17 best excursions in Florence inexpensively with a guide
The oldest city founded by Julius Caesar, practically the birthplace of the Italian Renaissance and the capital of Tuscany, Florence has managed to preserve its entire centuries-old history and rich culture, while remaining forever young and cheerful city, and not a frozen monument of the past. You can feel the atmosphere of the city and its harmony by choosing individual excursions in Florence with a Russian guide.
Classic sightseeing tour
In this short time, you will have time to see all the main sights of the city, and also learn how to easily navigate here. Meeting with the guide and the beginning of the route – Duomo Square. All guides live in Florence. They know and love their city very well. You are not waiting for boring, familiar stories about who and when built these temples and palaces, with whose money and whose masterpieces are stored in them. You will hear only the most interesting facts about the owners of these buildings and about the architects and painters who lived here.
You will visit the Cathedral of the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, in Piazza Senoria, you will see the Loggia of Orcagni, admire the Uffizi Gallery, Ponte Vecchio from the outside, make a wish at Porcellino. The guides will tell you the best restaurants, cafes and shops, as well as help you develop new routes for walking around the city.
Florence – everything you need to know in 2 hours
Walking sightseeing tour, without visiting museums, galleries and churches. Meet your guide at Piazza Santa Maria Novella, in the very center of the city. You will see the main cathedral of Florence – Santa Maria del Fiore, or Duomo. At the Piazza del Duomo, admire Giotto's bell tower and the Baptistery. Then you will reach Piazza della Signoria, where the architectural and historical masterpieces of Florence are concentrated: the Uffizi Gallery (without visiting the museum itself) and the Palazzo Vecchio, which served as the administrative center of the city for many centuries.
Walk along the Golden Bridge – Ponte Vecchio and get acquainted with its history. And ahead – the creation of the great architects – Brunelleschi, Donatello and Michelangelo – the Basilica of San Lorenzo, which served as a family temple and the tomb of the Medici house. The Medici Palace, the Basilica of Santa Maria Novella, the Republic Square and the United Italy – you will see all the most unforgettable, and along the way you will learn about those objects that are not included in the route, but are perfectly visible from the banks of the Arno – the old city walls, Michelangelo Square, iris and rose gardens, etc.
Florence – the cradle of the Renaissance
Already in the XIII century. Florentine artists begin to use new trends in their work and revive ancient subjects and motifs. Later, in the 15th century, Florentine art experienced a real flowering. Famous architects Donatello, Brunelleschi create here; Dante and Petrarch create their poems, the great Michelangelo, Botticelli, da Vinci work on the creation of architectural structures, wall paintings and paintings and sculptures, Raphael begins his work.
All these achievements are associated primarily with the policy of the Medici family, many of whose representatives themselves were no strangers to creativity and patronized artists. You will walk in the footsteps of the creations of this unsurpassed era. You will see an example of the early Renaissance – the Brancacci Chapel, the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore and the Church of San Lorenzo – the work of F. Brunelleschi, the interiors of the Church of Santo Spirito, the Uffizi Gallery, the Medici Palace. The walk will take three hours.
The luxury of the Signoria and the Palazzo Vecchio
The famous Palazzo Vecchio on Signoria Square, built back in the 13th century, became the main residence of the Florentine rulers in 1540, when Cosimo I de Medici moved here with his wife Eleanor of Toledo. The walls of the palace are decorated with frescoes and paintings by Giorgio Vasari, a painter, architect and writer, a friend of Michelangelo. In the Five Hundred Hall you will see original works by Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci and other artists of this brilliant era.
Here, on the Vasari fresco, you can see on the flag of one of the warriors the famous mysterious message of the artist Cerca trova (“Seek and you will find”), the riddle of which was solved not so long ago: the great master, who was instructed to reconstruct the hall, did not destroy da Vinci's fresco, and hid it under his. You will visit the chambers of the duke, in the secret room in which he was engaged in alchemical experiments, and find out where the secret passage of Gualtieri de Brienne is located.
Guided tour based on Dan Brown's book “Inferno”
Your adventure will begin at the main entrance to the Boboli Gardens, from where you will go to Porta Romana and look at the mysterious sculptures at the entrance, then you will reach the pond with the image of the Ocean and go up the Viottolon alley to the Fork Fountain. Pitti Palace is waiting for you ahead, you will look into the Buontalenti grotto, you will find a secret door leading to the Vasari corridor. On the Ponte Vecchio, you will cross to the other side, from where you can see the entire Vasari corridor from the outside. You will reach the Old Palace and find a secret door, through which the heroes of the book left it.
In the Palace you will be shown the alchemical laboratory of the Duke “Studiolo”, you will admire the creations of the Renaissance masters in the Hall of Five Hundred. Here you will try to find Vasari's inscription Cerca trova on your own, see Dante's mask and Macchiavelli's office. Leaving the Palace, walk through the narrow streets, leave a letter to Beatrice in the Church of St. Margaret and go to Santa Maria del Fiore and the Baptistery.
Florence in One Day: Sightseeing Tour + Uffizi
If you don’t have much time at all, but you want to see and learn as much as possible about this city, then a sightseeing tour and a visit to the Uffizi Gallery should be combined into one tour. In this case, you will get to know the city, understand what is closest to you here and what you would like to return to again and you will be able not to get lost in the endless halls of the gallery and see the true pearls of the world fine art.
The first part is devoted to the architectural appearance of the medieval city. It tells about the history of Florence, about the Medici policy, under which the city reached its peak. You will see buildings designed by Brunelleschi, Vasari, Michelangelo, Donatello: Santa Maria del Fiore, Piazza and Palazzo Signoria, Baptistery, Ponte Vecchio and New Market. Then head to the Uffizi Gallery to see the greatest works of Botticelli, Michelangelo, Titian, Rubens and more.