the Leaning Tower (80 km west). Each takes a full day.

The 20 best, in orderBest things to do in Florence

What to do in Florence, from the first morning to the last night: the 20 things worth your time, in the order this site would do them, with how long each takes, what it costs and when to go.

20
Things to do, in order: 4
Cost nothing: 13
Are under a roof, for a wet day: 11
Take two hours or less

Show

All 20

1Museum
Stand in front of Botticelli's Venus at the Uffizi
Museum, Piazza della Signoria
The greatest collection of Italian Renaissance painting in the world: Botticelli's Birth of Venus, Leonardo's Annunciation, Michelangelo's only finished panel and Caravaggio's Medusa, in the offices Vasari built for the Medici.
Time to allow
2.5 to 4 hours
Cost
Ticket
Best time
At opening, or after three in the afternoon
4.795,326 Google ratingsFrom €20
Read the guide
2Museum
Picture: Francesco Bini, CC BY-SA 4.0
See Michelangelo's David at the Accademia
Museum, San Marco
The most famous statue in the world stands at the end of a hall built for it, with Michelangelo's unfinished Prisoners along the way. A small museum, and an hour is enough.
Time to allow
1 to 1.5 hours
Cost
Ticket
Best time
The first entry of the day, or the last two hours
4.658,499 Google ratingsFrom €28.75
Read the guide
3Church
Climb Brunelleschi's dome on the Duomo
Church, Piazza del Duomo
The cathedral of Florence, in green, white and pink marble, under the largest brick dome ever built. The church is free. The climb between the two shells of the dome, 463 steps to the lantern, is the thing to book.
Time to allow
2 to 3 hours
Cost
Cathedral free, ticket for the dome
Best time
The first climb of the morning
4.8112,010 Google ratingsFrom €64.90
Read the guide
4Monument
Picture: Petar Milošević, CC BY-SA 4.0
Walk the halls of the Palazzo Vecchio
Monument, Piazza della Signoria
The town hall of Florence for seven hundred years, with a tower you can climb and a hall built for five hundred councillors. The square in front of it is an open-air gallery of sculpture, and costs nothing.
Time to allow
1.5 to 2.5 hours
Cost
Square free, ticket for the palace
Best time
Late afternoon, then the square after dark
4.726,128 Google ratingsFrom €19
Read the guide
5Walk
Picture: Ingo Mehling, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cross the Ponte Vecchio at sunset
Walk, The Arno
The bridge with the goldsmiths' shops built along both sides, the oldest in Florence and the only one that survived 1944. It is free, always open, and best seen from the next bridge down.
Time to allow
20 to 45 minutes
Cost
Free
Best time
Early morning, or the hour before sunset
4.7154,829 Google ratings
Read the guide
6Walk
Picture: Dllu, CC BY-SA 4.0
Watch the sun set from Piazzale Michelangelo
Walk, San Niccolò
The terrace on the hill south of the river, with the whole of Florence laid out below: the dome, the towers, the bridges. Free at any hour. Five minutes higher is San Miniato al Monte, the finest Romanesque church in the city.
Time to allow
1 to 2 hours
Cost
Free
Best time
An hour before sunset
4.8114,536 Google ratingsFrom €40
How to do it
7Museum
Picture: John Samuel, CC BY-SA 4.0
See Raphael and Titian at the Pitti Palace
Museum, Oltrarno
The palace of the Medici grand dukes across the river, with Raphael, Titian and Rubens hung frame to frame under painted ceilings, as a prince hung them. Far quieter than the Uffizi.
Time to allow
2 to 3 hours
Cost
Ticket
Best time
A weekday afternoon
4.636,687 Google ratingsFrom €22.50
Read the guide
8Garden
Picture: Diego Delso, CC BY-SA 4.0
Climb through the Boboli Gardens
Garden, Oltrarno
The garden the Medici laid out on the hill behind the Pitti Palace, the model for the gardens of every court in Europe: an amphitheatre, grottoes, an avenue of cypresses and views back over the city.
Time to allow
1.5 to 2.5 hours
Cost
Ticket
Best time
Morning in summer, mid-afternoon in spring and autumn
4.131,123 Google ratingsFrom €16
How to do it
9Museum
See Donatello's David at the Bargello
Museum, Santa Croce
What the Uffizi is to painting, the Bargello is to sculpture: Donatello, Verrocchio, the young Michelangelo and Giambologna, in the oldest public building in Florence. One of the calmest great museums in Italy.
Time to allow
1.3 to 2 hours
Cost
Ticket
Best time
Any morning: it is rarely crowded
4.79,253 Google ratingsFrom €18.75
Read the guide
10Monument
Picture: Rufus46, CC BY-SA 3.0
Stand among Michelangelo's tombs in the Medici Chapels
Monument, San Lorenzo
The burial place of the Medici, behind the church of San Lorenzo: a vast eight-sided hall lined with coloured stone, and the small grey and white room where Michelangelo carved Night, Day, Dawn and Dusk.
