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Secrets of Florence, Italy: Insider’s Guide to What Not to Miss
The Duomo is a star of the Florence skyline at any time of day. Photo: Shutterstock
The insider advice on this page is from two of Wendy’s Trusted Travel Experts for Italy: Maria Gabriella Landers and Brian Dore of CIU Travel.
Call on Maria and Brian when you want the ultimate culinary tour of Italy, or to be matched with charming and terrifically knowledgeable private guides and drivers who have keys to doors you wouldn’t even know how to look for, let alone open. Maria has a background in art history, Brian is a former chef; they met as professional opera singers. Through this husband-and-wife team, you can gain entrée to noteworthy winemakers, charismatic artisans, secret private gardens, and the like. Maria and Brian have a home in Umbria and love to show travelers that region’s hidden charms, but they are equally comfortable making arrangements everywhere from the Amalfi Coast to Lake Como—as well as farther north into Switzerland (Brian is an enthusiastic hiker and skier who’s tested out many Alpine slopes and trails). When it comes to hotels, Maria and Brian will make sure you’re shown to the rooms with the most beautiful views in the country’s most atmospheric boutique 5-star and 4-star properties.
Where to Stay and Eat
Hotel worth the splurge
The Portrait Firenze is a favorite special-occasion choice, located next to the Ponte Vecchio overlooking the Arno River. Its Caffè dell’Oro has all-day dining (including aperitivo and a late-night menu) with outdoor lounges overlooking Lungarno degli Acciauoli, the pedestrian promenade that runs along the river. As a member of the Lungarno Collection, owned by the Ferragamo family, it offers guests complimentary admission to the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum.
The Portrait Firenze’s caffè overlooks the Arno River and Ponte Vecchio. Photo: The Lungarno Collection
Best bang-for-your-buck hotel
Hotel Number Nine is a contemporary boutique art hotel in the center of Florence, a tasteful contrast between modern design and the historic palazzo it occupies near the Medici Chapels. The rooms are comfortable and have a light-filled ambiance. This hotel is also a great option for families, as they have spacious one- and two-bedroom suites. There is a spa, restaurant, and bar on site, and guests have access to the fitness center next door.
Meal worth the splurge
One of only eight restaurants in Italy to be awarded three Michelin stars, Enoteca Pinchiorri is everything you’d expect from one of the country’s most formal and exclusive restaurants. Dining here is an over-the-top, once-in-a-lifetime food-and-wine experience. Nine-course tasting menus are 390 euro per person, and the wine list matches the menu euro for euro: If a bottle of 1999 Masseto tempts your palate, your dinner tab will cost you more than your airfare from the States.
Dishes to try
Drawing from the region’s rustic, rural tradition, Tuscan specialties are generally composed of a few simple but high-quality ingredients that, when combined, create a final product greater than the sum of its parts. Ribollita (the best vegetable soup you will ever have), pappa al pomodoro (how good can stale bread cooked in tomato sauce be? Just you wait), bistecca fiorentina (just beef on the grill, but what beef!), and—if you’re truly adventurous—trippa (which is a nicer way to say tripe, which is a nicer way to say offal) should all be savored. Be sure to wash it down with some local Chianti for the best farmer’s meal of your life.
For these classics served with modern flair, head to Trattoria I’Parione. For the purist, at the no-frills Trattoria Mario (near the San Lorenzo Market) you’ll be seated elbow-to-elbow with strangers and served with matter-of-fact simplicity, but there’s no more authentic Tuscan cooking in Florence.
What to See and Do
Don’t miss
The Vasari Corridor is back! Reopened after years of closure to upgrade the facility, this panoramic walk above the center of Florence starts from the Gallery of Statues and Paintings in the Uffizi Galleries, and travels across the Ponte Vecchio, and on to the Boboli Gardens and the Pitti Palace. The corridor is nearly half a mile long and passes above the heart of the city—just as it did when Florentine rulers used it for direct and safe passage between their residences and the government offices. There is one big change—the art has been relocated to climate-protected galleries, and the walkway’s focus put back on its view and role as a private, safe pathway for the Medici family. For the first time ever, the general public can join group tours of the corridor—but Brian and Maria can also arrange a private tour.
Florence’s famous Ponte Vecchio dates to medieval times. Photo: Shutterstock
Museo dell’Opificio delle Pietre Dure (the Museum of the Workshop of Semi-Precious Stones) is hidden in plain sight right in the center of Florence and holds the small but excellent collection of pietre dure works amassed over the centuries by the Opificio, which was one of the most important artistic workshops in Renaissance Italy. Many of the pieces—intricately inlaid stoneworks on tabletops and cabinets and so on—date back to the time of the Medicis.
