Next stop-Florence
 

My husband and I are doing a 2+ month long trip of Europe August-October 2015. Fly into London and out of Rome.

This is my proposed itinerary for Florence. We have never been to Florence before. Will have 7 nights here. May book hotel or apartment. Arriving from Venice via train.

day 1-arrive Florence, check in to hotel or apt., get supplies if apt.

day 2-Bargello, Piazza della Signoria

day 3-Duomo, Campanile, Baptistery, Museo dell'Opera del Duomo a long day!

day 4-Uffizi Gallery, Palazzo Vecchio, Ponte Vecchio

day 5-day trip to Pisa or Lucca

day 6- Medici Chapels, San Lorenzo

day 7-Accademia Gallery, San Marco Museum

Here's where I'm stuck. I need to find a spot for Santa Croce, Jewish Ghetto/Sinagoga, Pitti Palace, time for picnic in Boboli Gardens, Santa Maria Novella, Piazzale Michelangelo. Any suggestions? If necessary I can forego the day trip which opens up a day. Day 2 is light so maybe something else there? Could I add to day 4?? I may have time to do something on day 1 but I was thinking to use that day to just kind of wander around with no clear purpose in mind.

Florence has got me stumped. Any advice, suggestions, things to add, things to drop-any help would be greatly appreciated.

day 5-day trip to Pisa or Lucca>

You could easily do a day trip to both in the same day - take a train to Pisa S Rossore train station (changing at Pisa Centrale often to do that) - this station is a long stone's throw from the Leaning Tower area on the north edge of Pisa - no lockers but you will not be taking much on a day trip.

Book your ascent on the official site if planning to climb the tower or face a potentially long long wait in line - hoof it back to the train station for trains to Lucca, 27 minutes away - bop around Lucca for half a day and return from there direct to Florence by train.

On your other days it would seem easy to see much more than you've planned on most of those days. You do want to wander around Oltrano - the ancient part of Florence on the other side of the Arno.

First of all, you need to check what's open on what days and at what times esp. since you are going to be there over a weekend. You may have to shift your days around. You can look up most museums here:

http://www.uffizi.firenze.it/en/

Depending on what time you arrive on Day 1, it's quite possible you'll have most of that afternoon available. Depending on the distance from your lodging, Santa Croce could be a nice intro to the city.

Your sights on Days 2, 6 and 7 will not take all day. Seeing the Ponte Vecchio takes 15 minutes at most unless you plan to shop or take loads of pictures.

Santa Croce and the Great Synagogue would be musts for me, but the Pitti Palace would be a low priority. You don't say exactly when you'd be in Florence, but I would probably find it too hot in August and early September to be walking in the sun in Boboli Gardens.

I'd put the Brancacci Chapel on the list if you have time. It would be a short visit as your access to the chapel is limited to 15-20 minutes. Timed reservations are required.

http://www.museumsinflorence.com/mus...ci_chapel.html

Santa Croce would also be first on my list. Most of your days are really only about half full, so you could easily add something nearly every day.
Everything is fairly close and walkable, so you do not need a lot of time to get from one place to another, just stops for rest, snacks, etc.
Pisa and Luca together make sense.

I don't want to encourage you to rush through sights, but you are overestimating how much time it will take you to see most of the things on your list. If anything, the only day I would find a full day of sightseeing is the combo of the Uffizi and the Palazzo Vecchio, especially if you intend to see a lot at the Uffizi and take an underground tour in the Palazzo Vecchio. I would tempted to do these things on separate days.

You will need to plan for heat in the mid afternoon (or maybe all the time!) If if you think you can go all day without returning to your air conditioned lodgings, you will probably want to be inside an air conditioned space for the high heat of the day and be doing your walking around int the morning or early evening. I suggest splurging on a taxi ride up to Piazzele Michaelangelo for the sunset. Bring a flashlight and walk back down to town for dinner.

