Florence Travel Guide for 3 days in Florence: Despite Florence’s relatively small size, it’s one of the most visited cities in Europe and continues to grow in popularity every year. Nowadays it’s hard to find an “off season” there. But Florence, with its unique history as the birthplace of the Renaissance, is worth visiting whether you have a day or a month to spend. This itinerary assumes that you have 3 days in Florence.
Here’s my Florence travel guide for three days. If you have questions or suggestions for Florence travel tips, please let me know in the comments!
Read more: all my Italy travel tips
Table of Contents
How Many Days in Florence?
With its rich history, you could, of course, spend a week or more in Florence. However, most people don’t devote more than 3 days in Florence, and in fact, that’s how many days we had on this last Italy itinerary for 10 days (although before that, I visited Florence several times for a total of about 8 weeks there). If you want to visit the rest of Tuscany, I’d recommend a Tuscany road trip to allow you plenty of time to visit a few small towns.
A Quick Florence Travel Guide
The historic center of Florence, a UNESCO World Heritage site, is fairly compact and can be visited entirely on foot. Don’t bring a car into the city; instead, plan to arrive by train and then walk or get a taxi to your accommodations. Stay in the city center so that you can easily walk to all the sights.
Unless you have mobility issues, I’d recommend staying outside the busiest parts of the center, i.e. not on one of the busy piazzas. Check out a local’s suggestions for accommodations here.
The Arno River cuts through the city, with the main part of the center on one side and the smaller “Oltrarno” on the other. I prefer to stay in the Oltrarno because it tends to be less crowded with plenty of charming cafes and shops and local flavor.
The Firenze Card: Is it worth it?
The Firenze Card offers admission to almost 100 of the city’s main attractions and allows you to skip the lines. The way it works is simple:
- stop by one of the places selling the Firenze Card (see map below). You can also buy it online and print the voucher or use the app.
- buy it for you and any other adults in your group. Kids under 18 get in free.
- It’s good for 72 hours, so activate it when you’re ready to begin your 3 days in Florence sightseeing.
- When you visit a place that’s included in the card, look for the Firenze Card entrance. In most places, there won’t be a line, and you’ll be able to go right in after showing your card. But at the most visited places (the Uffizi and Accademia), there might be so many Firenze Card holders that there will be a line. Still, this line will be much shorter than the regular line for non-card holders.
- You still need to make a reservation to climb the Duomo.
- Because it allows you to skip the lines and includes so many sights, I think it’s worth it, but you’ll need to stay pretty busy all 3 days to get your money’s worth.
Read more: How much does a trip to Italy cost?
How to Spend 3 Days in Florence: Florence Travel Guide
Because everything in Florence is easily accessed by walking, I organized these three days by history: Day 1 shows you what came first — the time before the Renaissance and the very early Renaissance. Days Two and Three focus on the Renaissance, i.e. the big changes that came about 50-100 years later.
Use this map to help you while you travel! Zoom in to see my recommended places to visit in Florence. Click the buttons on the top to open full screen, to share it with yourself or others, or to see a list of places on the map. Download it to your phone before you visit Florence.
Read more: 30 things to do in Florence
Day 1 in Florence: Medieval & Early Renaissance
Visit the Piazza del Duomo, Baptistery, Santa Croce, San Miniato al Monte, and the Palazzo Vecchio.
First, get your Firenze Card and make reservations to climb the dome of the Duomo. If you can get same-day reservations, do it on this day. If not, squeeze it in whenever you can. Note that the dome climb isn’t for everyone–it’s narrow so not for the claustrophobic!
Optional: If the Duomo tickets are sold out, climb the Campanile instead. This bell tower dates from before the famous dome and provides a great view of the outside of the dome as well as other nearby buildings. Note that there’s often a line to climb the Campanile, but without needing a reservation, you can do it anytime.
The Duomo (Cattedrale di Santa Maria del Fiore)
Located right in the middle of the historic center, the Duomo is the city’s most obvious attraction thanks to the famous orange tile dome. There are four main things to do here:
1) climb the dome to see Brunelleschi’s revolutionary architecture up close and get great views over the city
2) admire the Duomo from the outside but skip the inside of the church
3) go inside the Baptistery to see a classic Middle Ages mosaic ceiling,
4) get a good look at the Gates of Paradise on the outside of the Baptistery to see how early Renaissance artists began to transition from 2-D to 3-D.
