Things to do in Florence

Florence is small enough to walk across. The station to Santa Croce, the far side of the old centre, is 1.6 km in a straight line. The Duomo is half a kilometre from the Uffizi.

What the old centre holds

• The Duomo. Cathedral, baptistery and bell tower in one square. Brunelleschi finished the dome in 1436 without the centring a vault that size would normally need.
• The Uffizi and the Accademia. Botticelli, Leonardo and Caravaggio at one; Michelangelo's David at the other.
• Across the Arno. Pitti Palace, the Medici residence from 1550, with the Boboli gardens behind. Santo Spirito and San Frediano, also across the river, still have working craft workshops.

Doing the three big tickets properly

Most tours in Florence are built around the Uffizi, the Accademia and the dome. All three are easy to do badly.

• The Uffizi after four. Entry from 4 pm costs 16 euros, against 25 on the day or 29 booked ahead. The ticket office shuts at 5.30 and visitors leave by 6.30: pick three names, skip the rest.
• The David is at the end. The Gallery of the Prisoners runs straight to it. Last admission is 6.10 pm, and without a booking the wait can be long.
• The dome needs a slot. The 30-euro Brunelleschi Pass lasts three days and covers dome, bell tower, baptistery, museum and crypt. Only the dome has a fixed time: 463 steps, no lift, and open from 12.45 on Sundays. The cathedral itself is free.
• The first Sunday. State museums are free that day, and the Accademia stops taking bookings. The price is zero and the cost is the queue.

Eating, and the evening

Bistecca alla fiorentina is sold by the etto, which is 100 grams. A steak of a kilo at five to nine euros an etto is fifty to ninety before the wine. Beware a menu without the etto price.

Wine windows are small hatches in palace walls, made after a ruling of 1559 let landowners sell their own wine. A few pour again. Evenings run to opera in the Santa Monaca church, or dinner and a show at the Teatro del Sale.

Day trips from Florence

• Chianti. A half-day of two wineries takes about five and a half hours. Vespa and e-bike versions run six hours or more.
• Siena, San Gimignano and Pisa. One long day, around twelve hours with lunch.
• Cinque Terre. Twelve hours or more by bus, train and boat, and the boats depend on weather.
• Fiesole. The hill town above the city, four hours by e-bike or Vespa.

Practical

• Weather. July and August afternoons average 32C. January is 11C by day and 2C at night. April and October reach 20 to 22C, and October and November each bring over 100 mm of rain.
• Mondays. The Uffizi, Accademia and Pitti are shut. The Boboli gardens open, except on the first and last Monday of the month.
• From the airport. The city's fixed taxi fare to the centre is 28 euros on weekdays, before luggage and night supplements. Tram T2 also runs to the station area.
• Cars. The centre is a ZTL, a limited-traffic zone: weekdays 7.30 to 20.00, Saturdays to 16.00, and summer nights from Thursday to Saturday. Cameras fine by post. Park outside.