I would not try to see Pisa and Lucca in the same day in summertime.

can i suggest that you put San Marco first on the day you decide to go there? it opens very early [8.15 i think] but closes in the afternoon, so you need to go there in the morning and if you get there early there will be very few people.

After that you could catch the bus up to Fiesole [well worth adding to a week's itinerary] see the Basilica, walk up to the monastery di San Francesco, and then down to the amphitheatre and museum. There is a nice restaurant in the middle of the town where you can have lunch under the trees.

if you got a late afternoon "slot" for the Accademia, you would be able to do this quite easily I think. if you got back too early, the cafe on the corner of the square of San Marco and Via Cavour is delightful, with waitresses wearing the most lovely hats!

Another omission from your itinerary is the church above the Piazzale Michelangelo - San Miniato - well worth walking up to and much more rewarding than the Boboli. There is another garden in Oltrarno called il Giardino Bardini with great views over Florence, which if you like gardens is well worth finding:

http://www.bardinipeyron.it/

I would definitely want to find time for at least an afternoon in Oltrarno exploring these and other places. The shops along the main street are nice too - where ordinary florentines shop!

I don't know if you are early risers, but something I might consider is having one early morning to head out to Pisa first thing, see everything, have lunch and then return to Florence, freshen up at the hotel, and then take a taxi up to Piazzele Michaelangelo for sunset, walk down, have a relaxed dinner or nibbles at a wine bar.

On a separate day, I would do some heavy duty museum sightseeing the morning, have a nice lunch, but then catch a bus or train to Lucca to get there by 5pm. Walk around the town for 2 hours, pick up cheese and salami, have wine in a piazza, catch the train or bus back to Florence, eat at the apartment.

I would not drop the Pitt Palace - which we found fascinating - even without the Boboli Gardens - which can be nice in early AM or sunset.

chris:
there is no clearly defined ghetto such as Venice. Only a kosher market near the sinagoga. The security at the beautiful Moorish-domed building will be tight as you can imagine. There will be a uniformed soldier at the guard kiosk, but the entrance will go smoothly for you once inside the walls. The tour is historically fascinating snd the sanctuary is as well-appointed as any other sinagoga.

Fiesole, as mentioned above, is worth the bus ride (we walked the five miles back to town..but it was early spring.)Enjoy your time in Italia.

I.would do Pisa and Lucca on the same day, visiting Lucca first then onto Pisa. The photo lighting in Pisa near dusk/sunset is quite beautiful and the crowds are gone.

Train to Lucca, train to Pisa from Lucca, return to Florence from Pisa.

My first priority in Florence is always seeing "David". Your leaving it to the last day surprises me. It doesn't take too long and is a memorable experience.;reserve your tickets ahead.

Dates for Florence were shaping up to be September 20-27, 2015. Revised itinerary. What do you think? I feel I need to add a day not to be rushed so Sept. 20-28, 2015.

1-Arrive by noon via train from Venice, check in to hotel or apt., Santa Croce, if time-Sinagoga which closes around 6:30 pm. If I don't get to Sinogaga I will definitely squeeze it in some other day!

2-maybe put Accademia here with Bargello and Piazza del Signoria?

3-same

4-same

5-same

6-Medici Chapels, San Lorenzo, Santa Maria Novella.

7-San Marco Museum, bus to Fiesole, Accademia if not seen on day 2.

8-Palazzo Pitti, Cappella Brancacci, Giardino Bardini, San Miniato al Monte, sunset Piazzale Michelangelo. Is this too much for one day?

Next stop-Positano for a week to relax!

We loved Gallerie Borghese! Booked in advance, we were on first English tour of day and our guide was excellent.

Do you have an apartment yet! We stayed here, it was lovely and in great location and wonderful owner.

https://www.airbnb.com/rooms/662667

The Borghese is in Rome.

chris45ny,

You will want to make reservations for some of the sights, and it might be best to organize your day around those reservations. Meaning, you don't want to find yourself either rushing through the Pitti Palace because you have a reservation at the Cappella, or you don't want to find yourself hovering near the Cappella for 40 minutes because you didn't realize your earlier sightseeing would take less time then you budgeted for.

