Florence

Florence is one of the major tourist cities in Italy. It is often combined with a visit to Rome, as Florence is easy to reach by train from the capital.

Our plan was to visit the two main places in the city - the Ponte Vecchio Bridge and Piazzale Michelangelo at sunset - and also walk in the old city.

The most interesting attraction of Florence is the Ponte Vecchio Bridge, built in 1345. Although now there are no butcher shops here, it managed to keep the original appearance. The souvenir sellers replaced the butchers. Because of yellow colors the bridge looks better in the evening.

It's a good idea to view the city and the bridges from the Michelangelo Square. You can come there by bus #12 or #13 from the city center. On this map you can see the location of the area and how to get there. A taxi from the Ponte Vecchio will cost about 12 euros.




You can make romantic pictures :)


The old city has many treasures and a large number of tourists. The main place of interest is the Uffizi Gallery, one of the major collections of paintings and sculptures in Italy. We didn't plan to visit it, but if you decide to visit it, then better buy a ticket in advance here.

Piazza Santa Maria Novella is one of the biggest in the city. Here is a church with the same name built by Dominican monks in the XIII century.


At those times more than 100,000 people lived in Florence, which was quite a lot. The city developed rapidly, and the mainstay of the economy was wool trade. Wool traders sponsored the construction of the main cathedral of the city, Santa Maria del Fiore. At that time it used to be the largest cathedral in the world.






Nearby is the San Lorenzo Cathedral, founded in the IV century. Inside you can see works by Donatello and Michelangelo. By the way, fans of the Ninja Turtles will be interested to know that Leonardo and Raphael also played a role in the history of Florence.


On the Piazza della Signoria you can see the Old Palace, the seat of power of the Florentine Republic where the most important decisions were taken. Now here is the registry office and City Hall. The square is also interesting due to large number of interesting sculptures.












More photos of the old city




















Guide to Florence
Large map of Florence

Getting there: The main airport is in Pisa, from there 80 minutes by train to Florence. The city itself also has an airport, but a small one. Train is the best way to get to Florence. You can get there from anywhere, the easiest way is from Rome, Milan, and Bologna. Also the high-speed line "Naples - Turin" runs through the city. Website of bus lines in Florence. Route map is here.