Stop 2: Florence
The Birth of Italy’s Renaissance
Um, what is the Renaissance again? In a nutshell it was the “rebirth” of the arts, culture, and generally speaking, man himself after the Middle Ages. In more practical terms, it was the time when everything blossomed, a dark and dreary world turned to vibrancy and humanism. Buildings became opulent, art became bold, life rebounded. And it all started in Florence.
Our plan was to spend three nights in Florence, arriving midday and heading out to the Tuscany countryside for a wine tasting and cooking class, then visit the museums and search for good food, like the famous Bistecca alla Fiorentina, the giant T-Bone steak that’s served insanely rare.
Not everything went as planned, but in the end our time in Florence was our favorite part of the trip. Come along, I’ll show you.
Rome to Florence on a train, simple, fast, cheap
Taking the Train from Rome to Florence
Rome’s Termini train station to Florence S. M. Novella is less than an hour and a half. When looking for tickets it can be quite confusing with what looks like two very similar options. Let me unscramble it.
Trenitalia is the actual official train operator.
ItaliaRail is an agency that books tickets on the Trenitalia trains.
You can book on either but for those in the US it’s easier to book on ItaliaRail. Better website, US dollars, easier to understand. Prices are very similar.
On the ItaliaRail site you will see various trains going to the same place but with different traveling times and prices. The faster trains cost more and are more luxurious with reserved seating and times. The Regional trains are slower, cost less, are more flexible on times but have no reserve seats so you have to hope your train isn’t crowded. We always went High Speed and always opted for 1st class if the price was close. We booked all of our travel in advance to avoid having to figure out how to purchase at the train station. Oh sure, you can book right at the train station but why add more stress when you can just book ahead?
First Time to an Italian Train Station?
First thing you do when you arrive at the train station is to find the giant marquee to locate your train so you can find what platform you need to go to. If you don’t see your train info don’t freak out - often it’s because you arrived too early and it is not posted yet. Look for your train by the train number, not your destination, because the marquee board doesn’t always list YOUR destination as the train destination if if is continuing beyond your stop.
Once you find your train, go to that platform and try to enter the train at your specific car number. Once on the train keep your ticket handy as you will need to show it to the train conductor to verify your seat. Reserve seats do not require you to validate your ticket but if you end up on a Regional train you must validate or risk a big fine.
Where We Stayed in Florence
The incredible view from our hotel rooftop
The Best Location in Florence
Using the same methodology we did in Rome (location first, price second, verifying reviews on multiple sites), we booked La Terraza Sul Duomo, a luxury bed and breakfast that was surprisingly affordable. The room was gorgeous, the view from the rooftop of the famous Duomo simply cannot be beat - seriously one of the best views in town. Breakfast in your room or in the cozy dining area included, this felt much more expensive than the $200 per night budget we set.
A short walk from the train station, a quick lift in an old fashioned elevator, and we were at the best hotel we stayed at during our entire Italy vacation. Don’t hesitate, book this one if you can.
Visiting Florence’s Greatest Attractions
Florence is the capitol of Tuscany, the vibrant center of it all. One of the most beautiful cities in the world, you’ll find some of the most famous works of art here as well as incredible architecture and food. Outside of the city is the countryside, the rolling hills of Tuscany with wineries, medieval towns, and that romance you’ve been dreaming about.
There’s no Metro in Florence. There’s no need - using the Duomo as the center of town you’re pretty much a half mile to any of the key destinations. Don’t worry, you’ll get your steps in, lots of them. And you’ll need them with all the good food in Florence. Nibble, taste, share if you have to, but don’t hold back.
Don’t forget to download the free Rick Steves audio tours. You will need them for the museums - Rick clearly explains what you are looking at, making the museum experience so much worthwhile and interesting.
Must See Museums
Accadamia Gallery
Number one goal, see the Statue of David. Number one mistake, we didn’t book advanced tickets. Sold. Out. That had us racing to find alternatives in a town we knew very little about. Luckily I found the Firenze Card, the two day museum pass that not only included the Accadamia Gallery but allowed us to skip the line. The very long line. God bless the Firenze card.
You’ve seen photos of the Statue of David but nothing will match seeing it in person. The size, the detail, the beauty, you can only get that from being there. When we were there the crowds seem to ebb and flow, sometimes massive, a few minutes later manageable. Nearly as impressive are the unfinished works of Michelangelo, nicknamed The Prisoners because Michelangelo believed that every statue was trapped inside the massive blocks of marble and he had to free them. The rest of the gallery is slightly anticlimatic but how could it not be after seeing David?
Is the Firenze Card Worth It? The Firenze Card is €85, admission to Accadamia is €22.5, Uffizi is €26, the Duomo is €18. You can do the math and figure out if it's worth it to you but the Skip the Line feature makes it a no-brainer for me. It also gets you into a number of smaller museums, the ones you might skip if you had to pull out your credit card again. For my three day trip in Florence it was absolutely worth it and highly recommended.