So you might want to stick the reserved sights for first thing in the morning, or right after lunch or whatever makes sense to you.

You also might find that for your first day, taking a walk around Florence -- it is mainly rather small -- will set you up nicely for the rest of your stay, just so you get a lay of the land and your subsequent movements will be more efficient . Since the sun won't be setting until after 8pm, you can easily do that after seeing Santa Croce and/or the Sinagoga. Florence is also very beautifully lit in the evening, and you might want to stroll by the Palazzo Vecchio or the Uffizi and some of the other piazza to see that.

I too always have a list of very specific targets I want to see when I visit Florence, right down to specific paintings in specific rooms in specific museums. On the other hand, I am still surprised every time I go to Florence by something I didn't have on my list -- several things actually.

So while we have all encouraged you to realize that your schedule could accommodate some add-ons, also realize, while you are actually there, that if you discover you are fascinated by what you are looking at and want to spend more time there at the expense of moving on to the next sight on your list, it is better (in my view) to really take your time with your discoveries. I don't think there is anyone here who has seen everything wonderful in Florence -- you'd really need to live there for half a year or more -- so savor the experience!

And do give some thought to plan Bs and Cs if you get extreme heat or downpours. Either can happen at the end of September -- or you get glorious mild dry weather.

Yeah, I knew that! Color me opps!

I did a great cooking class in Florence. It was fun and learned a lot. If interested I will include info. Lucca for a day trip. Pisa is so so. I think you will find a lot to do in Florence.

DebitNM-Forget the oops! That apartment link you supplied is perfect for us and when I told my husband the price he had a big smile on his face. Grazie.

travelinggaby-Thanks for the restaurant info. Will be a nice change from pizza and pasta! Will definitely make a reservation for Accademia. Nice blog!

sandralist-Great advice. I need to check out the official websites as to what places I may or may not consider reservations. I never really know how much time I'm going to spend in a museum, art gallery, church until I get there so I won't do reservations unless it's very much recommended. I'm a bit OCD when it comes to trip planning but I've found I can also go with the flow. That happened on our last trip as our last days in Bangkok in April were brutal due to the heat. Had to adjust for that. Will make adjustments on this trip for the weather also if necessary.

flpab-Please include the cooking class info. My husband and I did cooking classes in Cambodia and Thailand and it was so much fun. The food wasn't bad either! :D

To everyone who has taken the time to respond to my post-grazie mille! Guidebooks can give you dry info but IMO the best info comes from other travelers' experiences. ;)

Again, compare your specific dates with the open/closed days and hours of each sight. If Day 2 is Monday, 9/21/14, the Accademia will be closed. Sundays and Mondays in Florence are tricky.

Chris:
We were in Florence last june, and in Positano,the Amalfi Coast and Rome,in last september.
Will share some comments about Florence:
- pre booking Uffizzi is excellent, just walkin atthe time you choose.do it in advance, no less than three hours...(or two or three days ) must be forecasted for a visit.....one of the best museums in the world.

- Palazzo Vecchio you can arrive and enter, no line or very short...think of no less than two hours for a visit.....or more....depends on you.

-Santa Crocce is an absolute must.

-If you have an hour free visit Orsanmichele.

- Consider buying toilet soap at La Rinascente, the special ones, thar smell of lavender, rosemary or roses.

Enjoy Florence.

The Jewish ghetto was where it is now piazza della Repubblica - it was levelled in the second half of 19th century to make place for modern buildings. The only memory of it I can visualize is a commemorative stone in via delle Oche, where once there was a Jewish oratory, that received objects coming from the demolished synagogues. The new and larger Synagogue was built after some time, at the end of 19th century.