Florence Travel Tip: For convenience, get your Firenze Card and make your Duomo reservations together at Museo della Misericordia, #20 in the Piazza del Duomo. Then go next door to our first stop, the Baptistery.
The Baptistery
Start in chronological order, before the Renaissance, with the Baptistery from 1128. This marble octagonal building facing the Duomo is the city’s oldest religious site. Enter to see a typical scene from the Middle Ages.
This mosaic ceiling is made of countless tiny pieces of stone, many of which were painted with gold leaf. In the center, we see Christ deciding the fate of the people in the Last Judgment.
Note the rather unrealistic style — the way everyone has the same face, the lack of human emotion and the lack of realism in the way figures and structures take up space (they look more 2-D than 3-D). This is in stark contrast to the focus on realism and humanism of the Renaissance.
Basilica di Santa Croce
This church houses several important pieces of the Renaissance puzzle. The first thing you’ll encounter is the tombs of several important Renaissance figures including Michelangelo, Machiavelli, and Galileo (as well as many tombstones in the floor). But since we’re going in chronological order, let’s notice the architecture before moving on to the very early Renaissance frescoes.
The wooden ceilings and Gothic pointed arches in the aisles are from the late 13th century, around the same time as the mosaic ceiling we just saw in the Baptistery.
As you reach the altar, look for the two chapels to the right with frescoes by Giotto from the early 1300s. Because they were later painted over with quicklime and covered with tombstones, and then rediscovered in the 1840s, you’ll notice that they’re not in good shape.
But these are still important pieces of art in the earliest years of the Renaissance. Giotto’s attempts at human emotion and more realistic forms of the human body began the move from Medieval to the Renaissance.
One chapel depicts the life of Saint John the Baptist and John the Evangelist, and the other the life of Saint Francis. These chapels are a good place to begin understanding the role that wealthy families played in the development of art. They paid for space in churches to secure their own salvation but also helped fuel the arts in Florence — these chapels were funded by the Peruzzi and Bardi banking families.
If you head to the right, you’ll see the more decorative Baroncelli Chapel with frescoes by Taddeo Gaddi from 1328 to 1338. Keep these images in mind for tomorrow when you’ll compare them to the amazing realism of the Renaissance from 100 to 200 years later. (While you’re here, continue to the Pazzi Chapel to see the ideals of Renaissance architecture in perfectly harmonious, geometric proportions.)
Lunch: Try one of these places to eat near Santa Croce, or continue to the Oltrarno and find a place to eat on the way to San Miniato al Monte like one of these suggestions.
A walk to San Miniato al Monte
This is one of my favorite things to do in Florence. The Basilica of San Miniato al Monte sits atop a hill overlooking Florence, so visiting it is an entire outing. It’s a great excuse to get away from the busy center and talk a nice walk along the river, through the San Niccolo neighborhood, and finally up the hill to Piazzale Michelangelo, where you’ll be treated to one of the best views of the city.
But don’t stop there — keep going up to the church because it’s worth it.
This church is 1000 years old (!) and is still used by Benedictine monks. If you time it right in the evening, you can listen to their chants while admiring the church’s Romanesque architecture. Don’t miss the huge mosaic over the altar at the back of the church or the little shop to the left of the church where products made by the monks are sold. In front of the church is a historic cemetery, also worth a look.
Stops on the way to San Miniato al Monte
There are a couple of ways to reach the church. I recommend passing by the Giardino delle Rose and making a quick stop in Clet’s workshop (Via dell’Olmo 8).
And keep your eyes open for Clet’s street art while you’re walking. This artist is well known for his whimsical images posted on street signs all over Florence, especially on this side of the river. You can even see his work as far away as France and LA.
Passeggiata and Gelato
After seeing the sun set over Florence from Piazzale Michelangelo or San Miniato al Monte, head back to the center–you can cross the Ponte Vecchio or one of the earlier bridges to get there.
It’s time for the daily passeggiata, or evening stroll through town, which you can experience on any of the small streets in the center. Shops selling fruit, wine, and gifts will be open, along with bars serving aperitivi (before-dinner drinks served with snacks).
