The city that funded the Renaissance and still has most of it inside the old walls. Three days works if you book the two big galleries ahead and accept that you cannot see everything, which nobody can.
Florence · 3 days Italy
Best time: April to early June and September to October.
The Duomo and the centreDay 1
📍8:30 AM
Brunelleschi's dome
The largest masonry dome ever built, raised without centring in the 1420s by a goldsmith who would not explain how. 463 steps between the two shells; book a timed slot.
🚶 ~2 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 350 ft
📍11:30 AM
Baptistery and the Gates of Paradise
The oldest building on the square, with gilded bronze doors Michelangelo named. The panels outside are copies; the originals are in the cathedral museum.
🚶 ~7 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.3 mi
📍4:00 PM
Palazzo Vecchio
The fortress town hall with the Hall of the Five Hundred, and a tower climb over the terracotta roofs.
Uffizi and the OltrarnoDay 2
🖼️9:00 AM
Uffizi Gallery
Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, plus Leonardo and Caravaggio, in the old Medici offices. Pick two corridors rather than all of it.
🚶 ~3 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.1 mi
⛴️1:30 PM
Ponte Vecchio and across the river
The only bridge the retreating Germans left standing in 1944, still lined with goldsmiths as it has been since the 1590s.
🚶 ~12 min · 🚗 ~2 min · 0.5 mi
⛪3:30 PM
Brancacci Chapel
Masaccio's frescoes of 1425, where perspective and real human weight arrive in Western painting. Small, ticketed, and the most important room in the city.
David and the hillDay 3
🖼️9:00 AM
Galleria dell'Accademia
Michelangelo's David, carved at twenty-six from a block two sculptors had already abandoned. The unfinished Prisoners in the corridor are the sleeper.
🚶 ~16 min · 🚗 ~2 min · 0.6 mi
📍12:30 PM
Santa Croce
The Franciscan church holding the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli, with Giotto frescoes in the chapels.
🚶 ~11 min · 🚗 ~1 min · 0.4 mi
📍6:00 PM
Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato
The classic sunset view over the city, then twenty minutes further up to a Romanesque church where monks sing vespers.
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Best time to goApril to early June and September to October. July and August are hot, airless, and full. November through February is cold but the galleries are almost empty, which is a real trade.
Getting aroundWalk. The historic centre is about a mile across and largely closed to traffic. Buses reach Fiesole and Piazzale Michelangelo if the hill defeats you.
Local tip: Reserve the Uffizi and the Accademia online well ahead; walk-up queues run for hours in season. Churches are covered-shoulders places, and many close for a long lunch between noon and three.
The full plan as text
The same day-by-day plan as text. Times are starting points, not homework.
Day 1: The Duomo and the centre
8:30 AM
Brunelleschi's dome
The largest masonry dome ever built, raised without centring in the 1420s by a goldsmith who would not explain how. 463 steps between the two shells; book a timed slot.
11:30 AM
Baptistery and the Gates of Paradise
The oldest building on the square, with gilded bronze doors Michelangelo named. The panels outside are copies; the originals are in the cathedral museum.
4:00 PM
Palazzo Vecchio
The fortress town hall with the Hall of the Five Hundred, and a tower climb over the terracotta roofs.
Day 2: Uffizi and the Oltrarno
9:00 AM
Uffizi Gallery
Botticelli's Birth of Venus and Primavera, plus Leonardo and Caravaggio, in the old Medici offices. Pick two corridors rather than all of it.
1:30 PM
Ponte Vecchio and across the river
The only bridge the retreating Germans left standing in 1944, still lined with goldsmiths as it has been since the 1590s.
3:30 PM
Brancacci Chapel
Masaccio's frescoes of 1425, where perspective and real human weight arrive in Western painting. Small, ticketed, and the most important room in the city.
Day 3: David and the hill
9:00 AM
Galleria dell'Accademia
Michelangelo's David, carved at twenty-six from a block two sculptors had already abandoned. The unfinished Prisoners in the corridor are the sleeper.
12:30 PM
Santa Croce
The Franciscan church holding the tombs of Michelangelo, Galileo, and Machiavelli, with Giotto frescoes in the chapels.
6:00 PM
Piazzale Michelangelo and San Miniato
The classic sunset view over the city, then twenty minutes further up to a Romanesque church where monks sing vespers.
Make this Florence plan yours
Forward your real booking confirmations to Petrel and it builds this exact day-by-day view for you: flights, hotels, reservations, live flight status, and the travel time between stops. Under a minute.