It is HIGHLY RECOMMENDED to make reservations for some of the most famous sights and museums in Florence, because in September, if you try to go without reservations you could end up spending hours on line. Literally hours.

If you want to visit the Accademia, the Uffizi, the Cappella Brancacci, then having a reservation is really the wisest way to go. I am possibly forgetting some others on your list that offer reservations that would be wise to accept. I think if you visit Pisa and want to climb the tower you must have a reservation, but I am not sure.

By the way, there is always a lot of variance in opinion about visiting Pisa. The architectural site is one of the most harmoniously beautiful in all of Europe. The silly tourist scene it attracts is hands down the most disgusting (although I have never been Oktoberfesrt in Munich). If architecture means a lot to you, then the complex of architectural masterpieces in Pisa is an eye-opening thrill and worth as much time as you can give it. But if you are going to Pisa mainly to take your picture "holding up the tower," my advice is to spend a few moments at home with photoshop instead and use your time in Italy to see Lucca or Siena or Fiesole or anyplace else but Pisa.

I was just in Florence last week and am totally envious of your trip! You will have such a wonderful time! I would definitely suggest making time to browse and have lunch at the Mercato Centrale, either at Pork's or Nerbonne downstairs or upstairs in the new food court section (which stays open later than downstairs). You could probably do this easily in between San Lorenzo and Santa Maria Novella (which I loved, by the way - the Georgio Vasari Madonna of the Rosary is so worth seeing and the Spanish Chapel makes me emotional.)

I agree with annhig that the Bardini is so much better than Boboli Gardens, and can easily be done in conjunction with the Piazzale Michelangelo, Actually, I always seem to end up feeling that the Pitti Palace is an exhausting mistake, but I know some people love it. Be warned that there are a lot of stairs. A lot.

My suggestion for the Uffizi is to take some time looking over the map of the rooms before heading up and decide which are your "must see" rooms. It is pretty overwhelming to try to really see all of it, so make sure you have a plan to skip ahead if your energy begins to flag. The Botticelli's are among my favorites. There is a little cafe on the top floor with an outside patio if you want to get a little refreshment and fresh air mid-visit.

While you are over at the San Marco, directly across the square is a little shop called Pugi's - best foccacia ever! I had been dreaming of it for two years, since my last trip, and it didn't disappoint. Just heavenly stuff. My Mom got a really fab slice of anchovy and caper pizza there as well. And just a block south of the Accademia, lovely gelato place called Caribe. It is one of the best in Florence, in my opinion.

Have a glorious time and enjoy wandering about!

rosecity15-Thanks for all the dining recommendations!! I did go on the Uffizi website and went through it all, room by room, and now have a long list of what I'd like to see. This is a place where we will need a lot of time. Plan to go through for about 2 hrs., take a break at the little cafe you mention, then finish up with another 2 hrs. i think I'll need 3-4 hrs. here just to see the art. That's why I only have the bridge and the Palazzo Vecchio for the rest of the day scheduled.

To everyone else-reservations-yes definitely, don't want to waste precious time standing in line. Vaporetto pass or not-need to do more research on if it works best for us.

jelopez33-The soap sounds like something I would buy for gifts. I bought soap that had been carved/shaped into flowers and set inside lovely wooden cases on our SE Asia trip and they were a big hit with my nieces.

chris - here's another vote for the uffizi cafe. surprisingly good and reasonable, but sadly there's a brick wall that blocks out any decent view.

and try to get as early a time slot so that you get as far in front of the guided tours as you can, though inevitably they will catch you up sooner or later.

If you are interested in soap and will be in the neighborhood of Santa Maria Novella then read up on the historic pharmacy, several hundred years old, where you can buy soap and other cosmetic products, perfumes and salves -- or simply gawk at the beautiful interior

http://www.smnovella.it/?lang=en

Be sure your Uffizi entry ticket allows you to leave the museum and return again -- or else eat in the museum cafe.