A Full Day in Florence

Today we have a full day, which is surprising for us as we try not to fill our days with too much but with only two days in Florence we have had to reserve a few things and today is one of those days.

The alarm goes off at 745!  But we take our time waking up. First I am wondering "where the heck am I".  Four different beds in six days!  But as I wake and realize I am in Florence Italy!

Bernie makes tea and we enjoy some orange juice, cereal and tea with some fruit.  It is nice to have the space and time this morning to have some normal comforts.

We leave around 9:15 and we have a few things planned.

We are early for our tour so we stop at a coffee shop and enjoy our espresso at the counter.  Okay we are fuelled up for the day.

First thing planned is a walking tour that we booked thru Viator.  This is the first time I have ever used them. It is a great site that acts as a middleman for tour providers and the tourists. It is easy to navigate, book, pay for and receive tickets. 

This walking tour is 2.5 hours and is reasonably priced and we see a lot.  Here is a link to the tour we booked.  There was around 16 in our group and we were given earphones and receivers so we can hear our guide easily.  I really like this as we don't have to bunch around her to hear but can stand back at a site and hear her and take in the whole area.

We visit Orsanmichele Church first

Piazza della Republica

hmm a segway tour could be fun

Then to the Baptistry and doors and The Duomo

top of the Duomo which you can climb

Medici Palace

San Lorenzo Church

Santa Maria Novella Church and Piazza (we didn't go in the church)

Then across the Ponte Santa Trinta to Santo Spirito Church

A quick gelato stop that is included in the tour.

Pitti Palace

Ponte Vecchio

see the crowds trying to get on the bridge

Piazza della Signoria

Okay we are done!  The Piazza is busy (again we find it crazy but everyone keeps saying this is nothing you should see it in the summer).

We want to get away from the crowds and we stroll down a narrow street (Borgo dei Greci) for a few blocks till the crowds are minimal.  We spot a small family run restaurant - perfect.

Lunch is good, simple, inexpensive and just what we needed. 

We had pre reserved our Uffizi tickets for 1430.  If you haven't read my blog about reserving your tickets for major sites check it out here. 

Thank goodness we did pre reserve because the line for tickets is long (again not so bad compared to peak season). We go to the booth to pick up our tickets and then to the next door to gain access to the museum.

We have our Rick Steve's audio guides (which are free) downloaded on our phones.  A blog I wrote just about travelling thru Europe with Rick Steves can be found here.


The Rick Steve's audio guide starts out great but then some of the exhibits have moved because of restoration so we had to keep looking for the right spot on the guide to the right art piece.  Patience was in order.

Considering it wasn't very busy we thought it was busy.  Tour groups caused bottle necks.

Crazy how some people just go around taking picture after picture of the art pieces without really looking at the pieces. Why not buy a book with professional pictures of the art then.  Enjoy the art! Don't look at it through a lense.

Personally I found the photographers to be very annoying. People wanted pictures of themselves with the art, this caused more crowds! Also people had a hard time getting around as you had to keep dodging photographers.  Really wish the gallery would just ban photography completely. At least I didn't see too many selfie sticks!

Overall I loved the Ufizzi. The fact I got to see art pieces I have only heard about or read about in person blows me away.  I feel very fortunate that I got to visit.

After two hours in the gallery we are tired. It has been a long day and I need some peace and quiet away from all the people.  Thankfully our apartment is close by.

Bernie naps while I catch up on my blog, read and enjoy some wine.

Planning Our Stay In Florence

After spending a few days in Genoa with our friends we will take the bus to Florence.  Federico highly recommended Flixbus.  For a very minimal cost we can travel from Genoa to Florence for 10 E total for the two of us and in three hours.

We have booked an Air BnB.for Florence - here is a link to the residence we have booked for only $83 Canadian a night.  If you haven't tried an Air BnB I highly recommend it. It is so easy and much cheaper than most hotels.  Plus you can get the entire place and really mix with the locals.  We like to also buy a few breakfast items and save money by eating breakfast at home. If you are interested in trying it out click this link and you will get $30 off your first booking.

So back to the apartment.  We are there for three nights.  It is centrally located and we can easily walk there from the train/bus station and to most sites.  In fact it is only one block from the great restaurant we went to last year, so you can be sure we will be back.  

Our plans in Florence are rather loose.  We will pre book our Uffizi tickets for probably the Friday.  

We have also talked about visiting a few other museums and Bernie is really wanting to go to the Galileo Museum.

Last year we did a great walking tour but this year we are considering an organized walking tour.  

We have reserved our train tickets for the embarkation day and we will travel from Florence to Rome then Rome to Civitavecchia rather easily and very cost effective.  But I don't recommend this unless you can manage your luggage.

To book your own rail tickets click here. 

How To Pre Order All Your Italy Tickets To Major Sites

One tip I learned from Rick Steves that has been priceless is:  

Pre reserve your all your tickets to the major sites in Florence, Rome, Venice and others large cities.  This allows you to skip the line (which can be quite long during prime season).  

There are many booking sites out there that will reserve tickets for you (I call them brokers) and add an additional fee to secure these tickets. But by going directly with the establishment you cut out the middle man and save money.  

Here is an example for exactly the same ticket for Florence's Uffizi Gallery Tickets with skip the line:

Viator - 28 Euros

Musement - 20 Euros

Florence Museum Tickets.com - 24.50 Euros

Italy Tickets - 26.50 Euros

But directly with the Museums Site - 16.50 Euros 

What I really dislike is it is hard to determine what is the official site and what isn't.  Those brokers make their sites look VERY official.  

Last year we pre reserved for the Colosseum/Forum in Rome, Vatican Museum, Doge's Palace in Venice.  

Here are the Official sites that we used, click the links below.  

•  Venice's Doges' Palace - reserve here
•  Rome - Colosseum, Forum - reserve here
•  Rome - Vatican - reserve here
•  Florence - many of the cities museums including Uffizi and Accademia - reserve here 

Most of the above sites do offer tours that include entry.  Or you can reserve audio guides.  Or better yet download Rick Steves free audio guides and tour independently.

Hope this helps.