Hello everyone, I have yet again come back from another trip to Italy and this time my destination was the magnificent Florence, Tuscany.
As a student of the Italian language and the Italian culture, Firenze was the ideal location as it is the heart of the Renaissance. I had no idea what to expect, having only seen Florence through films.
I fell in love with this city after watching A Room With A View, my all-time favourite film, at the age of 7 and from that day on, I made it my goal to visit Florence with my mum and at last, we did it! We went to Florence!
Like I said, I had no idea what to expect, no idea how we were going to get around Florence. I was told that Florence is not as wonderful as it is pictured to be which worried me a little. I had such high expectations after watching James Ivory's film, wanting to relive every Florence moment (or almost every moment) of the film. So we did just that!
I decided to organise my trip around A Room With A View. Strange idea, I know but to be honest, it made our trip all the more memorable and exciting.
I will be sharing with you what I think is worth visiting in Florence along with a few pictures and tips!
1. Piazza Del Duomo
Now there is no way that you can visit Florence without going to the Piazza Del Duomo, that's like going to a pizza shop and just ordering, oh I don't know, garlic bread or something. Anyway, this is where you will find Florence's most famous monument, the Cattedrale Di Santa Maria Del Fiore, the 3rd largest church in the whole world after St. Peter's in Rome and St. Paul's in London and Florence's main church. Dedicated to the "Virgin of the Flower", the building alludes to the lily, a symbol of the city. This gothic style church known as the Duomo di Firenze was designed by Arnolfo Di Cambio and was begun in 1296. It was only completed during the 15th century and stands at a height of 90 metres and measures 153 metres in length.
The Cathedral complex includes the baptistery di San Giovanni, Giotto's Campanile (bell tower) and Brunelleschi's dome.
The basilica is free to visit but not the bell-tower and the dome. Tickets are available online on their website and at the ticket office near the cathedral. I advise you to buy the tickets online to save some time. The queue can be quite long.
Brunelleschi's dome
Baptistery Di San Giovanni, the basilica, Giotto's campanile and Brunelleschi's dome
This next part will mainly focus on some of the film locations from A Room With A View including the Basilica di Santa Croce, the Piazza della Santissima Annunziata and the Piazza della Signoria. To make matters more interesting, I saved some movie stills onto my iPad which I then placed in the locations where they were filmed. Excuse the bad quality!
2. Basilica Di Santa Croce
Basilica exterior.
Lucy Honeychurch in the Basilica.
Monument to one of the major Italian poet of the late middle ages, Dante Alighieri.
Tomb of Galileo Galilei.
Statue of Dante Alighieri in Piazza Di Santa Croce.
The Basilica Di Santa Croce is the main Franciscan church in Florence. It is located in the Piazza Di Santa Croce which is only about 800 meters away from the Duomo.
3. La Piazza della Santissima Annunziata
Eleanor Lavish and Charlotte Bartlett saluting the statue of Ferdinand I.
The Piazza Della Santissima Annunziata with the Ospedale degli Innocenti in the background.
Statue of Ferdinand I.
The Piazza della Santissima Annunziata is a square named after the church of the Annunziata located at the head of the square. In the centre of the square is the bronze statue of Ferdinando I and you may also find the Ospedale Degli Innocenti, a historic building in Florence designed by Brunelleschi. It was originally an orphanage.
4. Piazza dell Signoria
Lucy Honeychurch in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. There are two statues standing in front of the Palazzo including a copy of the Statue of David.
Copy of the Statue of David.
Interior of the Palazzo Vecchio.
Interior of the Palazzo Vecchio.
The Tower of the Palazzo Vecchio.
Lucy and Cousin Charlotte in front of the Loggia dei Lanzi.
Lucy Honeychurch at the Piazza della Signoria.
Cellini's statue Perseus with the head of Medusa.
George and Lucy sitting under the Loggia.
Equestrian Monument of Cosimo I.
View of the Arno.
The Ponte Vecchio.
Lucy and George with the Uffizi Gallery and the Tower of the Palazzo Vecchio in the background.
The Piazza della Signoria was one of my favourite places in Florence. It is an L-shaped squared in front of the Palazzo Vecchio. It was named after the Palazzo Vecchio also known as the Palazzo Della Signoria. It is the historical centre of the Florentine Republic as well as the political focus of the city. This is where the Florentines come to meet up and is a popular tourist location. You will find the Uffizi Gallery nearby as well as the Ponte Vecchio which is just 500 meters away. The Loggia dei Lanzi is home to some of the most famous Renaissance sculptures and is in fact an open-air gallery. Make sure to check out the Fountain of Neptune. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see it as it was under construction.
