Florence in 2 days

Florence, Italy is considered to be the birthplace of Renaissance and exploring Florence is like visiting an open air museum for Italian Renaissance.  We spent two days exploring some of Florence‘s major attractions, doing a bit of shopping and simply chilling out and enjoying the wonderful Italian pizzas, pastas and desserts.   Except for the factory outlet, the attractions we visited could be easily reached on foot.

 

The Duomo

One of the main attraction in Florence is The Duomo (Basilica di Santa Maria del Fiore), the main church in Florence.  Standing tall over the city with its Renaissance dome and Gothic structure, it is no surprise that this well-preserved 13th century cathedral was made a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

 

Ponte Vecchio

Another famous site to see in Florence is Ponte Vecchio, a medieval arch bridge which was the only one in the city to have survived World War II intact.  Not only is this bridge used for crossing, it also has several shops on it. It is amazing that the bridge lasted so long.

 

Piazza della Signoria

Florence is home to the famous Renaissance sculpture, David, created by Michelangelo. Visitors can see this Italian masterpiece at Galleria dell’Accademia, but if you are not one to queue for hours to see one sculpture, then fortunately, a copy of this statue can be seen for free at Piazza della Signoria, the original place where this statue was installed back in the 1500s.  There were also several other sculptures at Piazza della Signoria.

 

There are a lot of other museums in Florence and it would take a couple of days to see them all.  If I were to choose one, I would have choosen Ufizzi Gallery Museum, one of the most visited museums in Italy.  This museum offers Skip-the-Line tickets so that you don’t have to queue for hours to get in.

 

San Lorenzo Market

Apart from historical attractions, Florence is also a great place to shop, one of which is San Lorenzo Market.  This market had a lot of good quality Italian leather products ranging from jackets, bags, wallets, belts, etc.  I bought cute pink little leather handbags for my two girls and a small bag for my son.  There were also plenty of other types of souvenirs to buy.

 

 

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Beyond Florence – The Mall

On one of our mornings in Florence, we made a trip to The Mall, a factory outlet with well-known Italian brands like Gucci, Prada, Armani, Valentino and Salvatore Ferragamo. The Mall is accessible via a shuttle bus that picked passengers up at the bus bay located 5 minutes from the Florence station.  We got to see the lovely Tuscan countryside on our journey to The Mall.

Prices at The Mall were definitely cheaper than at normal boutiques.   A “last pair” of a particular design of Ferragamo shoes, for example, was going for about 86 Euros.   There was also a Prada outlet.  A lady shouted “Prada! Prada!” when the bus passed by the Prada outlet.  I have never seen so many people going crazy buying up the entire shop!

 

Map of Florence Shopping

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Day trip from Florence

On one of the days that we were in Florence, we made a day trip to the  Leaning Tower of Pisa and Cinque Terre.  Read more by clicking the link.

 

Where to stay

There were many accommodations in Florence.  I decided to stay at one that was conveniently located within walking distance to the Florence train station (Santa Maria Novella).  See the list of accommodations near the Florence train station,

 

Train from Florence to Rome

Florence was part of our 15-day Europe Adventures with Kids, including 5 days in Italy. We came to Florence from Venice and our next and final destination from Florence is Rome.  We took the Eurostar express train and travelled about 1.5 hours from Florence to Rome. Train reservation was compulsory.