Time to allow
45 to 75 minutes
Cost
Ticket
Best time
Early in the day
4.77,439 Google ratingsFrom €17.75
Read the guide
11Church
Picture: Rhododendrites, CC BY-SA 4.0
Find Michelangelo's and Galileo's tombs in Santa Croce
Church, Santa Croce
The largest Franciscan church in the world, where Michelangelo, Galileo and Machiavelli are buried, with chapels painted by Giotto and a cloister by Brunelleschi.
Time to allow
1 to 1.8 hours
Cost
Ticket
Best time
Mid-morning on a weekday
4.842,715 Google ratingsFrom €48
Read the guide
12Museum
Picture: Yair Haklai, CC BY-SA 4.0
See the real Gates of Paradise at the Opera del Duomo Museum
Museum, Piazza del Duomo
The museum behind the cathedral keeps what was made for it and is too precious to leave outdoors: Ghiberti's gilded doors, Donatello's Magdalene and the Pietà Michelangelo carved for his own tomb.
Time to allow
1.5 to 2 hours
Cost
Ticket
Best time
Midday, when the square outside is at its fullest
4.611,654 Google ratingsFrom €29
How to do it
13Church
Picture: Commonists, CC BY-SA 4.0
See Masaccio's Trinity in Santa Maria Novella
Church, Santa Maria Novella
The church of the Dominicans, opposite the station that took its name, with the first painting in true perspective, a chapel by Ghirlandaio and cloisters most visitors to Florence never see.
Time to allow
1 to 1.5 hours
Cost
Ticket
Best time
Late morning, when the light comes through the east windows
4.732,572 Google ratingsFrom €110
How to do it
14Museum
Picture: Barnos, CC BY-SA 4.0
Walk the friars' cells Fra Angelico painted at San Marco
Museum, San Marco
A Dominican convent where every friar's cell has a fresco by Fra Angelico, painted for one man to pray in front of. The quietest great museum in Florence, two minutes from the queue for the David.
Time to allow
1 to 1.5 hours
Cost
Ticket
Best time
As it opens in the morning
4.73,671 Google ratingsFrom €177.50
How to do it
15Walk
Picture: Sailko, CC BY 3.0
Eat your way through the Mercato Centrale
Walk, San Lorenzo
The iron and glass market hall of Florence: butchers, cheese and tripe below, a food hall of Tuscan kitchens above, and the leather stalls of San Lorenzo in the streets around it.
Time to allow
1 to 2 hours
Cost
Free to enter, pay for what you eat
Best time
Late morning on a weekday
4.459,104 Google ratingsFrom €42
How to do it
16Walk
Picture: John Samuel, CC BY-SA 4.0
Cross the river to the Oltrarno and the Brancacci Chapel
Walk, Oltrarno
The other side of the Arno: Brunelleschi's last church on a square full of cafés, streets of workshops where things are still made by hand, and the small chapel where Masaccio taught the Renaissance to paint.
Time to allow
2 to 3 hours
Cost
Free to walk, ticket for the chapel
Best time
Late afternoon, staying for the evening
From €24.79
How to do it
17Monument
Picture: John Samuel, CC BY-SA 4.0
Find the Medici in the Chapel of the Magi
Monument, San Lorenzo
The first palace of the Medici, the house where Lorenzo the Magnificent grew up, with a tiny chapel whose walls are one glittering procession of kings, pages and leopards.
Time to allow
45 to 75 minutes
Cost
Ticket
Best time
Early or late in the day
4.510,318 Google ratingsFrom €29
How to do it
18Day trip
Picture: Adbar, CC BY-SA 3.0
Spend an afternoon among the vineyards of Chianti
Day trip, Chianti, 25 km south
The hills between Florence and Siena, striped with vines and olives and dotted with stone farms and small towns. Half a day is enough to see them and to taste the wine where it is made.
Time to allow
A full day
Cost
Tour or tastings
Best time
May, June, September and October
From €49.50
How to do it
19Day trip
Take a day for Siena and San Gimignano
Day trip, Siena, 70 km south
Florence's old rival, with a square like a scallop shell and a striped cathedral, and the hill town that kept its medieval towers. The classic day out in Tuscany.
Time to allow
A full day
Cost
Tour, or bus fares and tickets
Best time
Spring and autumn, on a weekday
From €49
How to do it
20Day trip
Picture: MHoser, CC BY-SA 4.0
Climb the Leaning Tower of Pisa
Day trip, Pisa, 80 km west
An hour from Florence by train: a lawn with four white marble buildings on it, one of which has been falling over for eight hundred and fifty years. Half a day is enough.
Time to allow
5 to 7 hours
Cost
Train fare, ticket for the tower
Best time
A morning, by an early train
4.7203,107 Google ratingsFrom €36.90
How to do it

How long each one takes

The time to allow for each, shortest first, so you can see what fits into a spare hour and what needs a day. These are this site's estimates for an unhurried visit.