If it’s before 8 p.m., it’s too early for dinner, so why not grab a gelato at one of the good gelaterie in the center? Try Perchè No!, near the Palazzo Vecchio, or if you crossed Ponte alle Grazie, Gelateria dei Neri is a good choice on the way to the Palazzo Vecchio.
Visit the Palazzo Vecchio
End this day with an evening visit to the Palazzo Vecchio.
The Palazzo Vecchio used to be the city’s town hall and now is a museum dedicated to the history of this important landmark. The interior is stunning, but the outside is a must-see as well.
The square, Piazza della Signoria, was decorated with a display of outdoor sculptures like Donatello’s small Judith and Holofernes (this one is a copy, the original is inside), the Neptune Fountain, and of course, David — this one is a copy but the real one stood here as a symbol of the strength of the Florentine city-state for hundreds of years.
Under the Loggia dei Lanzi are both ancient Roman and late Renaissance pieces like the impressive Perseus with the Head of Medusa by Cellini (above).
Also, the palazzo sits on top of an ancient Roman theater that you can visit with a combination ticket for the Palazzo Vecchio Museum and archaeological site.
Florence Travel Tip: The Palazzo Vecchio is open in the evening (later in summer, until 7 pm in winter). The museum offers special tours for families.
Day 2: Deep in the Renaissance
Visit the Bargello, Palazzo Medici-Riccardi, Mercato Centrale, and the Accademia
This day is devoted to getting a good taste of Renaissance art and life in the historic center. If you have more time, add the Medici Chapels (more Michelangelo sculpture) or San Marco (spiritual art in monks’ cells from the early Renaissance). Another option is to visit the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella today and add the Brancacci Chapel in its place on Day 3.
The National Museum of the Bargello
While the Uffizi houses the great paintings of the Renaissance, the Bargello houses the Renaissance masterpieces of sculpture. Plus, the museum occupies an impressive old palazzo that’s had various uses, including a prison.
As you enter, you’ll notice the 13th and 14th-century coats of arms on the walls. Inside don’t miss Donatello’s unusual bronze David (and compare it to Michelangelo’s David) and Michelangelo’s Bacchus (one of his earliest works).
Palazzo Medici-Ricardi
This imposing palazzo is like a time machine that takes you back to the height of the Renaissance. The Medici (the ruling family during the Renaissance) not only lived here, this was where they supported the artists who helped shape the Renaissance and Western art thereafter.
The website calls it, “The first Medici palace, the home of Cosimo the Elder and Lorenzo the Magnificent and the workplace of artists of the calibre of Donatello, Michelangelo, Paolo Uccello, Benozzo Gozzoli and Botticelli. The Renaissance house… where it all began.”
As you walk in the 15th century courtyard, you’ll notice the perfectly curved arches and the Medici family emblem with six balls (possibly representing pills to represent their history as a family of doctors). Once you climb the stairs, you’ll enter a small yet spectacular Magi Chapel decorated with the amazing fresco by Benozzo Gozzoli.
Showing the procession of the Magi, this work actually takes us back to the Renaissance — Gozzoli painted this Biblical scene with the faces and dress of his fellow Florentines including several Medici family members.
Continue to the gallery with a 17th-century frescoed ceiling and finally to the outdoor courtyard decorated with Renaissance sculptures and fruit trees. More info about the palazzo here.
Mercato Centrale
Florence’s central market bustles with locals and tourists looking for the freshest produce and locally made products. The first floor is occupied by vendors selling produce, meat, cheeses, and packaged foods like pasta and olive oil (great gifts!).
This is a good place to see what’s in season — when I’ve visited in the winter, I’ve seen beautiful displays of artichokes, hazelnuts and citrus fruits.
Lunch: The second floor of Mercato Centrale is a new-ish food hall. With so many options for quick and delicious food, this is a good option for lunch, but it can get very crowded, as it was when we visited after Christmas. In that case, try the visitor-friendly Eataly (on Via De’ Martelli just before the Duomo) where you can get a quick bite on the bottom floor or a longer lunch on the second floor, or for more fun, take one of the food tours in Florence.
The Accademia and David
In my opinion, this should be #1 on the list of things to do in Florence. David is mesmerizing, and no photo or copy of the statue does the real one justice. The size, power, and extraordinary detail can only be experienced in person.
Besides David, the Accademia houses Michelangelo’s four unfinished Prisoners (or Slaves) from very late in his life. Despite their rough appearance, these are a treat to see. As they seem to be struggling to emerge from the marble, they give us insight into the way he worked to “free” his pieces from the huge blocks of marble.