5. Galleria Dell'Accademia
The famous statue of David by Michelangelo in all its glory!
The Galleria Dell'Accademia is an art gallery in Florence. It is home to Michelangelo's statue David. It has a few other sculptures by Michelangelo and some Florentine paintings as well.
6. Santa Maria Novella
The Basilica di Santa Maria Novella is a church just a short walk from the train station. It is the first great basilica of Florence and the main Dominican church. I unfortunately was unable to get a picture as it was too dark outside.
Near the Basilica is a a very old pharmacy known as the Officina Profumo Farmaceutica di Santa Maria Novella. It is one of the oldest pharmacies in the world and was founded by Dominican friars in 1221. The pharmacy uses medicinal herbs grown in the monastic gardens to make medication, balms and pomades for the monks' infirmary. Today, the pharmacy is almost like a museum with many tourists visiting. This was also where Hannibal Lecter buys his dear Clarice some perfume and soap in the film Hannibal, the sequel to Silence of the Lamb. If you plan on buying something, why not buy yourself a lovely Almond Soap just like Hannibal himself! :)
Officina Profuma interior.
Next if you want a gorgeous view of Florence, I advise that you go to the Piazzale Michelangelo. Designed by Giuseppe Poggi and built on a hill, this square is dedicated to Michelangelo with another copy of the statue of David. Great place to watch the sun set over the city or to just take in the incredible view of Florence! This was my favourite spot.
7. Piazzale Michelangelo
The Duomo view from Piazzale Michelangelo.
Beautiful Florence! We were very lucky to have nice weather that day.
Copy of the statue of David in the centre of Piazzale Michelangelo.
We also got to meet the sweetest cat who looked absolutely great with the Florence backdrop.
I also got a pretty sweet view at the hotel we stayed in for a night. It is called Hotel Cardinal and is only 500 meters away from the Dome. Unfortunately, the rooms weren't great with a very uncomfortable bed. The terrace view was honestly the only positive point.
8. Food Spots
We actually didn't eat much spending most of our time visiting museums but we did enjoy a nice chocolate coffee at Lindt Chocolate Town around the Pizza del Duomo. I also had the biggest gelato i've ever had in my life which they call "Medium size".
We ordered two Lindtottos at the Lindt store with a chocolate filled beignet and a chocolate filled croissant. They even came with edible spoons!
Look at all this chocolate! For any chocolate lover, this must be heaven!
It doesn't look that big but I can tell you that people were staring as I walked down the street with my gigantic gelato. The flavours were Pistachio and Tiramisu from Coronas Cafe.
Tips:
- Don't bother buying a bus or tram ticket when you stay in Florence. We made the mistake of buying a 3 day ticket (€12 each) and only used it 4 times during our entire stay and that was with us trying to make the most of the ticket. We didn't really need it. If you really need to take the bus, to go to the Piazzale Michelangelo for instance, buy a one-way ticket (about €1.20) but I warn you transport in Florence isn't top notch. We waited over half an hour for a bus to the Piazzale Michelangelo which is the same amount of time it would have taken us to walk there from our AirBnB.
- If your flight lands in Pisa and you need to make your way to Florence, you have the choice between taking the bus/coach straight to Florence or taking the train. We took a bus from Pisa to Florence which was €12 each. We did waste some time having to wait over an hour for the coach. It is an hour long journey to Florence and the bus took us to the bus station (autostazione near Santa Maria Novella). From Florence to Pisa, we decided to take the train because waiting for the bus was too long and we would have missed our flight. The train is slightly cheaper but isn't direct. You would need to take the train to Pisa Centrale and from there take the people mover to the airport. It sounds a lot more complicated than it really is. It took us slightly over an hour to get to the airport. I would warn you though to leave yourself some time to buy the tickets. For the bus tickets you need to buy them at a coffee shop (I unfortunately forgot the name) and for the train, just go to the ticket booth in the station. The ticket is €11.20 per person including the people mover.
- If you go during the Autumn/Winter season, make sure to bring an umbrella with you. We didn't and that was a huge mistake.
- Take loads of photos!
And that is all from me! I hope you find this post helpful in planning your future trip to Florence and that you enjoy it as much as we did!
