Travel Diary // Florence


Florence is the last, but not least important, part of my Italy Travel Diary. Unfortunately, it was badly planned and we only had 1 day (!!) to spend for this beautiful city that you have so many things to see and so many places to visit. In my opinion, you need at least 3 days only for Florence, so keep that in mind when planning your trip. I wish I had more time to walk through the streets, visit the Salvatore Ferragamo Museum and have a picnic at the Boboli Gardens. Hopefully, next time!


The Room 
Amazing apartment, great location and the perfect hosts! Unlike our other two AirBnB experiences in Venice and Rome, this was beyond our greatest expectations. Francesco and his family were the most welcoming, polite and kind hosts, willing to help us and make our stay comfortable. The room was inside a renovated palace, Palazzo d'Ambra, looking exactly as you see it in the photos, in the very heart of Florence, near the train station, the Ponte Vecchio and the Piazza del Duomo. If you ever consider visiting Florence and want a welcoming place to stay, check out Francesco, who is also a SuperHost in AirBnB with more than one apartments to offer, by clicking here.

The Food
You have to taste Bistecca alla Fiorentina (the famous steak of Florence), at least once in your life, even if you are not a big fan of meat, like me. Although I did not expect so, I have to admit that I really enjoyed it.
Tip: the steak is huge, so you better order one for two persons, unless you are very very hungry!

Ponte Vecchio - Arno River
Arno is the most important river in Italy, after Tiber, going through Florence and Tuscany, and Ponte Vecchio is one of its most beautiful and famous bridges. You can watch it from afar or walk through it. There are many souvenir and jewelry shops on the bridge, but everything seemed overpriced. Maybe because of the location (high rent and maintenance costs), but you can find the same or similar items elsewhere in Florence for less. Another beautiful bridge is Ponte alla Carraia.

Ufizzi Gallery - Palazzo Pitti - Boboli Gardens
You must dedicate one whole day from your trip to visit all three venues. Ufizzi is one of the most visited museums in the world, competing with the Louvre, the Vatican and the British Museum. Must-see: the works of Botticelli. Palazzo Pitti and Boboli Gardens are connected, they are actually on the same venue, but be careful with the tickets; if you have a ticket for the gardens you CANNOT get inside the palace and vice versa. To enter both, you need a ticket that states you can enter both. Tip: Buy your tickets online in advance, because the waiting lines are insane! Even for those that already have tickets!! 

Galleria dell' Accademia
My favorite part of our trip to Florence was seeing Michelangelo's David from so close. So much beauty and detail on this gigantic work of art. So much history and art inside this museum! There is also a Musical Instruments section, where a rare Stradivari violin is displayed!
Tip: Replicas of the statues from the Galleria are displayed outside the City Hall Palazzo Vecchio, on Piazza della Signoria, an open-air museum, which is actually breathtaking!

You can see more photos from our trip to Florence over at my Instagram feed and my Instastories.
Feel free to ask, if you have any questions!

xoxo
|barefoot duchess|

Photos by the Duke and myself