39 Best things to see & do in Florence

Florence is known as the cradle of the Renaissance, and it’s home to a wealth of buildings belonging to that era – the finest examples of Renaissance architecture anywhere.

Florence’s religious buildings are filled with an extraordinary legacy of art treasures by masters such as Giotto, Masaccio, the Lippis and Michelangelo.

With around a million paintings, frescoes and sculptures, Florence harbours the world’s densest concentration of Renaissance art. The city is home to two world-class art museums – the Uffizi and Accademia – and astonishing, fresco-filled churches.

Gelato (ice cream) was invented in Florence in the 16th-century, where it first appeared during banquets at the Medici court. For five days in late May, this festival celebrates this fact with a festival dedicated to all things gelato (including frozen cocktails).

Destination expert Nicky Swallow summarises Florence’s typical foods, ingredients and flavours, cooking styles, dining scene and best foodie experiences.

A historic, atmospheric old café famous for its tiny, delicate truffle sandwiches, best sampled with a glass of the house (Antinori) fizz. You can also buy fresh truffles here when in season.

This 16th-century palazzo is home to one of Italy’s most innovative public art galleries. Rotating exhibitions showcase artists as diverse as Jeff Koons, Ai Wei-Wei and Bill Viola and Bronzino, Donatello and Pontormo. The ‘Strozzino’ gallery in the basement focuses on contemporary art and peripheral cultural events.

This traditional Easter festival sees a towering cart laden with fireworks pulled through the city by white oxen accompanied by a procession of flag throwers and drummers in colourful Renaissance garb. In Piazza del Duomo, a mechanical dove swoops down from the cathedral to light the blue touchpaper.

The octagonal, Romanesque Baptistery, thought to originate in the Dark Ages, is one of Florence’s oldest buildings. It is famous for its three sets of ornate bronze doors although the ones you see today are copies (the originals are in the Cathedral Works Museum).

The beautiful but little-visited 14th-century Santa Trinita (Holy Trinity) houses several artistic gems. The Sassetti chapel has scenes from the life of St. Francis (1495) by Ghirlandaio while the altarpiece shows his famous Adoration of the Shepherds (1485). Lorenzo Monaco decorated the Bartolini-Salimbene chapel in 1422.