Florence Travel Guide — Art, Food, Nightlife, Tours & Shopping

This page was revised during the site rebuild: tram-line and location details now match the hotel’s verified information.

Some cities have one thing that makes them worth visiting. Florence has everything.

It is the birthplace of the Renaissance, a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and home to more masterpieces per square kilometre than almost anywhere on earth. But Florence is also a living, deeply enjoyable Italian city with extraordinary food, warm nightlife, world-class shopping, and a way of life visitors find impossible to leave behind.

Art, museums and monuments

Galleria degli Uffizi. One of the great museums of the world: Botticelli’s Birth of Venus and Primavera, Leonardo’s Annunciation, Michelangelo’s Doni Tondo, Raphael, Caravaggio, Titian. Set aside at least three hours and book well in advance — walking in without a reservation on a busy day can mean a two-hour wait.

Galleria dell’Accademia. Michelangelo’s David is a work photographs cannot prepare you for — over five metres tall, carved from a single block of marble. The unfinished Prisoners series — four figures emerging from raw stone — is for many equally moving.

The Duomo. Brunelleschi’s dome remains one of history’s most astonishing feats of engineering; climb to the top for views across the city and the Tuscan hills. Beside it: the Baptistery where Dante was baptised, Ghiberti’s golden Gates of Paradise, and the Opera del Duomo Museum with Michelangelo’s late Pietà.

Ponte Vecchio. Spanning the Arno since 1345, lined with goldsmiths since the Medici removed the butchers in the 16th century. Visit at sunrise for quiet golden light, or at sunset.

The Medici Chapels. Michelangelo designed the New Sacristy himself; his figures of Day, Night, Dawn and Dusk are among his greatest works — and far fewer tourists visit than the Uffizi, making it all the more intimate.

Palazzo Vecchio and Piazza della Signoria. Seven centuries of Florentine political life, with the Loggia dei Lanzi’s genuine Renaissance sculptures — Cellini’s bronze Perseus included — open to the sky and free to admire.

Santa Maria Novella. One of Italy’s finest Gothic façades, frescoes by Masaccio, Ghirlandaio and Filippino Lippi, and one of the most peaceful cloisters in the city.

Palazzo Pitti and the Boboli Gardens. The Medici Grand Dukes’ residence houses the magnificent Palatine Gallery; behind it, the Boboli Gardens terrace up the hillside with one of the finest views over Florence’s rooftops.

Our advice: don’t try to do everything in one trip. Two or three museums per day, with proper time for each — Florence rewards depth far more than speed.

Guided tours

There is a Florence you can see with a guidebook — and the Florence a knowledgeable local guide reveals: hidden courtyards, forgotten frescoes, the stories behind the stones. Our team works with authorised Florentine guides and can arrange private tours (Brunelleschi, Michelangelo, the Medici quarter, artisan traditions), group and walking tours, and visits to historic workshops — bookbinders, leather workers, goldsmiths, paper marblers. Ask at reception and we handle the booking and details.

Food, wine and the Florentine table

Eat where Florentines eat: walk five minutes from the Duomo or Ponte Vecchio in any direction and the quality improves while prices drop.

What to eat: ribollita (the thick Tuscan bread-and-vegetable soup), bistecca alla Fiorentina (a thick T-bone from Chianina cattle, grilled over wood, served rare), and lampredotto — Florence’s traditional street food of slow-cooked tripe in a crusty roll. It sounds challenging and tastes magnificent. For lunch, the Mercato Centrale food hall is some of the most honest eating in the centre; for dinner, the Oltrarno has the restaurants Florentines actually use.

Wine: Florence sits in the heart of Chianti country. Ask for recommendations rather than ordering blind — and don’t fear the house wine; in a good Tuscan restaurant it often beats a labelled bottle at the same price. The city’s enoteche are perfect for an aperitivo paired with the evening passeggiata.

Florence after dark

The city changes character beautifully once the day-trippers leave. The Oltrarno has the most authentic bar scene — the streets around Piazza Santo Spirito fill every evening with a genuinely mixed crowd. In summer there are venues along the Arno riverbanks and in the Cascine Park area, and the rooftop bars’ views over the illuminated Duomo are worth the queue.

Shopping — from designer boutiques to ancient markets

• Via de’ Tornabuoni — Florence’s most prestigious shopping street; Gucci was founded here.
• San Lorenzo Market — leather goods, scarves and crafts; buy from traders who can tell you where their goods are made.
• Mercato Centrale — one of Italy’s finest covered food markets.
• Mercato delle Cascine — Tuesday mornings (7am–2pm) in Cascine Park: hundreds of stalls, low prices, real Florentines, and not a tourist in sight.
• Mercato del Porcellino — straw goods, embroidery and crafted souvenirs near Ponte Vecchio.
• Fortezza Antiquaria — antiques on the third weekend of every month.
• Designer outlets — The Mall (Gucci, Valentino, Ferragamo…), Barberino Designer Outlet (Prada, Max Mara…) and the Prada Space at Montevarchi are all within reach by car or shuttle; ask our team about transport options.

Why Hotel Firenze 2000 is a good base for all of this

Everything in this guide is accessible from our door at Viale Raffaello Sanzio 16 in the Oltrarno. The T1 tram from the Paolo Uccello stop connects toward Santa Maria Novella station; Cascine Park and its Tuesday market are a short walk; and the Oltrarno’s restaurants and evening bars are close by on foot. Our team can recommend restaurants for your taste and budget, arrange guides and museum tickets, and give the kind of honest, personal advice no booking platform can. Book directly for our best available rate.