Of all Italian art cities, Florence is arguably the one that lends itself best to being an ideal short-break destination. Its centro storico is compact enough to tackle on foot and offers a perfect balance of world-class art, a varied and evolving eating and drinking scene, great shopping and all that golden Florentine light. A slew of new hotels, restaurants and cocktail bars, along with revamped galleries and museums and newly repurposed urban spaces, has given the city new energy in spite of the huge problems of over-tourism. Sure, everybody needs to sigh at Botticelli’s Venus and drool over Michelangelo’s David at least once in their lives, but having ticked those boxes, there is a slew of lesser-known and largely underrated gems to explore.
Here are our suggestions for spending a perfect three days in Florence.
Day one
Morning
Florence’s Duomo, one of the largest cathedrals in the world, has dominated the centro storico for centuries and is still a good place to start any visit. But don’t bother going inside (there’s not a lot to see and the queues are endless); instead, walk round the outside of the vast green and white striped building to take in the sheer size of the thing before ducking into the underrated Museo dell’Opera del Duomo to discover more about the extraordinary building process.
Avoid tourist-y Gilli (or go at 8am) and order a quick espresso and a sweet cornetto standing at the bar of retro Florentine favourite Scudieri before heading to another underrated wonder, the Museo di San Marco where Fra Angelico’s glorious angels grace the walls and monk’s cells.
Dip into the San Lorenzo market area for a typically Florentine lunch – pappa al pomodoro and rosemary-spiked arista maybe – at Trattoria Da Sergio where the décor (along with some of the clients) hasn’t changed for decades.
Afternoon
Check out the latest offering at the Fondazione Palazzo Strozzi, which hosts a regularly rotating series of cracking shows, most recently dedicated to Fra Angelico and Mark Rothko. Skip the designer stores lining Via Tornabuoni (you can see them anywhere), but do swing by the Gucci-owned Richard Ginori flagship store where their fabulous collections are housed in the vaulted rooms of grand Renaissance Palazzo Ginori.
A perfect antidote to art overload is the Hzero miniature train museum, which houses a 280-metre square model railway with 1,000 metres of track and meticulously reconstructed landscapes.
