Discovering Florence.

Florence on this side of the Arno and Florence on that side of the Arno.

📌Florence on this side of the Arno📌

Don't be "hurry"...there's a lot to see...trust me!

Ready to walk👟?

If you want to get an idea of how beautiful the historic center, the city and the hills surrounding Florence are, our advice is to start from a panoramic point. You are lucky because you are staying here and can start from the campsite. The first move? Go and discover our terrace! Start from the Reception, quickly walk down the road between the ancient walls of Fiesole and arrive in Piazza Mino from Fiesole. Buy the ticket, stamp it on bus 7.

Path to follow step by step.

At the end of our private road, go right onto Via Corsica and follow it all the way to the fork and go left, via Poeti, via Mari, via di Monte Ceceri, via Verdi and it is right here that a fabulous view of Florence opens up from above: a marvel!! You can see the entire center and the Arno river that divides the city and enters the hills. At the end you arrive in Piazza Mino from Fiesole.

In Fiesole take bus 7 to Florence, grab a seat on the left side to get unique views of the hill and the city. Get off at Piazza della Libertà and take tram T2 and the stop will be in Piazza San Marco, which houses the church, the convent and the museum of San Marco which houses the largest collection in the world of Renaissance works by Beato Angelico, in Via Ricasoli a few steps away is the Galleria Dell'Accademia with Michelangelo's David, to be booked well in advance. I recommend you reach Piazza Duomo from Piazza SS Annunziata . In this square, put your back to the church, on the left is the Palazzo degli Innocenti, up above after the loggia there is "the window always open" no one can close it. Try to count the bees on the statue of Ferdinando I de Medici, it's impossible. Take Via dei Servi where you will begin to "understand" the city. You will arrive at the Duomo and you will not be able to take your eyes off this exceptional monument.

Take a tour around the cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, it will be intoxicating, stop and you will discover many things, put your nose up and discover the dome. The wonderful innovation brought by Brunelleschi was to vault it without the use of supporting armatures, no wooden structure could have supported that weight. We Florentines always say "even today we don't know how he was able to do it." (we don't know how he was able to do it).

Look carefully… on the facade there is a bull’s head. Do you want to know more? The head is a tribute to the animals that helped transport the materials for the construction, but legend has it: it speaks of a betrayal. In via Ricasoli there lived a tailor who was very jealous of his wife who instead was happy with a master builder, the tailor discovered the affair and reported them both. The master builder quick quick (fast quick) placed the head of the bovine facing the tailor’s windows to remind him that he was a betrayed husband.

From here you go directly to Piazza della Signoria (the hub of Florentine political life), a beautiful open-air museum: the Loggia dei Lanzi, the Palazzo Vecchio and the statue of the fountain of Neptune by Ammannati, called by the Florentines “Biancone” and built with the precious Carrara marble, it is the whitest statue of all.

Continue towards the Ponte Vecchio passing by the Uffizi ... needless to say what a museum it is!!! News, after years of closure the Vasari Corridor reopens, it will take you walking over the Ponte Vecchio to reach the other side of the Arno, the Boboli Gardens and Palazzo Pitti.

Look at Florence from the Ponte Vecchio , the golden bridge that connects this side of the Arno and that side of the Arno. You will see: the Piazzale Michelangelo (the panoramic terrace over Florence par excellence, built in 1869 by the architect Giuseppe Poggi), the church of San Miniato al Monte ( decorated with green and white marble, Romanesque style interior and the monumental cemetery next to it houses the tomb of Carlo Lorenzini (Collodi), the author of Pinocchio ) , the river with its bridges and its embankments full of fascinating buildings with many stories and characteristics: an example is the church of S. Iacopo Sopr'Arno (for irreverent Florentines, it is called "the church with its bottom in the Arno"): it has an apse that rests on the architectural protuberances that support it and make it jut out over the river.

If you are still in the center eat a homemade ice cream, have an aperitif with a view and wait for the sunset because in the dark the city is different and very beautiful! On Lungarno Acciaioli you can take fantastic photos with really particular lights and shadows.

Cross the Ponte Vecchio, leaving the Duomo behind you and you will find yourself on the Arno .

Before crossing the bridge I would like to point out that this side of the Arno still has many beauties to show you!! I'll tell you then you can see for yourself!

