Joanel

we will be spending only 2 days in florence before heading off to tuscany.

due to some limits in the amount of walking one of us can do, we were thinking about taking one of these 1/2 day tours of florence. several companies offer them - a morning version and another version in the afternoon.

anyone had any experience with these?

I know we can get to all these things ourselves but hoping the bus tour would make it a little easier.

PalenQ

haven't taken them but seen them, not only in Florence but practically every tourist city in Europe and believe they are a great tool and value for first-time visitors as they provide flexibility due to the sheer frequency of the hop on and off service and get you to out of the way places like the Piazza Michelangelo (for example, not sure they go there). not terribly expensive and commentary usually provided and on a nice day the open-air top deck is great.
That said Florence is surprisingly compact and you'd have no problem in two days navigating yourself to all main sights.

PalenQ

You may be talking about a half-day bus tour and not the hop on and hop off anywhere en route for the day doubledecker buses that run constantly around a fixed loop, with commentary...i'd recommend these over and set non-stop bus tour.

Joanel

palenq - not sure which one you are recommending. we were asking about the 1/2 day fixed itinerary NOT the hop on hop off bus.

ellenem

Many of the sights in Florence are in a pedestrian-only area, so not sure how a bus tour of this type would work. Most of the main things to see are 10 minutes or less walk from one another, if your challenged walker culd manage that. Piazzale Michelangelo can be reached by public bus or taxi if desired.