Plans & Vacation Ideas for a Florence, Italy, Trip

Arguably the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance, Florence can sometimes feel like an open-air museum. Turn at any corner in the city and you're drawn in by some masterpiece of art or architecture -- until you look over one block and decide to move on to the next masterpiece. The Botticellis and da Vincis scattered around the city, however, are just the beginning of a trip to Florence. Nestled in the beautiful rolling hills of Tuscany and with a vibrant passion for style and life's pleasures, the city offers attractions for travelers of virtually every interest.

Architectural Tour

• The soaring red dome of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore is probably the first thing you'll see as you near Florence. It's also a good first stop on an architectural tour of the city, especially if you take the small staircase to the top of the dome for a panoramic view of Florence. By the church, take a walk by Florence's baptistery, paying special attention to the brass doors designed by Lorenzo Ghiberti or the Donatello-designed tomb of Antipope John XXIII inside. For a full day of museum-going, head to the Palazzo Pitti, the monumental former residence of the Medici family that now is filled with museums and galleries. Pick a sunny day to walk across the Arno River on the medieval Ponte Vecchio and, on the other side, head to the beautifully landscaped and sculpture-filled Boboli Gardens for some rest.

Artistic Tour

• You don't have to go to a museum to see beautiful art in Florence. Some of the city's best-known works can be found in Florence's churches and palaces, like Giotto's frescoes of the life of Christ in the church of Santa Maria Novella. If you choose to go to a museum, the Galleria dell'Accademia holds priceless works. such as Michelangelo's David, while the Uffizi Gallery has a spectacular collection of Renaissance masters. Be prepared to spend several hours in either. For a glimpse of contemporary Florentine art and new talent, head to galleries like For Gallery or Galleria Alessandro Bagnai. The Oltrarno district across the Arno is rapidly becoming a hub for young designers and stylish boutiques, reports The New York Times.
• La Dolce Vita

• To indulge in the earthly pleasures that inspired Renaissance humanism, sit down to a three-hour Tuscan meal in a trattoria along the narrow streets of Oltrarno. Regional specialties include charcoal-grilled steak and bean stews, all washed down with locally produced wines. You can walk off the meal with some window shopping along the fashion-filled Via Tornabuoni or head to the San Lorenzo Market for handcrafted leather goods. At dusk, the bars around the Piazza del Duomo fill with performers and revelers, and you can finish off the night with opera at the Teatro Comunale or an open-air summer concert at the Piazza di Sant'Ambrogio.

Getting Outside the City

• The green hills of Tuscany are just outside Florence. You can hike up to Fiesole -- the walk featured in the movie version of E.M. Forster's "A Room With a View" -- directly from the city. For more fresh air, the hills of San Miniato and Bellosguardo are just south of the Arno River, and both offer stunning views of the city and surrounding countryside. In Tuscany, Frommer's recommends renting a car and taking a tour through the back roads of the province, stopping at tiny villages not found on any tourist map and at "vendita direttas" (direct sales) in the countryside to buy fresh cheese, home-pressed olive oil, local wines and herb-scented honeys directly from farmers.