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.