Florence Travel Tip: Try visiting in the late afternoon when most crowds have left.
Day 3: More from the High Renaissance
If you have only three days in Florence, this is the day that you might want to make adjustments. Maybe you missed seeing David yesterday or had rain and couldn’t walk to San Miniato the first day. Also, if you really want to visit the Uffizi, you can do it in the early evening of this day.
Visit the Boboli Gardens, Pitti Palace, Oltrarno, and Santa Maria Novella.
First: the Oltrarno & a cafe
Most of this day will be spent in the Oltrarno. Make your way to the Pitti Palace while allowing for window shopping and a stop for coffee and a pastry at the trendy artisan roaster/cafe Ditta Artigianale.
Palazzo Pitti
Soon you’ll reach the enormous Palazzo Pitti (Pitti Palace), a Renaissance fortress built by the ruling Medici family. If you want to see masterpiece paintings without the crowds of the Uffizi and can stand one religious scene after another, go to the Palatine Gallery inside the palace (it will still be crowded, but just not as crazy as the Uffizi).
Besides visiting the historic rooms of the palace, the highlights here are the many Raphael paintings (especially the sublimely beautiful “Madonna del Granduca“) and works by Artemisia Gentileschi, Bronzino, Andrea del Sarto, and Caravaggio.
Boboli Gardens
Be sure to save plenty of time to visit the Boboli Gardens (behind the Palazzo Pitti). Besides being the example of Italian formal gardens that influenced other European gardens, they’re just a beautiful, peaceful place to wander. The museum calls this “Where Nature, Art, Science and Alchemy meet” because the gardens include botanical gardens, sculpture, fountains, and more.
As you enter the gardens, you’ll come upon a huge ancient Roman tub. To the left are the unique grottos and Kaffeehaus, and at the top is the Porcelain Museum where you can see expansive views of the surrounding countryside. The gardens are huge, so you may not be able to visit everything, but you’ll want at least two hours to explore.
Lunch: Close to the Pitti Palace is the stylish Sott’Arno, a tiny place that was recommended to me by a Florentine friend. Come here for gourmet panini, salads, and Tuscan classics like ribollita. At Via Maggio 53r
Florence Travel Tip: Take your time to get back to the other side of the river. Stop for a gelato or a visit to an artisan’s workshop, visit the Brancacci Chapel to see how one artist made headway in the early Renaissance, and cross Ponte Santa Trinita for a great view of the Ponte Vecchio.
Basilica di Santa Maria Novella
This is perhaps my favorite church in Florence. Unlike some of the others, this marble facade is not new — the pointy arches of the lower half are Medieval, the rest was designed by Renaissance architect Leon Battista Alberti in the 1400s.
Inside you’ll find the early Renaissance masterpiece The Trinity by Masaccio (note the two patrons who paid for the piece and the cryptic skeleton and inscription at the bottom) and one of the finest examples of Renaissance fresco painting, the Tornabuoni Chapel by Ghirlandaio and his workshop, which included a teenage Michelangelo.
Not only are these frescoes stunning, but they also give you some insight into Renaissance ideals of beauty (see the hairstyles and interior decoration).
Florence Travel Tip: Walk through the cloisters to see excellent examples of Renaissance architecture.
Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy
Then visit the Santa Maria Novella Pharmacy, or the Officina Profumo-Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella, on the next street. As one of the world’s oldest pharmacies, it still makes beauty products based on old recipes, including a perfume that was first made for the queen Catherine de’ Medici almost 500 years ago. It’s gotten touristy but it’s so beautiful and historic.
Optional: the Uffizi
This museum is one of the best known in the world, so it’s most certainly on your list. I have to caution, though, that it was packed on my last visit, so much so that it was really difficult to see any of the art. If it’s really important to you, go late in the day; if not, skip it and go to the Bargello Museum instead.
Florence Travel Tip: You must have a reservation or the Firenze Card or else you’ll waste time standing in a long line. When you’re inside, take time to admire the building itself, too.
What questions do you have about spending 3 days in Florence? What tips do you have for 3 days in Florence?
What a wonderful post. I’ll save it for our next trip to Florence…and in the meantime, it feels so good to dream. Thanks, Jenna!