Florence in 1 day

One of the most beautiful cities in Italy, I had no pretensions, I had never seen it and I fell in love with it. It comes out of Florence art, beauty, wealth. And is it possible to visit it in one day? Yes, (obviously not accurately) but touching all the main historical points that make it so magical. It often happens to be in Florence and having little time available and not knowing where to start, with this itinerary you will find some ideas.

Day 1: Morning

I recommend proceeding all the way on foot, you will experience the city more and the historical monuments are quite close. In this link you will find the attachment of the tourist map of Florence, Florence tourist map .

Church of Santa Maria Novella : If you arrive by train, when you leave the station you will find the church of Santa Maria Novella right next to you. In my opinion one of the most beautiful churches in Florence, in which it is possible to admire centuries of art history.

Price : 5 euros with the possibility of using the reduced ticket.

Hours :

• from 9 to 17 and 30 from Monday to Thursday;
• from 11am to 5.30pm on Friday;
• on Saturdays visiting hours are from 9 to 17;
• while on Sundays from 12 to 17 (from October to June from 13 to 17).

Basilica of San Lorenzo: The place you will find immediately after is the Basilica of San Lorenzo. For a long time the Basilica was the most important church in Florence , until it was replaced by the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore. In 1059 there was the first expansion even if the turning point would have come in 1419 when the Medici, who used San Lorenzo as a family parish, they decided to expand it by giving the job to Filippo Brunelleschi. The result is the first Renaissance masterpiece church that would later become a reference point for all subsequent religious architecture.

Opening hours : Every weekday from 10.00 to 17.00
Sunday from 1.30pm to 5.30pm from March to October, closed on Sundays the rest of the year.

Ticket price: Full € 4.50.

Church of Santa Maria del Fiore (DUOMO) Baptistery, Dome, Bell Tower : Truly breathtaking, Santa Maria del Fiore is the cathedral of the city of Florence and overlooks the square of the same name. It is the fourth largest church in Europe, after Saint Peter in Rome, Saint Paul in London and the Milan Cathedral. A 153-meter-long cathedral, built in almost 170 years to rival the churches of its rivals Pisa and Siena. The most important Florentine artists took part in the construction of this complex: from Giotto to Brunelleschi, from Vasari to Talenti, from Arnolfo di Cambio to Lorenzo Ghiberti .

Hours:

• From April to September: Monday to Friday: from 9:00 to 19:00 (Friday from 11:00).
• From October to March: Monday to Friday: from 9:00 to 17:30 (Friday from 11:00).

Price:

• Young people between 18 and 25 and over 65: € 5
• Children under 11: Free admission.

The news is about the single ticket which guarantees access to the entire monumental complex of Piazza Duomo – consisting of the Dome, Bell Tower, Baptistery, Santa Reparata and the Opera del Duomo Museum – to which, from 1 March 2018, a price revision will be applied with the passage of the full rate from 15 a 18 euros and, at the same time, the extension of the validity period of the ticket from the current 48 to 72 hours.

1st day:

Afternoon

Uffizi Gallery : In 1560 the architect Giorgio Vasari, at the behest of Cosimo I de ‘Medici, began construction of the Uffizi Palace, to house the offices of the Arts and the Magistrates.

In 1580 he finished the top floor of the building which was destined for the Medici collections of works of art. The Uffizi now houses the greatest masterpieces of painting.

Price: With the ticket reservation it is possible to visit the Uffizi Gallery by accessing the door dedicated to visitors in possession of the reservation in order to skip the wait at the ticket office.

The cost of the ticket varies according to the current period.

Full ticket (adults) :

Low season rate is 16 Euros (January, February, November and December).

High season rate is 24 Euros (March, April, May, June, July, August, September, October).

Opening hours: From Tuesday to Sunday, from 8.00 am to 6.00 pm, the last admission is allowed at 4.45 pm.

Old Bridge: From the Uffizi gallery you will immediately find Ponte Vecchio. It is the oldest bridge in Florence that crosses the Arno river. The bridge has survived all kinds of events, its first construction, originally in wood, dates back to Roman times, damaged several times by fires and floods, up to the most disastrous one in 1933. In 1345 the bridge was rebuilt by Taddeo Gaddi, a disciple of Giotto, over three arches, which would have resisted the fury of the water. Legend has it that during the Second World War, the beauty of the bridge captured Hitler and is one of the reasons why it was the only bridge not to be bombed by the Germans in 1944.

Vasari Corridor: The structure in question is 1 kilometer long, created to connect the Medici offices with the current Gallery and Palazzo Pitti. Nowadays it houses both a part of the collection of paintings of the ‘600 and’ 700 of the Uffizi and that of the artists’ self-portraits.

The passage is quite narrow and extends along the entire Arno, up to the Pitti Palace.

Palazzo Pitti : Palazzo Pitti was commissioned by the Florentine banker Luca Pitti, who dominated the Oltrarno district, the project is attributed to Filippo Brunelleschi.

Its construction continued over four centuries. The Palace was the home of three dynasties, the Medici, the Lorraine and the Savoy, only recently was it destined to house three prestigious collections, including: the Palatine Gallery; Gallery of Modern Art and the Treasury of the Grand Dukes.