Here is a list (if you don't have much time you can also check them out from outside):

🟡Church of Santa Maria Novella (elegant facade with green and white marble in typical Renaissance style and inside the Crucifix by Giotto, the Crucifix by Brunelleschi, the Trinity by Masaccio and the frescoes by Ghirlandaio)

🟡Basilica of San Lorenzo (Florentine cathedral, consecrated by Sant'Ambrogio in 393 AD and rebuilt by Filippo Brunelleschi in the 15th century. Michelangelo's design for the façade was never realized. Inside there is the Old Sacristy ), the Laurentian Library ( designed by Michelangelo and completed by Vasari and Ammannati, it was commissioned by the Medici family to house their treasure of papyrus, manuscripts and volumes ) and the Medici Chapels (burial place of many members of the Medici family, they include Michelangelo's New Sacristy and the Chapel of the Princes)

🟡 Palazzo Medici Riccardi (Renaissance palace commissioned by Cosimo Il Vecchio de' Medici to Michelozzo around the mid-1400s. Inside, visit the Chapel of the Magi frescoed by Benozzo Gozzoli - religious subject (the Cavalcade of the Magi) where, however, characters from the Medici family and political figures of the time are portrayed)

🟡 Palazzo Strozzi (one of the most significant Renaissance buildings in Florence: it has a large and majestic courtyard accessed by three large arches. Today it hosts important art exhibitions) and Via Tornabuoni (an elegant street full of many high fashion shops)

🟡 Piazza della Repubblica (once, the square was in Roman style, while the current appearance with nineteenth-century buildings and a triumphal arch is the result of the urban redevelopment of Florence, the capital of Italy. Historic cafes overlook the square)

🟡The Porcellino Fountain (even though it is actually a wild boar), created by Pietro Tacca in 1633, is located to the side of the Mercato Nuovo loggia (a few steps from Piazza della Repubblica towards Ponte Vecchio). Popular tradition has it that touching the Porcellino's nose brings good luck. Furthermore, if you put a coin in the animal's mouth and it slips and falls into the grate, your wish will come true. The original is located inside the Bardini Museum.

🟡 Orsanmichele (In 1290 Arnolfo di Cambio, on the site of the church, erected a loggia for grain trading on commission from the municipality. After the fire of 1304 it was rebuilt even larger and the old building was raised by 2 floors. In 1380 the loggia was closed and transformed back into a church, maintaining its original shape, unusual for a religious building).

🟡 Basilica of Santa Croce (in Piazza Santa Croce): in Gothic style, it is one of the largest Franciscan churches. It houses an immense artistic heritage: frescoes by Gaddi and Giotto , burial place of the great and powerful of Florence including: Michelangelo Buonarroti, Galileo Galilei, Niccolò Machiavelli, Vittorio Alfieri, Ugo Foscolo, Gioacchino Rossini and it also houses the memorial to Dante (buried in Ravenna, after his exile from Florence).
The Museo dell'Opera di Santa Croce is located inside the old refectory and the wing of the convent that divides the two cloisters. It houses numerous works including the crucifix by Cimabue , symbol of the 1966 flood in Florence.

🟡Bargello Museum

🟡Badia Fiorentina

🟡Biblioteca delle Oblate enter search and notice there what view?

📌Florence by the Arno📌

Walk along Via Guicciardini and at the end of this elegant street, lined with beautiful old buildings, you come out onto Piazza Pitti . Wonder of wonders: it is dominated by the facade of the majestic Palazzo Pitti dating back to the fifteenth century, which bears the name of its first owner, Luca Pitti, a Florentine banker. Later purchased by Cosimo I de' Medici, it was also the residence of the Habsburg-Lorraine and Savoy dynasties. Home to numerous museums (including: the Treasury of the Grand Dukes, the Palatine Gallery , the Royal Apartments, the Gallery of Modern Art and the Museum of Fashion and Costume) and enriched by the Boboli Gardens , one of the greatest examples of an Italian garden. Inside, among the various works, you can admire the Roman amphitheatre with the Egyptian obelisk in the centre, the Buontalenti Grotto, large fountains, such as that of Neptune and the Ocean and the lemon house. Adjacent to the garden is Forte Belvedere …well worth a visit from here too another view of the city)

Halfway across the square, put your back to the palace, slide into Sdrucciolo dei Pitti (a characteristic alley with artisan shops), cross Via Maggio (the street of antique dealers) and you will find yourself in Santo Spirito : a lively and cheerful neighborhood, home to markets and artisan fairs. There are typical trattorias, characteristic bars, small shops where you can eat stuffed schiacciata, artisan workshops and artists' studios. The square is surrounded by beautiful fifteenth-century buildings and the Basilica of the same name. Enter the Church of Santo Spirito: designed by Filippo Brunelleschi in 1444. The interior contains notable works of art including a wooden crucifix attributed to a young Michelangelo .

Now take Via Sant'Agostino, Via Santa Monaca and you will arrive in Piazza del Carmine where the Church of Santa Maria del Carmine overlooks, so important because it houses…..the Brancacci Chapel (book a visit because it is exceptional: it houses the famous cycle of frescoes depicting stories from the life of St. Peter and the Original Sin, begun by Masolino and Masaccio in 1424 and finished by Filippino Lippi.

On the other side of the Arno look for Piazza della Passera: it is a small square, rich in Florentine history and culture.