Florence Italy

Florence Italy, known locally as Firenze, is a moderate sized city of only about 400,000 people. I prefer that size because it's just large enough to have everything that a tourist or visitor would like to see, do or experience. It also has a lot of history behind it and the buildings to back it up.

I was actually impressed with the apparently high value that people over the ages have placed on the city. I came to this conclusion when I found out that not only did the world famous Michelangelo decide to be buried at the Basilica di Santa Croce, but that so did Galileo and Machiavelli along with other notables such as Leon Battista Alberti, Vittorio Alfieri, Eugenio Barsanti, Charlotte Bonaparte, Leonardo Bruni, Ugo Foscolo, Giovanni Gentile, Lorenzo Ghiberti, Vittorio Ghiberti, Carlo Marsuppini, Raffaello Morgheni and Gioacchino Rossini who are not as recognizable to me or other Americans.

Florence is also the location of Michelangelo's "David" statue, the well known statue that Ceasar's Palace in Las Vegas copied and displays in it's forum shop. You can strike out on your own and investigate what the city has to offer, or you can do what most visitors do - take a tour.

If you know what museums you want to see, I highly recommend that you pre-purchase tickets. Unless you like to take up conversations with other tourists while waiting in lines, you'll be glad you did.

Museums - Avoid hassles and save time by avoiding the lines. Buy tickets for admission to the Uffizi Gallery, Accademia Gallery, Palatina Gallery, Bargello Museum, Medici Chapels, Modern Art Gallery, San Marco Museum and the Archaeological Museum.

Tours

Downtown Tour of Florence - The itinerary includes Duomo, Baptistery exteriors, Giotto's bell Tower, Palazzo Vecchio exteriors, Loggia dei Lanzi, Uffizi Square, Ponte Vecchio and Santa Croce Church.

Oltrarno - Itinerary includes Santo Spirito Church, Piazza del Carmine, Cappella Brancacci, Pitti Palace and Palatina Gall.

Santa Maria Novella - Itinerary includes Santa Maria Novella Church, san Lorenzo Church, Palazzo Medici Riccardi (exteriors), and Accademia Gallery.

Villas - Includes the Medicean Villa of Castello, Medicean Villa La Petraia, Medicean Villa demidoff and Pratolino Park.

Poggio a Caiano - Includes the Medicean Villa of Poggio a Caiano and Medicean Villa of Artimino (exteriors).

Piazza della Signoria and Uffizi Gallery - Itinerary includes 1 hour of thematic tour in Piazza della Signoria and 2 hours tour of Uffizi Gallery.

Michelangelo and the David - Itinerary includes 1 hour of Michelangelo thematic tour around the city and 2 hours tour of Accademia Gallery.

Treasures of Palazzo Pitti - Itinerary includes 1 hour of Pitti thematic tour around the city and 2 hours tour of Palatina Gallery.

Tour to Siena - A trip to Siena. Includes the Duomo, Baptistery, Piazza del Campo, mangia's Tower, and downtown palaces and streets.

San Gimignano - A trip to San Gimignano. Itinerary includes the Piazza della Cisterna, Duomo, Podestà palace and Sant'Agostino Church.

Lucca - A trip to Lucca. Itinerary includes the San Michele Piazza and Church, Duomo, Medieval streets, Amphitheater and San Frediano Basilic.

Pisa - A trip to Pisa. Itinerary includes the Piazza dei Miracoli (Duomo, Baptistery and Camposanto) and a brief tour of the city.

Audio Guide "The Antique Doors of Florence" - A unique way to discover Florence from home. An Audio guided tour with a downloadable MP3 file. Just choose your favorite itinerary and a clear voice will guide you through it. Available in English and Italian.

Villa Peyron Garden - Guided or unguided tours include The villa, first terrace, lake descent, music square, the lake, chapel, second terrace, third terrace, fourth terrace, fifth terrace, tea corner, Japanese lake, the conversation, pergola and The cypresses path.

Citysightseeing - Get a top notch overview of Florence from the open air buses. Tickets are valid for 24 hours. Each tour has multi lingual commentary in Italian, English, French, Spanish, German, Portugese, Japanese.

Stop in FLorence include Stazione FS SMN, Duomo, San Marco, Colonna, Beccaria, Santa Croce, Zecca Vecchia, Piazzale Michelangelo, Galileo, Villa Cora, Porta Romana, Pitti, Tornabuoni, Antinori and Unità. Duration is about 50 minutes.

Five central interchange points will allow passengers to hop on or hop off from the Florence City tour to a Fiesole bus. The one ticket is valid for both tours thus giving excellent value for money !

The Fiesole bus is a newer route to this Etruscan hill town just a few kilometres out of Florence. Stops include San Frediano, Tornabuoni, Antinori, Duomo, Proconsolo, Galleria degli Uffizi, Zecca Vecchia, Lungo l'Affrico, Villa Camerata, San Domenico, Regresso, Fiesole, Stadio, Donatello, Beccaria, Santa Croce, Ponte Vecchio, Pitti, Santo Spirito and Carmine. Duration is about 105 minutes.

Bus Tours

Florence Morning - This itinerary includes a visit of the Cathedral complex: the Cathedral with Brunelleschi's grandiose cupola, Giotto's bell tower, the Baptistery with its bronze doors, among which the most famous Gates of Paradise. The tour then arrives at the famous Gallery of the Academy where it is possible to admire the original David by Michelangelo and other masterpieces by this great artist. Along the romantic Viale dei Colli up to Piazzale Michelangelo: a stop to admire the wonderful panorama of the city, one of the most beautiful in the world.

Siena and S. Gimignano - Excursion through the countryside of the Chianti area among delightful hills, with an ever-changing scenery of vineyards and olive trees. A visit to San Gimignano, a tiny city that has remained intact through the centuries; the city is situated on top of a hill and is famous for its numerous towers, frescoes and other art treasures.

Afternoon in Chianti Florence - An excursion to one of the most suggestive areas of Tuscany, known all over the world for its wine and its countryside of unequalled beauty, that alternates woods with vines and olive trees, where Romanesque Churches, farmhouses, Villas and Castles of rare beauty are to be found.

Afternoon Visit of Pisa - An excursion through the fertile and picturesque Tuscan countryside towards the historic university city of Pisa, famous for its architectural beauty. A panoramic view of the beautiful riversides, then a visit of the Piazza dei Cavalieri, where the Scuola Normale resides, one of the most famous universities in the world.

Gucci Prada Outlet - Tuscany is the home to the Italian textile industry. And where there are factories, there are factory outlets. The fashion houses which manufacture in Tuscany include Gucci, Fendi, Armani, Dolce e Gabbana, Jil Sander, Helmut Lang and Prada. At The Mall Outlet Center you will find brands as gnona, Bottega Veneta, Emanuel Ungaro, Ermenegildo Zegna, Fendi, Giorgio Armani, Gucci, Hogan, I Pinco Pallino, La Perla, Loro Piana, Marni, Salvatore Ferragamo, Sergio Rossi, Tod's, Valentino and Yves Saint Laurent.