2 Days in Florence, Italy. Doable?
 

Hi everyone,

I will be travelling to Florence, Italy next month for 4 days, and will be spending 2 full days now. I'm a budget backpacker so I'm looking to spend as little money as possible during my stay in Florence.

So far I planned to visit attractions by foot since the apartment I will be staying in is close to Firenze S. M. Novella.

Here's what I have planned so far.

Day 1:
Medici Riccardi Palace
Florence Cathedral Dome
Il Duomo
Giotto's Bell Tower
Republic Square
Fountain of Neptune Florence

Day 2:
Accademia Gallery
Piazza della Signoria
Uffizi Gallery
Vecchio Bridge
Church of St. Felicity
Piazzale Michelangelo

I'm a first time traveller so I have no experience on planning. Any advice will be much appreciated!! Thank you in advance!

Hi yumchalaa. Here are some suggestions and a couple of warnings.

Most museums are closed on Mondays, so take that into account. On Sunday mornings, the Duomo is closed to all but observant mass-goers. Finally, it's a good idea to get advance timed tickets on line for the Uffizi and Accademia to avoid wasting a lot of time in lines.

On Day 1, you could begin at the Duomo when it opens, look at or climb into the dome and the belltower. Then walk a couple of blocks to the Medici Riccardi palace to see the chapel.
There are quick lunch and snack places around there; also the tourist office which is extremely helpful in Florence.

If you are not ready for a nap, go back a couple of blocks to the Piazza della Signoria (where you will find the Neptune fountain) and visit the Uffizi-- maybe get a timed ticket for 4:00 or so? Afterwards, you can take a bus or walk up to the Piazzale Michelangelo, watch the sunset and walk down (I prefer the steps, which take you past several gardens and a cat sanctuary). Obviously be aware of your surroundings as it gets dark.

Day 2-- begin at the Accademia; then over the Ponte Vecchio
to Santa Felicita (this church has been known to close at lunchtime, by the way). Then your list is accomplished, and you can wander around, visit the straw market or the Boboli gardens, etc.

Have a wonderful time!

If you have extra time on Day 2, visit Santa Croce. Well worth an hour or 2.

http://www.yelp.ca/biz/mercato-centrale-firenze A great place to grab a bite as well. We loved it- fast and fresh!

I would also include Santa Croce.

I would definitely recommend Santa Croce not just for the Basilica, but also because of the nearby market, San Ambroglio, which has a great and very cheap cafe where they serve lunch at communal tables. From there, you can walk over to the Piazzale Michelangelo but from there keep walking up to the church of San Miniato to see the mosaics. From there it's a nice easy walk back down into town.

yumchalaa,

I really wouldn't sweat it, even though you are a first time traveler. For a budget traveler, even if you only saw all the free sights of Flroence, you would still leave there having had a fantastic experience and a good understanding of the historic city.

When traveling in Italy (or anywhere in Europe). I like to give a priority to seeing things that cannot be shown in a museum elsewhere. Many, many of the paintings in the Uffizi are sometimes packed up and shown in museums in other places. If you are a student of Italian painting, it makes sense to devote a couple of hours to looking at the paintings in the Uffizi. (If you are a student of Italian sculpture, go to the Bargello as well).

But if you are coming to Florence to understand its moment of glory in the history of the world, you really don't need to pay to go into museums unless you personally have always wanted to see something inside there. You can walk around Florence, go into the churches, see the historic food markets and jewelry markets, look at the piazze, look at the architecture, the gardens, the river.

Investigate the discount art cards and by all means, it is worth every penny you spend to enter a museum or church or historic site that has an entry fee to see something you want to see. That is better than buying souvenirs or an overpriced cup of coffee in a famous cafe.

But the amazing thing about Florence -- which you will see when you get there -- is that this rather small place changed the way everybody in Europe looks at everything. Enjoy the density of fantastic sights without worrying you aren't seeing everything. It would take you 2 years or more to get to all the most fascinating sights of Florence. But in 2 days, you can understand a lot if you keep your eyes open + make sure you see your own very personal wish list of sights.

Have a great time in the most beautiful of European cities.

Thank you all for your replies!

forgive my scepticism, spassky, but you don't write english like someone from Michigan. In fact you write it just like someone from the scuola-toscana might, trying to convince us how good your establishment is.

ciao, Spassky.

Do you actually have two full days in Florence? It takes spending three nights there to get two full days.

Ann, I agree with you about passkey's post being advertising and flags it as such.

Ah, auto correct strikes again - spassky's post...

Kathie - i loved the way that s/he thought that we'd be fooled!