The Duomo
Brunelleschi’s dome is the crowning glory of Florence’s Duomo or cathedral – the green and black striped building on Piazza del Duomo.
It’s possible to climb 463-steps to the top of the dome, a masterful feet of engineering for the fifteenth century, and the view alone is worth the toil and the six euro entry fee.
It’s free to walk around inside the Duomo, but there are charges if you want to visit the other buildings in the complex.
Uffizi
Possibly the best art gallery in the whole world, but most definitely Italy’s finest, the Uffizi Gallery is a must do for anyone even remotely interested in art. Here you’ll find an astounding collection of Florentine Renaissance works put together by the Medici family as well as some sculptures and a good collection of other masters too.
You can pre-book tickets online or at the ticket office for timed entry and avoid the scary looking queue.
The Accademia
This is where you come to see Michelangelo’s David – the four metre tall marble sculpture that has become the embodiment of Renaissance Florence.
Carved from a single slab of Carrara marble, David was originally stationed outside in the Piazza della Signoria, but was finally moved into the safety of the Accademia in 1873 where it now sits in its own protected alcove.
This is another one of Florence’s museums where it pays to book ahead and avoid the snaking queues.
The Ponte Vecchio
The Ponte Vecchio is much more than simply bridge across Florence’s iconic Arno River. Rammed with overpriced jewellery shops it’s a full-on Florentine tourist experience to shuffle across the shop-lined bridge stopping now and then to have your photo taken.
The bridge dates from 1345 and was once home to butchers and fishmongers who would throw their waste into the river below.
Don’t forget to look up and see Vasari’s concealed passageway, which is actually part of the Uffizi and, sadly, usually closed to visitors.
