my boyfriend & i will be in florence for 4.5 days in september. we are coming from sorrento and after florence, we go to venice. after garnering ideas from several sites/forums, i have laid out the following itinerary & would like your feedback on it.

DAY 1 (half)
- arrive in florence 11am by train, check in apartment, have lunch
- santa maria novella, santa croce
- accademia to see david (ticket purchased in advance for 4pm entrance)
- walk to piazza michelangelo

DAY 2
- get to duomo by 830am-9am to climp the cupola, the see inside of the duomo
- brunch
- piazza de republicca
- piazza della signoria
- uffizi (ticket purchased in advance for 1pm entrance); estimate we'll spend 3 hrs there

DAY 3
- day trip to siena

DAY 4
- day trip to cinque terre (TENTATIVE)

DAY 5
- day trip to pisa
- return to florence, see santo spirito and boboli gardens and maybe pitti palace

Congrats on your trip, ali_fafa.

Mind you, I had breathing issues but I'd take a cab to Piazza Michelangelo* and walk back. DH and I did that and somehow ended up in the Boboli Gardens! You'd be on the same side as the Santo Spirito--maybe combine that with Piz. Michel. Let Pitti Palace and Boboli be your afternoon.

Get a reservation to go up the Leaning Tower (it's not a bad climb). I was blown away by the inside of Pisa's Duomo as well--no one goes there and it's interesting and beautiful.

*FYI, here's what came up when I googled bus to PM:

https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?ie=U...ac6f60affc798f

arrive in florence 11am by train, check in apartment, have lunch
- santa maria novella, santa croce
- accademia to see david (ticket purchased in advance for 4pm entrance)
- walk to piazza michelangelo

Ali - this is pretty all over the place and not a good use of your time. Depending on where you are staying, you might see SMN and the Accademia, or Santa Croce and the Accademia; it's a good idea to look at a map and see what sights are close to each other, rather than dotting about the city which is both time consuming and tiring.

on Day 3, i think that you might have time for the Bargello museum - after all, the piazze are just walk-by places, not actual sights that you go into, so they won't take you long.

I would also think about whether you want to do 3 day trips in a row[ the CT is a pretty long train ride there and back when there are so many other things to see and do in Florence. you might, for example, consider going to the Monastery of San Marco [in the square of the same name, near the Accademia] to see the works of Fra Angelico then catch the bus up to Fiesole to see the roman amphitheatre and enjoy the views over the city.

have a great trip!

>>> arrive in florence 11am by train, check in apartment, have lunch<<<

You will have to leave Sorrento very early to make Florence by 11. It's about 75 minutes by train just from Sorrento to Naples. Another 3 hours or so for a train from Naples to Florence. Last time I did this route, my train between Florence/Naples was an hour late.

>>>santa maria novella, santa croce
- accademia to see david (ticket purchased in advance for 4pm entrance)
- walk to piazza michelangelo<<<

Too much and too far apart. Do you plan to tour these churches or just walk by?

Florence bus website.

http://www.ataf.net/en/timetables-an...=1123&LN=en-US

ky makes a good point. bad idea to book anything for your arrival day.

if you follow my suggestion and drop the CT on Day 4, going to the Accademia first thing would fit in very well with that itinerary.

thanks a million for all of your feedback!

If you climb the dome of the cathedral, you get a view down into the duomo and up into the cupola for Vasari's fresco. If you are on a tight schedule, I would eliminate a separate entrance to the cathedral, because it is not the most interesting church on the ground level (in my opinion, of course). You might check out the Baptistry, which is part of the Duomo group, for its doors and for its very interesting interior that includes 13th-14th century mosaics and other works of art.

Also, instead of Piazza Michelangelo, you might consider San Miniato al Monte, which is near the piazza, offers similar views of Florence, AND an awesome church.

I agree that the trip to Piazza Michelangelo (San Miniato) is best grouped with Boboli or other Oltrarno attractions. You could spend a whole day on that side of the river, which I always gravitate to because it seems a little less crowded and less hectic than the historic center around the Duomo.