2 Days in Florence - Tuscany

[Tania]

Hi,

Me and my husband are planning to visit Florence from 16th(will reach late evening) - 19th August( leave early morning). So we have 2 days in Florence. We like museums but not totally into that. In Florence we thought of visiting Academia and Uffizi in Florence. We love to walk in the city exploring the culture and food.
We want cover Pisa and Chianti as well. Don't know if it will be possible.
Can you please suggest an itinerary. Also please let me know shopping areas (not the expensive ones) and good eat-outs joints in Florence.

Thanks
Tania

[Leonardo]

Hello,

Some quick sugestions
If you are not big on museums i would skip the Uffizzi (my personal preference, some might disagree), as it is a big time comitment if you only have 2 days.
Florence is actually pretty small and you usually don't need a real itinerary. But if you insist: start by visiting the San Lorenzo market for some leather shopping or general browsing, enter the Mercato Centrale (food market within SL) for some early snacks and food shopping, continue to Duomo square and enter the cathedral itself, continue to Republica square to admire the old roman gate, head to Signoria square while enjoying the cities most expensive shopping street, Academia and/or Uffizzi time, go to Michelangello square for a fantastic view of the city (on foot if you are brave).
Thats my own go-to plan, if you got time left i would reccomend exploring the back-streets of the city, maeby turning off the gps for a bit to see how it goes

For food, Florence is BIG on street food and there has been an invasion of fancy panini places. Try the Lampredotto if you have the stomach for it. Small warning, don't order Florentine steak if you only eat well done meat
For specific restaurants i would reccomend the "Mammamia" and "Porcelino" restaurants near the Porcelino market (close to Signoria square). The first is more casual and the second fancier and more formal.

I would dedicate the second day you have to a countryside trip, visiting Pisa in the morning.

Hope this helps!

[Tania]

That's an awesome itinerary. We will follow the same one. Do you suggest taking the 2nd day trip to Pisa and Chianti with the help of a tour operator( like Viator... I am open to other suggestions) will be good or we can do it on our own?

Cheers,
Tania

[Leonardo]

Pisa you can definetly do by yourselves if thats what you prefer. It is a relatively short train ride and the things to see are so few.
Chianti is another matter, and while it would be possible to explore by yourselves if you had ALOT more time on your hands, i would strongly reccomend some kind of guided service, as public transportation is scarce, especially for the areas worth seeing.
While Viator is usually reliable and easy, keep in mind they are only resellers. So contacting a guide directly might get you a better deal. They also only sell pre-packaged tours, while direct contact might allow for customised itineraries.
Also, in my experience, the pre-packaged tours never include any of the "real" countryside activities, like visiting a cattle farm to buy some steaks and having a nice barbeque, or milking a cow....
Private message me if you want some reccomendations.

[Lourdes]

With only two days in Florence, you should definitely spend a day roaming around and follow the suggestions Leonardo has offered or pick and choose from some of the suggestions on this 2 day itinerary: https://www.visitflorence.com/itiner...-florence.html

If you're not big on art, I agree, visit the Accademia for the David and leave the Uffizi out. You don't want to just check something off a list when your time is limited and you can spend it elsewhere ;-)

You can either do a Viator sort of tour the following day, go for a smaller group tour (you can find those on Viator as well), go for a personalized tour or even just head out on your own. If you've never been to Pisa before, you can catch a train from Florence and head there for the mornings, moving on to Lucca (always by train) for the afternoon. Or you could catch a bus to Siena and spend the day there, it is a beautiful medieval town. Viator has tours of the "best of Tuscany" which take you to both Siena, Chianti and Pisa but it is a long day! you can of course do it if you'd like to see them all three, but personally I would recommend one or the other and slow down the pace, enjoying everything you see and do with a more relaxed manner.

Enjoy! Take a look at the itineraries on this page: http://www.discovertuscany.com/itineraries-in-tuscany/

[Manuel Andrade]

[QUOTE=Lourdes;13034]With only two days in Florence, you should definitely spend a day roaming around and follow the suggestions Leonardo has offered or pick and choose from some of the suggestions on this 2 day itinerary: https://www.visitflorence.com/itiner...-florence.html

Hi Lourdes,
Greetings from California paisana. I'll be visiting Florence from June 12-19th with my 17 year old son.
We'll arrive on the 12th in the morning and we'll have from about 11:00 am on to explore the city.
What would you suggest for the rest of this day?
After reading many posts in this forum I decided to allocate from the 14th-16th for Florence alone and the rest for day trips as you suggest. The 13th will be Pisa/Lucca, the 17th Siena, the 18th Cinque Terre and we will have the 19th left to do more Florence roaming. Any suggestion for the 19th?
I like museums and as a photographer I could spend my entire day capturing the beauty of all masterpieces but I don't want to overload my son with museums. Instead I'd like to visit the main museums and do as much walking around the city. I am not sure the Firenze card will make sense although I don't mind paying for it. If I buy it for my self I still have to buy the reserved tickets for my son. Would it be better to just buy the reserved tickets for both of us for the days and museums we'll be visiting?
Thank you and thanks for all persons who have posted comments and suggestions about Tuscany. The information has been invaluable in helping us decide where and how to travel during our intended stay.

Best regards!

[DonnaDenise]

Buongiorno,

I would take the time to just roam the city and get a feel for everything, maybe head up to Piazzale Michelangelo by bus (ATAF 13 or 12) and walk it down. Eat a gelato (or with a 17 yr old maybe two) get a pizza, visit some of the markets.

After a day of traveling, I would ease into the city and let the atmosphere capture his attention. The rest of your itin, looks good. I think it is a great idea to leave the 19th to catch all those last minute things in Florence.

Buon Viaggio,

Donna Denise

[Manuel Andrade]

Thanks for the advice. It reassures what we had in mind. While we do want to visit the historic and cultural wonders of this city, we would to experience its ambiance on those two days you pointed out in an unhurried way.
Gelato and pizza are definitely in our checklist! I'm sure my son will be delighted to get it done on our first day there.
Buona giornata!

[Lourdes]

Hello Manuel!

Like Donna suggested, and in keeping with a laid back vacation, I wouldn't get the Firenze Card and as you've already realized, just buy tickets for those must-see museums you both agree to visit, such as the Uffizi and Accademia.
Leave any others to decide upon once you're here and have roamed about a bit, including Palazzo Vecchio and the Duomo monuments (he might find neat to climb all the way to the top of both the Duomo and the bell tower). I would also suggest climbing to the top of the Arnolfo tower in Palazzo Vecchio!

Take your time in each place and soak in the atmosphere, I am sure as a 17 year old I would have loved that as a great and painless way to learn about history, beauty and the arts

[Manuel Andrade]

Thanks again to both of you and everyone who's taken time to post suggestions. The links to the gelateria, bus route, and pizza parlors are great.
We both like soccer (as americans call it, futbol everywhere else I think) so I guess we are in for a treat as I just learned our arrival date coincides with the semifinals of calcio historico in town.
After reading a post about it I think we'd like to get in at the standing room only. Your thoughts?

Saluti,