Florence Trip

captain_oakley

Mrs Oakley is treating me for my 50th in June.

Any advice, recommendations, off the beaten track, etc would be gratefully received.

Many thanks


.....'time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana....'

finchy

If you want to see David, you'll need to buy a ticket beforehand, you can just walk up and pay at the door. Have a look around the markets - there are quite a few stalls selling cyclists' jerseys there. I got myself one of these:

http://www.ebay.it/itm/MAGLIA-CICLISMO- ... 585wt_1177

Mccaria

Eat, eat and then eat some more. The food and wine is fantastic and topped only by the ice cream. Definitely a place to indulge.

In the galleries get used to seeing the Madonna (no not the one with the cones), Madonna and child, Madonna and friends, Madonna back on her own etc. the Ponte Vecchio is pretty cool, when we were there it was primarily jewellers on the bridge. The Duomo is spectacular, even to the non religious.

finchy

Agreed to the above. Head out of the city centre to get the best food - the places with not too many tourists.

Mccaria

One other thought. Depending how many days you are in Florence, if you have the spare time a day trip to San Gimignano would be fun. It is about an hour by train and is a small town famous for its Medieval high rises. Apparently some of the wealthy families in the town got into a building war and built the Medieval equivalent of sky scrapers. It sits on the top of a hill and has some amazing views. Can get very busy in the tourist season, but with good reason.

daviesee

^^^^ What they said ^^^^

Basically, just wander, eat and drink.
Off the beat Trattorias are the best bet. I would recommend one but that was 10 years ago so it has probably changed.

Train station can be (was) dodgy for pick pockets, as are the squares at night where acts are performing.

Cross the bridge and go to the top of the hill in the park for a view overlooking the city.

FatTed

To avoid queues book with these people at least 48 hours in advance
http://www.florence-museum.com/
pay to climb to the top of the Duomo

pdstsp

As above - all good advice. Another place for a day visit if you are there for a while is Sienna - we did it on the train. Second Mccaria's advice about San Gimignano - we loved it.

Enjoy the food too - may need a few long rides when you get back!!

Cleat Eastwood

the duomos a must - it has a double dome - if you walk up there and shout Basso - the echo comes back as 'drugs cheat' - its really quite profound (as in deep, as in...oh forget it).

CrunchyToes

aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa

MichaelW

The central market is a permanent indoor market with lots of quality grub for when you get bored of all the art and stuff.

bjl

Did a week touring round Tuscany by car last September, agree with above but it's such a great place just to set off aimlessly and see what comes. Lucca is a nice place, we enjoyed visiting some of the tiny hill top villages , Montepulciano, Volterra are a couple.

Verbal

On the other side of the river (over the Ponte Vecchio) you get some good out of the way restaurants which locals rather than tourists tend to go to. The eating is great!

captain_oakley

Apologies for the late reply!!

Many thanks to all the suggestions, looking forward to the trip.


......'time flies like an arrow, fruit flies like a banana'........

Monty Dog

If you hire a car for a day and drive out through the hill-top villages, castellos and get to see the glorious Tuscan countryside and enjoy some Chianti in somewhere like Montelcino.