Uffizi Galleria
I didn’t paint this but I did take this amazing photo!
Get a crash course on The Renaissance at the Uffizi Galleria. We skipped the line with the Firenze Card, plugged in Rick Steves’ audio tour that guided us through the museum highlights. This is a must - you don’t want to be wandering from room to room looking at art that you most likely don’t understand. It’s a fascinating journey, and you can do both the Accadamia and Uffizi the same morning, leaving you time to explore Florence’s other delights. BTW, the views from the Uffizi of the bridge Ponte Vecchio are some of the best - see below.
National Museum of Bargello
Want more Michelangelo? Want to see his follow up to David? How about some alternative Davids by other artists? Visit the Bargello, a museum often overlooked by tourists but a worthy stop. After that you can visit Basilica di Santa Croce, an incredible church that’s also the burial place of Michelangelo.
Must See Sights
Ponte Vecchio
Florence’s oldest bridge, Ponte Vecchio is a pedestrian walkway with shops on each side. Built in 966, shops were added in the 13th century and continue today, making this a unique shopping experience with great views.
Once you cross the bridge you can head over to The Pitti Palace (more art housed in what was once an actual palace) and visit the Boboli Gardens in the rear.
The Duomo
The Duomo, Florence’s most iconic sight, is really four pieces. The Bapistry is the white marble building in front, looking a bit like a house of cards. The Bell Tower is the tall rectangular building. The cathedral is an active church. And then there’s the dome, or cupola. You will need admission tickets for everything but the church, which is free. You can buy admission on their official site and it is included on the Firenze Card.
Here’s where it gets a bit confusing. You need to book your time to visit the bapistry, the bell tower, and most importantly, to climb the 463 step to the top of the dome where the views are spectacular. The dome reservations often book 3 days in advance so you have two options - if this is on your bucket list, go to their official site and book it there. You won’t get the benefit of the Firenze Card, in essence paying twice, but you will have a reservation. The second option is to roll the dice and go straight to their ticket office when you arrive in Florence and book your times. BTW, “duomo” means cathedral, not dome. Just trying to keep you from making a rookie tourist mistake.
We didn’t realize how hard it was to get a time to climb the dome. The earliest time was after we had left, so we had to save that for another trip. But that’s OK, it gave us more time for gelato.
A Side Trip to Siena
Visit a Medieval Town in Tuscany
The hard to find train station in Florence
Walking through Siena, you can almost imagine knights and damsels in distress, sword fights, and dragons flying through the air. It’s that sort of place, an hour and 15 minute bus ride from Florence. The bus drops you right into the entrance to Siena and departs a few times an hour. The Florence bus station, described as conveniently located next to the train station, can be hard to find. The google map image should help.
The train is slightly faster and more expensive. It drops you at the bottom of the town where you either wait for a taxi or take the escalators, located inside the shopping center, to the top.
We spent a few hours here, notably having lunch and me avoiding churches, though in hindsight would it have killed me to see another and keep my wife happy? We all know the answer to that rhetorical question.
When they said Truffles with pasta, they meant it - lots of truffles!
After walking the streets and hitting the shops my appetite returned and just in time. Truffles are the thing here and I was happy to find plenty of them on my pasta, one of my favorite meals on the entire trip. It was worth going to Siena just for this lunch. Is there more to Siena than this? Sure there is - check out Rick Steves suggestions - but sometimes it’s OK to just wander around and search for the best lunch spot.
Things We Missed
Thanks to Steve Hollenbeck for this photo!
Tuscany Cooking Class - Fail
Our inspiration for our trip to Italy was to experience the Tuscany countryside. We checked all of the cooking and tour companies and settled on The Accidental Tourist. A wine tasting tour in Chianti, a hands on cooking class, followed with an authentic home cooked Italian dinner, it was to be one of the highlights of our trip. Upon arriving in Florence we rushed to our pick up spot, 30 minutes early. And waited. Nothing. When we got concerned we checked our emails, just in case.
It turned out that they moved the pickup spot that morning. We found this out 5 minutes before the pick up time. We tried to reach them, we ran like hell to the new spot. In the end, they left without us.
Our fault? They said so. Their fault? I think so. But in the end it doesn’t matter because we missed out and I doubt they were as bummed as we were. So here’s a tip - call and verify your tours the day before. Watch for any last minute emails for changes and don’t assume they will go out of their way to contact you. OK, and maybe use a different company than what we chose.
The Central Market
I cannot believe I missed this. I had seen it on so many travel guides and YouTube’s, the downstairs farmers market and the upstairs foodie food court where they have the Trapizzino, the triangular shaped pizza pocket thing that I wanted to try so bad. I also missed the Trippa Sandwich, a tripe sandwich that’s a popular street food. I looked, but I clearly was looking for tripe in all the wrong places.
