Florence – the heart of the Renaissance

Nature
The wow factor for nature - does it show nature at its best? Doesn't need to be the wildebeest migration or diving with hundreds of hammerheads. Rather make you pause as you realise just how awesome the natural world can be
2
Culture
How much does this experience showcase some of the better and finer things that us humans can offer? Sure, it can be ancient ruins and renaissance churches, but it can also be festivals or soaking up some of the great modern cities of the world
10
Fun factor/activity
Very simple - was it fun? This is usually linked in with doing some kind of activity - i mean, walking along some cliffs is nice, but paragliding from them, now that is fun. Its a vastly underrated factor in a truly great experience
2
Avoid the crowds
Big tour groups and being surrounded by loud fellow tourists can sap the life out of even the greatest of travel experiences. This score is to reflect just how much you can avoid this. But. . . The score also takes into account if the crowds actually add to the experience, such as with a party town or a bustling local market
1
World famous
How world famous is the experience?
10
unique
How hard is it to have a similar experience in other places round the world?
9
Overall TE Score
The overall travel experiences score:  fun factor + avoid the crowds + (best of nature or culture) + (best of world famous or unique). Then convert into a score out of 100
57 *What the scores mean and where do they come from
RANKING
How this travel experience ranks compared to all the other experiences on this site, based on the travel experience (te) score
311th/454
Top 70%
continent
Europe
country
Italy
Length of time
1-2 days
Typical daily price
This gives you a rough idea of the daily price based on 2 people travelling where they can split costs like accommodation. It excludes travel there and back, and factors in inflation the numbers in brackets show the price range for the full time of the experience (so not necessarily daily). It is a range to reflect different budget vs higher end
$90 ($80-$250 in 2025 prices)
Time of year visited
September
Primary Tags
Click on any of the tags to see all travel experiences with the same tag
Art Bridges Christian site
All Tags
Bustling restaurants Towers UNESCO world heritage site
Wow Factor
The wow factor reflects just how much you’re likely to say “wow”. As there’s a lot of experiences in the world, and a lot of wows, i’ve gone with a simple ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ to ⭐️ score, and a separate category for the truly "gash"
⭐⭐⭐

Summary

As the cradle of the Renaissance, Florence quite rightly is seen as one of the “must visit” sites in all of Europe.  It has 3 mega wow sites in the Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore, the statues such as Michelangelo’s David on Piazza della Signoria and the Ponte Vecchio Bridge – mind-blown-wow-levels, and utterly stunning even if you know nothing about art.  But it has, in my opinion, 3 problems for the average tourist:

  • Firstly, the sheer volume of crowds can diminish the whole experience.  I’ve been 3 times – winter midday, summer afternoon and even 7am summer morning, and it is heaving every time.
  • Secondly, a big part of Florence’s enjoyment is dependent on your knowledge of Renaissance art and, if you don’t have that, it can get a tad tiring and you can hit the dreaded “church-ed out / museum-ed out” quite quickly.
  • Thirdly, whilst it does have lots of small alleyways to get slightly lost in and have that medieval feel, it misses the cute vibe of the other towns because it is dirtier (especially in the early morning when they are cleaning) and more commercialised than the likes of Sienna and Lucca nearby.

 

As I say – you’re not going to visit Tuscany without going to Florence and those 3 items are such wow that they make it worth the visit alone, but I’ve now been 3 times and not in a rush to go back.

 

Florence - the heart of the Renaissance

Table of Contents

10 Highlights of Florence

Florence Giant Wow #1 The magnificent Florence Domo with its stunning façade and even more impressive interior

Giant Wow #1 The magnificent Florence Domo with its stunning façade and even more impressive interior

Florence Giant Wow #1 The magnificent Florence Domo with its stunning façade and even more impressive interior

Giant Wow #2 Michelangelo's David Statue (or at least the best replica of it!) in Palazzo Vecchio

Florence Wow #3 Strolling across the Ponte Vecchio, one of the world's most famous bridges

Wow #3 Strolling across the Ponte Vecchio, one of the world's most famous bridges

Florence #4 The wonderful views from the Campanile Tower that look all across the city and to the surrounding Tuscan hills

#4 The wonderful views from the Campanile Tower that look all across the city and to the surrounding Tuscan hills

Florence #5 The incredible statues of the Loggia dei Lanzi and across the square - in this case Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa

#5 The incredible statues of the Loggia dei Lanzi and across the square - in this case Benvenuto Cellini's Perseus with the Head of Medusa

Florence #6 Arriving early at 7am and having the major sites completely to yourself

#6 Arriving early at 7am and having the major sites completely to yourself

Florence #7 The grandness of everything, in just about every road you walk down, in this case the Piazzale degli Uffizi on its way to the Arno River

#7 The grandness of everything, in just about every road you walk down, in this case the Piazzale degli Uffizi on its way to the Arno River

IMG_4086-compressed-aspect-ratio-675-900

#8 The little things, like noticing hoops on all the walls for the horses back in the day

Florence #9 Indeed . . . trying the best restaurants in Florence south of the river in San Frediano and Santo Spirito

#9 Indeed . . . trying the best restaurants in Florence south of the river in San Frediano and Santo Spirito

Florence #10 Knowing you can nip into the fabulous nearby Chianti Wine Region for the other, quieter, side of Tuscany

#10 Knowing you can nip into the fabulous nearby Chianti Wine Region for the other, quieter, side of Tuscany

5 Florence Tips

 

1. In the Piazza della Signoria, it isn’t just about Michelangelo’s David – the real highlights for me were the multiple statues in the Loggia dei Lanzi and across the square.  Benvenuto Cellini’s Perseus with the Head of Medusa, Giambologna’s Rape of the Sabine Women, Hercules and the Centaur Nessus, Pio Fedi’s The Rape of Polyxena . . . they really are wow.

 

2. The Duomo and its views inside and out – the Cathedral (Duomo) of Santa Maria del Fiore is insanely beautiful and you can spend an hour just gawping at its facade, Giotto’s Bell Tower and Baptistery, but its also worth the visit inside and up the Tower for the views tower and Florence’s Cathedral of Santa Maria del Fiore for its facade. If so, 100% buy your tickets online beforehand as the queues were daft long.

 

3. Eating – for bustling squares stick to the main Piazza del Duomo and Piazza della Signoria, but for less touristy and better restaurants head over the Ponte Vecchio south of the river to San Frediano and Santo Spirito.

 

4. How to avoid the crowds – difficult.  As I say, I’ve been three times and fairly chock-a-block busy every time.  When we visited at 7am in summer, there were practically no crowds for an hour or so, which was nice and we have the major piazzas to ourselves.  But bear in mind two things: firstly, Florence can be a dirty city due to all the tourists and they use the early mornings for cleaning, which is noisy.  Secondly, at that time you can’t enter the main attractions (Cathedral opens 10.15am for example) and the queues still are starting at 830am for the museums.  Winter way quieter than summer.

 

5. Tuscany more broadly – Florence is but one spot of many in the mesmerising region of Tuscany – see some of the other highlights in the entry for Tuscany – Renaissance Towns and Chianti Wine Country.

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Florence – the heart of the Renaissance
⭐⭐⭐

Score Detail

The scores above are the real point of this site.

Over 20+ years and 100+ countries, I’ve tried to rank the world’s best travel experiences — from genuinely mind-blowing ⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐ to the properly gash.

Every one of the 500+ places on this site has both a Wow Factor rating and a more analytical Travel Experience (TE) score based on the things that actually make travel memorable.

If you're curious about the thinking behind it, head to the About page.

Otherwise, explore the map above or on the Home page and see which places truly deliver maximum wow.

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