Book our Florence highlights tour, join a small group (max 15 persons) and see all the highlights of the Renaissance City getting a great insight on the history of the city and its beautiful buildings, churches and statues. You will see the church of Santa Croce, Piazza della Signoria, Ponte Vecchio, the Duomo (also inside) and many more attractions. Optionally add a visit to the Accademia Gallery with skip-the-line tickets to see the original David by Michelangelo!
Florence highlights tour itinerary
The Florence Highlights tour starts in Piazza Santa Croce, where you will see the beautiful Basilica from outside, learning about the period when it was built, the tombs inside and the stories about the square, also used for the Calcio storico games.
While slowly walking to the next stage of the tour, your guide will tell you more about the history of the city, showing you the former prison and a Renaissance palace, before you reach Piazza della Signoria, the political heart of Florence for more than 700 years, where intrigue and conspiracies witnessed the rise of the Medici family. The square is like an open air museum, filled with Renaissance statues, including a copy of Michelangelo’s David, whose hidden meaning is the fight between the supporters and the enemies of the Medici. You will also see Palazzo Vecchio (the City Hall) and the Loggia de’ Lanzi.
After seeing a very strange and unknown supposed work by Michelangelo, you will reach the Uffizi: the most important museum in Florence, very interesting to see even from outside because decorated with statues dedicated to the famous Tuscan people in history. Here you will learn how not only artists, but also navigators, politicians and scientist of the past contributed to make Tuscany such an important place.
You will reach the river Arno to walk on the most famous bridge of Florence, Ponte Vecchio, with his glittering shop windows, where you will take beautiful pictures. Back to the Northern part of the city, you won’t miss one of the most touristy places: the Loggia del Porcellino, with the fountain where tourists use to toss coins. The next building you will see is a church, even though it was built to be something different. You will get inside to see a gorgeous Gothic tabernacle and will see the first ever Renaissance statue, made by Donatello.
Next stop is in Piazza della Repubblica, a symbol of the Italian reunification (1861), before reaching the final stage of the tour, Piazza del Duomo. Here you will be amazed at the dimensions of the Cathedral and the Baptistery. The Duomo will be described from both outside and inside, where you will see the largest fresco ever made.
The tour will end here, unless you added the Michelangelo’s David option. If this is the case, you will reach the Accademia Gallery with your guide. After collecting your skip-the-line tickets, you will visit the museum to see the original Michelangelo’s David. The guide will introduce the life of Michelangelo, showing you his beautiful unfinished statues, and will tell you all the details about the history, the techniques, the historical context and the hidden meaning of David, right in front of the giant wonderful statue.
After the tour, you can stay in the Accademia on your own to see more beautiful paintings and statues.
Have a pleasant Florence highlights tour!
To make sure you have a pleasant experience with our Florence highlights tour, you must be aware of these important info and follow some simple rules:
- This is a walking tour, the distance to walk is about 1.5 Km (slightly less than one mile). For who adds the Accademia, the walking distance is about 2 Km (about 1.25 miles). We recommend to wear comfortable shoes.
- Most of the tour occurs outside. It is recommended to have a hat in sunny days and an umbrella for rainy days. A short umbrella is preferable, if you add the Accademia option.
- The Duomo and any other church in Florence have a dressing code to respect. Make sure your knees and shoulders are covered, or can be covered with shawls, or you won’t be able to follow your group inside.
- Groups with a guide have a privileged access to the Duomo, but depending on the number of groups waiting to enter and on the checks made by the Duomo staff on the dressing code, it may take up to 10 minutes to enter the church.
For who decides to add the Michelangelo’s David option, here are further things to know and rules to respect:
- During high season, the maximum capacity of the Museum can be easily reached and entrance can be delayed. Furthermore, metal detector checks can slow down the entrance. This happens also with skip the line tickets. Because of this, the entrance process at the Accademia can take 20-40 minutes.
- During the security checks, the Accademia staff can seize, at its sole discretion, dangerous objects. Among the objects you cannot bring with you inside are:
- large bottles and glass bottles of any size (small plastic bottles of water are allowed);
- knives and other sharp tools;
- any other dangerous object.
- Photos and videos are allowed with the following rules:
- no flash;
- no tripods;
- no selfie-sticks.
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