Don’t bother
If you are not a true art enthusiast and don’t have any special interest in Italian Renaissance painting, skip the Uffizi. In summer especially, the museum gets so packed with tourists and groups of cruise-ship day-trippers, with everyone taking selfies in front of the art, that it can be more of a headache than it’s worth. Maria and Brian can get you in without having to wait in the snaking lines outside, and their private guides do their best to navigate the crowds, but it isn’t possible to avoid the crush entirely. There are many lesser-known options that showcase big-name artists, such as the Pitti Palace, where you’ll get to see the work of greats like Vasari, Giotto, the della Robbias, and even Henry Moore.
Cheap thrill
Florence’s only Romanesque church, the Basilica di San Miniato al Monte, sits high atop the city and has spectacular views over the area. Though this is one of Maria’s favorite places in Florence, it doesn’t always get top billing in guidebooks. The church itself is a gem, and in the adjacent cloister the resident monks sell amazing honey and other artisanal products. If you don’t mind a brief but steep uphill hike, it’s about a 15-minute walk from the city center, or you can take a taxi or bus. You may even catch the monks chanting.
A short walk from town, San Miniato offers incredible views and artisinal products. Photo: Shutterstock
Bragging rights
Maria and Brian can arrange to get you inside Europe’s largest private urban garden, the nearly 17-acre Giardino Torrigiani, with the Florentine nobleman who owns it as your guide. It’s a 16th-century botanical garden with an extraordinary wealth of tree and plant species from all over the world, not to mention historic greenhouses and lemon houses. You’ll end your visit with a casual aperitivo al fresco in the garden with your host, a charming thirtysomething marquis who’s much cooler than what you might expect from ancient Italian nobility.
Giardini Torrigiani is accessible only with the right connections. Photo: Brian Dore
Downtime
In Florence, most museums are open on Sundays and closed on Mondays (as are many restaurants), so if you are planning a day of rest, Monday may be the best choice. Take a taxi past the final ring of suburbs surrounding Florence, then walk from the Dominican Convent of San Domenico up the slope to quiet Fiesole, perched on a hilltop overlooking Florence five miles away.
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Best Times to Go
The hands-down best months to visit Florence are April, September, and October (given the mild temperatures and moderate crowds).
Florence’s best festival—La Festa di San Giovanni, or the Feast Day of Saint John, its patron saint—falls in the hot and crowded month of June. Processions in Renaissance costumes, complete with drum and flag corps; a rousing match of calcio storico (picture rugby with kickboxing allowed); and a spectacular fireworks display over the Arno River all make this an unforgettable time to visit—if you can bear it.
Worst Time to Go
Summer in Florence can be miserable: The city is ringed with hills, which trap heat and humidity in the valley. Locals escape as often as they can from June through August, and museums and other sights are not well air-conditioned.
Instagram Moment
Try snapping this Renaissance capital from the middle of the Arno, as you’re rowed on the placid water under the Ponte Vecchio and past the pastel palazzi lining the riverbanks. I Renaioli, Florence’s rowing association, offers boat trips down the Arno; ask Maria and Brian to organize an evening trip so you can capture the golden-tinged city at sunset.
The Souvenirs
Dolceforte’s prettily packaged Tuscan chocolate, candy truffles, cantucci cookies, and other sweet-tooth–satisfying treats.
Scarves make great gifts—beautiful, light, and easy to pack! Visit Massimo Ravinale on the Via dei Castellani to select from a variety of Florentine and Italian scarves with motifs in all shapes and sizes, all designed in Florence and handmade of silk, cashmere and wool.
Biggest Rookie Mistake
Buying souvenirs on the Ponte Vecchio. The bridge is stunning and unique, the views are spectacular, and the shops are charming and filled with beautiful jewelry, leather goods, etc.; but costs are high and you may be better off window-shopping here and purchasing souvenirs at equally beautiful shops which are a bit off the beaten path. Or better yet, patronize local artisan street/market vendors.
Must-Have App
Though most Florentines (especially those who work in tourism) speak English, you may get tripped up on the odd untranslated menu or sign. Google’s Translate app converts printed words from one language into another using your smartphone’s camera.
Tipping Tip
Italians don’t tip in restaurants. You may have read that there is a standard 10%. Or that the bill is rounded up. Or that you are expected to leave a little something. This is bunk. Italians don’t tip in restaurants. (Italian staff are paid a living wage and/or are members of the owner’s family.) You can tip, if you really want to. Or if you feel the service was extraordinary. Go ahead. But Italians don’t.
Don’t Forget to Pack
Opera glasses are fantastic for getting three times closer to that Giotto fresco in the church, hunting up a signature on that mystery painting in the palazzo, or getting a good look at a detail in that Botticelli in the museum. They are chic, discreet, easy to pack, and won’t upset the guards.
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