Florence City Guide
Florence is the cradle of the Renaissance: art, domes and the Arno panorama in the smallest of spaces. Around 360,000 people live in the capital of Tuscany.
🗺️ Open Florence interactively – map & navigationOur walking tour of Florence
The walk starts at Santa Maria Novella station and takes you in 11 stops (about 5.8 km) on foot right across the Renaissance old town – over the Arno and up to the city's finest viewpoint. The highlights:
Cattedrale Santa Maria del Fiore (Duomo)
Brunelleschi's mighty brick dome of 1436 crowns the cathedral of green, white and pink marble. Climb the 463 steps for a view over the whole city.
Piazza della Signoria & Palazzo Vecchio
An open-air museum of sculpture with the Neptune Fountain, the Loggia dei Lanzi and a copy of Michelangelo's David – behind it the fortified town hall with the 94 m Arnolfo tower.
Uffizi
The world's most important collection of Renaissance painting, from Botticelli's 'Birth of Venus' through Leonardo to Caravaggio.
Ponte Vecchio & Ponte Santa Trinita
The famous bridge of 1345, built over and over with goldsmiths' shops – the finest view of it is from Ponte Santa Trinita.
Palazzo Pitti
The mighty Renaissance palace on the south bank with the Royal Apartments and the Galleria Palatina; behind it the Boboli Gardens climb the hillside.
Piazzale Michelangelo
The wide viewing terrace with the most famous panorama over all of Florence – on the way up the free rose garden invites a break. Loveliest at sunset.
Basilica di Santa Croce
The largest Franciscan church in the world: Michelangelo, Galileo Galilei and Machiavelli are buried here, plus a cenotaph for Dante.