Robinspo

Duration: 12 hours

Difficulty: 5/10

Pros: Hits most main attractions, less walking, lower cost

Cons: Little time spent actually in the museums and galleries

Suitable for: People prefer to do less walking but still see the city (e.g. I wrote this with my older parents in mind). Also those who are short on time and want to maximize their experience on a budget.

Here’s my one-day itinerary for Florence, a modified workout for those who are short on energy, time, funds, or all of the above. This is particularly friendly for older parents and/ or those who would rather not climb the Duomo or hike up to Piazzale Michaelangelo because honestly those are hundreds of steps! (I don’t blame you one bit).

If you are looking to maximize your step count Florence, see here for some more cardio-intensive activities (Piazzale Michaelangelo, Boboli Gardens).

For some context, I lived here for four months and walked all over the city when I didn’t want to pay for the tram or bus (which was all the time), so I spent a lot of time mapping the city on foot and learning about places from my teachers and friends who lived there!

1. Coffee at the Rooftop Terrace

Location: La Terazza

This rooftop is perfect to visit in the warmer months and you get a beautiful view of the Duomo and Giotto’s Bell Tower while sipping a coffee and enjoying light bites. The view makes it a pretty popular spot, so try to go right when it opens to avoid waiting lines! I went at exactly 11am, and thankfully there was no wait, but it there was a line after we left at around 1pm. To get there, enter through the shopping mall and take the stairs or elevator to the top! You can ask the security guard at the door if you need more help navigating.

Bonus: If you go on a Sunday, the view of the Duomo is especially pristine as the Dome is closed to visitors in the morning. A nice side effect of this is that people cannot climb up to the very top of the dome so you’ll get a perfect view of it empty (yay, no photobombers!).

2. Piazza del Duomo

Now that you are sufficiently fueled up for the day, it’s time to see the Duomo close up! It’s a short walk straight down to Piazza del Duomo. It will be crowded, but it always is. As this is a low-intensity itinerary I’ve found that parents are usually very happy to just take pictures outside of the Cathedral and Bell Tower. (At this point, you’ve already gotten the best pictures of the Dome from the terrace anyways).

Optional: Visit the Duomo Museum and walk around for respite from the outdoors.

3. Lunch & Gelato in Piazza della Passera

After a bit of walking, it’s time to take a break! Cross the Arno River via the Ponte Santa Trinita (bridge) to Piazza della Passera (Square of the sparrow). The bridge itself is rather striking, and while you’re in the center you’ll have a beautiful view of the Ponte Vecchio, the more famous bridge that is home to gold shops and the (unfortunately now-closed) Medici Corridor that the family used to get from their offices to Pitti Palace.

Once you’re in the square, pick up a panino from Schiaccia Passera and enjoy it on one of the benches. It is a smaller square, but you’ll get to experience the more residential side of the city outside of the excitement of the Duomo side. Once you’re done, get a cone of gelato from Gelateria Della Passera.

Tip: If you need a restroom, find a nearby cafe (like Ditta Artigianale Sprone) to get a small snack and drink!

Photo: Schiaccia in Piazza della Passera and a cone of melting gelato outside Gelateria Della Passera

4. Pitti Palace

From the square, it’s only a short walk to Pitti Palace, the grand countryside residence of the Medici family. You can go in, to walk around and view the famous Boboli Garden, but if you’re pressed for time, it’s still impressive to look at from the outside.

5. Ponte Vecchio

On your way back, to the city center, walk from Pitti Palace to the Ponte Vecchio. There, you can visit the jewelry shops or even admire their wares from the windows (as the shops are very tiny inside).

Photo of the Ponte Vecchio, taken from near the Uffizi Gallery.

From there, walk through the Uffizi Gallery courtyard. You can purchase a ticket to browse over 100,000 paintings, or just walk through on your way to Palazzo Vecchio.

6. Palazzo Vecchio (meeting point for a walking tour)

It’s free to walk into the Old Palace of the Medicis, but if you want to see the exhibits you can purchase tickets at the counters inside. Conveniently, you can fill up your water bottle at a drinking fountain behind. It has both carbonated water and tap!

Palazzo Vecchio was also the meeting point for a walking tour I signed my parents up for. While I was generally able to navigate my parents around the city and show them major landmarks, for a true overview of the city’s history, culture and secrets, I defer to the locals who run the tour. The one they went on was in English (of course) with Manuel from ALL AROUND FLORENCE, but I do not have the link anymore. Generally, I opt for these kinds of tips-based walking tours like this 2-hour one: https://www.viator.com/tours/Florence/Renaissance-Tales/d519-126104P1

After I dropped my parents off on the tour, I went on my own little adventure to the Florence School of Leather <link coming soon>. I’ll make a separate post about it since it does not really fit with the nature of this itinerary.

Photo: Inside Palazzo Vecchio, Carbonated and still water on tap

7. Dinner at Il Viviandiere – Cantina Vinicola

Lastly, sit down for an Italian dinner at Il Viviandiere. I had no dinner plans booked and this restaurant had just opened for the evening so there was no wait for a table. About 6pm, it was still a rather early local time to eat, but we had a train to catch back to Rome. Plus I’ve noticed my parents were happy to do sit and eat especially after the tour!

The atmosphere inside was very rustic, and felt like a traditional trattoria.

For appetizers, we had fried zucchini flowers, tuna tartare, and bread (of course). We also split dishes like this wild boar pasta (popular in Florence and the larger region of Tuscany) and pesto gnocchi. We made sure to save some room for dessert because the next gelateria was my absolute favorite.

8. Dessert at Gelateria dei Neri

I’ve had dreams about the pistacchio mascarpone gelato from here. As the name suggests, it’s a mascarpone gelato that’s amazingly creamy, with a pistacchio-white-chocolate spread* on top. It’s so good and I never had a gelato combo quite like it anywhere else (and believe me, I LOOKED).

Unfortunately, they did not have that flavor on this evening, so I settled for a regular pistachio scoop and stracciatella. It was still amazing.

Inside the parlor, there’s a seating area and restroom, though you can also enjoy your gelato on the street outside.

Bonus: The river is right on the other side of the building, so it makes for a nice stop before a romantic evening stroll down the river.

But we had a train to catch, so after we finished our gelato we walked all the way back to the Santa Maria Novella station, enjoying the building in the evening.

*like the concept of Nutella, but pistachio cream is made with white chocolate and pistachios instead of dark chocolate and hazelntus. It was a novelty to me when I first heard of it, because I never saw anything like it in the States (I later found out they have this in Italian specialty stores).

Photo of the pistacchio-stracciatella gelato cone, with the focus on the Gelateria dei Neri storefront.

Whew, I hope you enjoy your whirlwind of a day in Florence! If you have more time in the city, or want to space out your itinerary, check out my other blog posts about Florence here. <link coming soon>. If you’re visiting other areas, check out my 1-day Rome itinerary and Other Italian Cities posts here. <links coming soon>