Ponte Vecchio20 to 45 minutes
Medici Chapels45 to 75 minutes
Palazzo Medici Riccardi45 to 75 minutes
Michelangelo's David at the Accademia1 to 1.5 hours
Santa Maria Novella1 to 1.5 hours
Museum of San Marco1 to 1.5 hours
Santa Croce1 to 1.8 hours
Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato1 to 2 hours
Mercato Centrale and the San Lorenzo market1 to 2 hours
Bargello Museum1.3 to 2 hours
Opera del Duomo Museum and the Baptistery1.5 to 2 hours
Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria1.5 to 2.5 hours
Boboli Gardens1.5 to 2.5 hours
The Duomo and Brunelleschi's dome2 to 3 hours
Pitti Palace2 to 3 hours
The Oltrarno and the Brancacci Chapel2 to 3 hours
Uffizi Gallery2.5 to 4 hours
Pisa and the Leaning Tower5 to 7 hours
Chianti wine countryA full day
Siena and San GimignanoA full day

The track is eight hours long. The bar ends at the longest visit, and the line inside it marks the shortest.

What visitors say

Each place's overall rating on Google, and how many people have given one. The longer the bar, the more people have been and said so.

Pisa and the Leaning Tower4.7203,107 Google ratings
Ponte Vecchio4.7154,829 Google ratings
Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato4.8114,536 Google ratings
The Duomo and Brunelleschi's dome4.8112,010 Google ratings
Uffizi Gallery4.795,326 Google ratings
Mercato Centrale and the San Lorenzo market4.459,104 Google ratings
Michelangelo's David at the Accademia4.658,499 Google ratings
Santa Croce4.842,715 Google ratings
Pitti Palace4.636,687 Google ratings
Santa Maria Novella4.732,572 Google ratings
Boboli Gardens4.131,123 Google ratings
Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria4.726,128 Google ratings
Opera del Duomo Museum and the Baptistery4.611,654 Google ratings
Palazzo Medici Riccardi4.510,318 Google ratings
Bargello Museum4.79,253 Google ratings
Medici Chapels4.77,439 Google ratings
Museum of San Marco4.73,671 Google ratings

Read on Google Maps. Ratings change, and so will this.

Where they are

Each number is a thing on the list, where it stands in Florence: the blue band is the river, the green blocks are the parks, gardens and cemeteries. North is up and each square of the grid is one kilometre, so you can see what is next to what and plan a day on foot.

Things to do in Florence: common questions

What is the number one thing to do in Florence?: On this site's list: stand in front of Botticelli's Venus at the Uffizi. Then see Michelangelo's David at the Accademia, and climb Brunelleschi's dome on the Duomo. The order is this site's own: what a first visit should do first.
What can you do in Florence for free?: 4 of the 20 things on this list cost nothing: Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato, Mercato Centrale and the San Lorenzo market and The Oltrarno and the Brancacci Chapel.
What is there to do in Florence when it rains?: 13 of the 20 are under a roof: Uffizi Gallery, Michelangelo's David at the Accademia, The Duomo and Brunelleschi's dome, Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria, Pitti Palace, Bargello Museum, Medici Chapels, Santa Croce, Opera del Duomo Museum and the Baptistery, Santa Maria Novella, Museum of San Marco, Mercato Centrale and the San Lorenzo market and Palazzo Medici Riccardi.
What is there to do in Florence at night?: Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato, Mercato Centrale and the San Lorenzo market and The Oltrarno and the Brancacci Chapel are all at their best after dark.
How many days do you need in Florence?: The 17 things on this list that are in the city add up to between 22 and 36 hours of visiting, by this site's estimates, without the time to get between them. At about six hours of visiting a day, that is 4 to 6 days for all of them, and three or four days for the first ten.
What are the best day trips from Florence?: Chianti wine country (25 km south), Siena and San Gimignano (70 km south) and Pisa and the Leaning Tower (80 km west). Each takes a full day.

Where to eat in Florence

All 20 restaurants in Florence, ranked

Where to stay in Florence

All 16 hotels in Florence, ranked

How the list is made

The choice and the order are this site's: what a first visit to Florence should do first. Nobody has paid to be on the list or to be higher on it. The times are estimates for an unhurried visit, not measurements.

Where a row shows a price, it is the lowest price of the ticket or tour its page links to, as its seller showed it on the day the page was checked. The ratings are Google's and change over time.

Museums and attractions in Florence Things to do, by city