Three days is the perfect length for Florence: enough to stand under the dome, walk the Uffizi without rushing and meet Michelangelo's David, then still slip across the Arno into the artisan Oltrarno or out into the Tuscan vineyards. The old centre is small enough to do entirely on foot, so your budget goes into the museums and the food rather than taxis. This plan keeps one whole day for the icons, one for the art and the far side of the river, and one for a Tuscany day trip — the one you'll remember most.
April to June and September to October are the sweet spots — warm, dry days, open restaurant terraces and the countryside green or gold. July and August are hot, humid and shoulder-to-shoulder with day-trippers, and from mid-August many family-run places shut for Ferragosto. Winter is grey and damp but cheap, with the shortest museum queues.
Florence's historic centre is compact and entirely walkable — most sights sit within a 15-minute stroll of the Duomo, and cars are a trap: the ZTL camera zones fine non-residents who drive into the centre. The T2 'Vespucci' tram links Peretola airport to Santa Maria Novella station in about 20 minutes for €1.50. Regional trains from SMN reach Pisa, Lucca and the Chianti towns in under 1.5 hours, and ATAF buses cover Piazzale Michelangelo and Fiesole.
Morning
Brunelleschi Pass ~€30 (dome, bell tower, baptistery & museum)
Book the Brunelleschi Pass online weeks ahead and take the earliest dome slot — the 463 steps up Brunelleschi's brick cupola are timed, tight and warm, but you're paid back with the panorama and the last swirls of Vasari's Last Judgement from a few feet away. If the climb isn't for you, Giotto's 414-step bell tower beside it is a straighter, brighter stair with the same view. No bags larger than a backpack, nothing under six years old, and proper shoes on the worn marble.
Santa Maria del Fiore (the Duomo), FlorenceAfternoon
Baptistery in the Duomo pass · piazza free
Step into the octagonal Baptistery for its gold mosaics, then study Ghiberti's gilded 'Paradise Gates' on the doors — Michelangelo said they were fit for the gates of heaven. From there it's an open-air sculpture gallery across Piazza della Signoria: the Romanesque Loggia dei Lanzi, the replica David facing the Arno and the long Uffizi facade. All free, all outside, all best with a gelato in hand.
Piazza della Signoria, FlorenceEvening
Bus €1.50 · dinner €25–€45
Bus 12 or a 20-minute climb takes you to Piazzale Michelangelo for the postcard view of the dome, the bridges and the hills going gold at dusk — go early to grab a spot on the wall. Then walk down into the Sant'Ambrogio or Santa Croce quarter for dinner where Florentines actually eat, away from the Duomo's two-block tourist menus.
Piazzale Michelangelo, FlorenceMorning
Entry ~€25 · online reservation ~€4
Take the first timed slot and head straight to Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera before the crowds build, then work through Leonardo's Annunciation, Titian, Caravaggio and the rooftop terrace view over the rooftops. Two to three hours is the honest minimum for the highlights; an audio guide or a short booked tour makes the Renaissance politics worth following. It sits right by the river, one block from the piazza.
Galleria degli Uffizi, FlorenceAfternoon
Accademia ~€16 · Medici Chapels ~€14
Cross to the Accademia for David under its skylit glass roof — larger and more alive than you'd imagine — and the unfinished 'Prisoners' still trapped in their marble. Then a short walk to the Medici Chapels and Brunelleschi's Old Sacristy at San Lorenzo for the family tombs Michelangelo sculpted. Pair either with the San Lorenzo leather market outside.
Galleria dell'Accademia, FlorenceEvening
Aperitivo €8–€12 · dinner €20–€40
Cross the river into the Oltrarno, Florence's old artisan quarter of goldsmiths, bookbinders and furniture restorers, and wander toward Piazza Santo Spirito for aperitivo at the bars that spill onto the steps. Dinner here — in the streets behind the piazza where the market women eat — is the best-value meal you'll have in the city.
Piazza Santo Spirito, FlorenceMorning
Round-trip bus/train ~€15–€25 · small-group tour ~€70–€110
Choose your day trip. Siena is the most dramatic — the shell-shaped Piazza del Campo and the striped marble Duomo, about 90 minutes by bus. Lucca is the most relaxed, with a walkable or bike-able Renaissance wall circuit and no towers-to-climb pressure. For wine, take the summer Chianti Classico bus or a small-group tour through Greve and Radda. All leave from or near Santa Maria Novella and get you back by evening.
Siena, ItalyAfternoon
Tasting €15–€30 · market lunch €10–€18
Taste Chianti Classico at a family estate — a glass, a plate of pecorino and a pour of olive oil, and someone who'll actually talk you through the vintage — or return to Florence for the ground floor of the Mercato Centrale: lampredotto and porchetta sandwiches, fresh pasta and a coffee drunk standing at the counter like a local. Either way, keep it light ahead of the send-off dinner.
Mercato Centrale, FlorenceEvening
Santa Croce ~€8 · bistecca €30–€60 per person
Finish at the Basilica di Santa Croce for Giotto's frescoes and the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo and Dante's empty cenotaph, then book a historic steakhouse for a bistecca alla fiorentina — the towering, salt-and-pepper T-bone meant to be shared between two and served rare. It's the Florentine way to say arrivederci.
Basilica di Santa Croce, FlorenceMid-range estimate: a good 3–4 star hotel or B&B just off the centre, one sit-down dinner plus a market lunch, all the major museum and dome tickets, and a train or bus day trip into Tuscany. Excluding flights, three days lands around €420–€870. Dorm beds and street food halve it; a Chianti villa or private guides roughly double it. A restaurant adds a €2–€3 coperto per head and often a service charge — normal, not a rip-off.
Estimated daily total
€140–€290 per person, per day
| Season | Typical range | What to expect |
|---|---|---|
| Spring (Mar–May) | 8–22°C / 46–72°F | Mild and blooming with shoulder-season crowds — the nicest months to be here, though April brings the occasional shower. |
| Summer (Jun–Aug) | 18–32°C / 64–90°F | Hot, humid and packed; sightsee at opening time, escape to the hills at midday, and book everything weeks ahead. |
| Autumn (Sep–Nov) | 9–24°C / 48–75°F | Warm days easing to cool, gold-leaf evenings; the grape and olive harvest makes the Chianti especially alluring. |
| Winter (Dec–Feb) | 2–12°C / 36–54°F | Cool, damp and often misty over the river; low prices and short queues, but some sites close one weekday. |
SmartVoyage shows the live forecast, or seasonal averages for far-off dates, next to every day of a generated itinerary.
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