Florence Travel Forum

in 2 and 1/2 days? I know you are all probably tired of itineraries.....but I would REALLY APPRECIATE your input. We arrive in Florence between 2 and 3pm and will then check in to our hotel....the Relais Cavalcanti, which is located a couple minutes from the duomo and uffizi....and here is the rest of our plans:

Check in, rest, freshen up and leave around 4:30pm, grab a snack

Duomo (baptistery if time) or something else??? would like to do something close and not too strenuous, any suggestions??

Dinner @ ? (any suggestions) in Piazza della Signoria

Day 2:

Wake up @ 7am, leave @ 8-8:30am, eat good breakfast

Meet tour guide @ 9:20 in front of Palazzo Strozzi entrance (will be holding a sign)(tour is 3 hours)

• Walking tour and accademia

Eat lunch @ 1:30

2:00 Medici Chapels (Michelangelo)

3:00 Church of Santa Maria Novella

4:30 Baptistery (if didn’t have time)

5:00 Climb Giotto's Tower.

Sunset @7 at Piazzale Michelangelo

Dinner ???? maybe go to fiesole??

Day 3: Wake up @ 6:45-7am, get breakfast

Uffizi opens @ 8:15am

Around noon grab a snack and café

Santa croce

Cross over ponte vecchio

Check out open air Mercato della Paglia???

Pitti palace and boboli gardens

Dinner in oltrarno....any good suggestions??

We leave the next morning to go to Venice

So, anything we are missing, suggestions where to eat, any good markets for souvenirs, all comments are welcome. Thank you so much!!! And I know we shouldn't over plan, I just want to make sure we see everything we really want to as this is probably a one time chance. Thanks :o)

You can't plan like that. It just isn't feasible to time yourself around Florence (or anywhere else similar): there will be crowds, there will be queues (especially for the Duomo/baptistery/campaile), there will be people getting in your way as you walk...... I have been to Florence twice so far: I have seen neither the Duomo nor the Campanile nor the Medici chapels, simply because I was not prepared to spend an hour or so queuing for each. I can go again, of course, perhaps more easily than you.

Decide exactly what absolutely must see if you possibly can (and reduce the list in your post), and then work from there. You might find S. Croce only takes you 45 minutes, but you spend an hour in S. M. Novella......

Take the time to wander this most walkable city: you haven't mentioned the Bargello area, nor the market around San Lorenzo (food markets should be visited in the mornings, btw). Just pick the essntials and their day, then visit what you can as you wander.......

You will spoil your stay in this beautiful city if you plan like this, as it simply cannot be done. You'll always check your watch, saying "we're late again!"

As Leics says, pick one essential sight for a day. If you booked a tour, you will be taken to the important sights anyway.
Book the tickets to the Accedemia and Uffici ahead of time, if you plan to go to both, this will save you time waiting in line.

If the Duomo is too crowded, skip it and go to the museum behind it,the Museo dell'Opera del Duomo. It shows the originals of the artwork at the outside of the Duomo, if you're lucky, the line will be shorter.
I found the baptistery more impressive than the duomo, inside at least.

Go to the markets, enjoy the general atmosphere of this beautiful city, spend some time in a café, and you'll get more out of your stay than just ticking off what you have done. And if you rub the nose of the boar, you may come back!

make some irony on your post it's too easy janibo!
your request is very funny. really.

well, someone has already said that the best way is wandering around with open eyes and advance booking of museum. I agree. totally.
Now, let me see you super plan.
Which days you will be in Florence? Take note that on sunday or monday the opening hours can be different.

Day 1
The center of Florence is not huge, so everything is a short walking distance.
Just to take it easy take a stroll to Duomo and Battistero passing by Loggia del Porcellino (the boar). On the way take a stop in Piazza Repubblica for the snack in Gilli or Paskowski. This mean to sit at a table and pay a lot. But this is relax italian way :-) (tomorrow you will save money eating at mercato san lorenzo)
For dinner ask the concierge to book for you "il Troia" (trattoria della Sostanza, Via della Porcellana) a well known Trattoria for Tuscan cuisine.

Day2
after Palazzo Strozzi, for lunch go to "Nerbone". it is inside the roofed market of San Lorenzo. A block from Cappelle Medicee (Medici Chapels).
These will take you more then the 1 hr planned. You have to short cut the visit at Santa Maria Novella.
(note for others VTrs interested: just in front of the facade of SMN there is the new Alinari Photography Museum = high value. But ours have no time for this)
Sunset at 7pm very likely on top of Giotto's Campanile, according to your plan. This means to skip Piazzale Michelangelo and the astounding San Miniato church. Too bad.
I would prefer to skip the Campanile and go to Santa Croce. In the nearby book a seat at Teatro Del Sale for dinner (you have to register and pay a fee) then run to Piazzale Michelangelo for sunset (take a taxi).

Day3
Uffizi visit, take the snack on the caffetteria on the roof.
Then Ponte Vecchio and Palazzo Pitti and the gorgeous Giardini di Boboli.
Exit at the west end (Via Romana) and stroll passing by Piazza Santo Spirito towards San Frediano district. Around Piazza del Carmine it's full of nice pubs and restaurants.

Ok. I have a little rearranged your itinerary. But it is still an Herculean one.
ps: Uffizi museum is huge. So be selective. You are a planning engineer, so plan what do you want to see and skip the rest. This can save you a lot of time.

Well. have a nice visit and please when you will come back home tell us if you succeeded!

Ciao
marco

Here is my tip on a nice little restaurant in the Oltrano - we liked it so much we ate there twice.
http://members.virtualtourist.com/m/85914/24e41/2/

Looks like the Rick Steves tour!!
you certainly don't want to be looking at your watch and worrying you're spending too much time in one place and need to rush out so that you can cross things off your "to do" list. Plan to see two places in the morning and two in the afternoon--look at a map to choose places that are logical so that you're not cris-crossing the city, and then feel free to stop in interesting churches or shops or streets you see along the way. I would book in advance the Galleria for first thing one morning, and the Uffizzi another morning, and then work around those for starters...